Baby boom

I've been keeping an eye on the Long-tailed Tit nest I found at the end of February.  The parents were ever so secretive, so much so that I began to wonder if it might have been deserted as I never saw them entering or exiting the nest and only rarely in the immediate vicinity.  Last week, however, they were making constant visits even when I was watching so I concluded they had more pressing concerns and, sure enough, I then noticed three tiny beaks poking out of the entrance hole!  Crossing Brussels Park, right in the city centre, I discovered a pair of Mallard with eleven little fluffballs swimming around like clockwork toys on one of the fountains.

PGS

Illness has prevented me getting out birding since my last post but a Yellow-browed Warbler was found near a Brussels metro station on Saturday so I convinced myself some fresh air would do me good and allowed myself a short twitch yesterday.  It was calling as soon as I got there and eventually showed out in the open before disappearing again.  I didn't even bother trying to get photo's since it was so active, but a fellow Brussels birder did a pretty good job;

PGS by Luc Boon

Photographer extraordinaire Vincent Legrand had, however, been there the previous day and again worked his magic.  Yellow-browed Warbler, or YBW as most British birders refer to it, is so diminutive, almost everybody wants to shorten its name.  The French rightly avoid using their silly-sounding 'warbler with big eyebrows' and simply call it PGS, whilst even the Dutch with their relatively concise Bladkoning (leaf king) often shorten that to Blako.  In any case, it felt good to be out again and this three-letter bird certainly gave me a much needed boost of energy.  Today, I twitched a pair of Redshanks, which are probably just as rare in Brussels as YBW since we have virtually no suitable habitat for them.  It was only when I got home that I realised they were my 150th species within the Brussels region!  I also found my first Common Whitethroat of the year.

Punks in the polders

Apart from last month's brief visit to Kalmthout Heath and twitching the Waxwings on the outskirts of Ghent, all of my Belgian birding so far this year has been within Brussels.  I thus made a long overdue visit to the polders at the coast earlier this week, and was greeted by several displaying Lapwings with their comical, spikey crests.  Some Black-tailed Godwits were also displaying while a group of at least 73, presumably migrants waiting to head further north, loafed around on a shallow pond.  Other waders included Avocet, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Ruff and two Spotted Redshank, as well as a single Purple Sandpiper hanging out with the Turnstones under Blankenberge Pier.  I was especially pleased to find the Purple Sandpiper since that will no doubt be heading back north very soon.  It was probably my last chance to catch up with one before the winter, therefore, whilst recently arrived summer visitors included several Sedge Warblers, a Bluethroat which sat up and sang on a songpost for me to admire, plus a single Barn Swallow.  In the punk stakes, however, even the Lapwings were outdone by a Little Egret in full breeding plumage, complete with its extra-long head plume and yellow socks!