The end of winter?

The temperature reached an all-time record of 20°C in Brussels today, making it feel much more like summer than the end of winter.  The crocuses are blooming and I saw four species of butterfly, all of which overwinter as adults and wait for the first warm days of spring to emerge, such as this Small Tortoiseshell.  I also got to see a Kestrel, a scarce bird in Brussels since we have very little open habitat for them, succesfully catch a Bank Vole, and found a lone Lapwing (at last, a migrant!) feeding in a stubble field.

Still trying

So far this year, I have been visiting my patch in the south-east of Brussels about once a week yet it has taken me until this week to finally see the Cetti's Warbler I discovered in early January.  There were plenty of birds around, including lots of vociferous Redwings and a big flock of at least 150 Chaffinches feeding on the beechmast.  In fact, the morning's tally reached 54 species, without any early migrants, which could well be a personal record for the winter months.  Gadwalls (above) are often overlooked being more subtly coloured than most other ducks but, in good light, they're actually quite attractive.  I'm still trying to get a decent photograph of a Long-tailed Tit but, so far, have only managed several blurry shots plus a single in-focus picture of the back of the bird's head!  Thankfully, though, other birds are more cooperative such as this Water Rail which had caught a small fish at the edge of the reeds, allowing me to get a couple of shots of this elusive species.

Fire(crest) and Brimstone

Now it really does feel like spring with a ridiculous 15°C in Brussels today, tempting out my first butterfly of the year, a male Brimstone, more than a month ahead of my previous earliest record.  My recent birding has been limited to Brussels and, having already seen 80 species so far this year, I'm running out of new ones to add, although I did manage to find a female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker this morning, and finally connected with my first Middle Spotted Woodpecker of the year earlier this week.  The overwintering Firecrest is still in my local park but the Blackcaps disappeared during the heavy snowfall we had towards the end of January.  Apart from a migrating group of Skylark, with a few White Storks reported over Brussels the past few days, there has been little sign of migration so far, but it shouldn't be long now til the first Chiffchaffs arrive.  Until then, I'm keeping busy by trying to get a photograph of a Long-tailed Tit but they just never sit still long enough; so far they are winning 2-0.  Thankfully, the ducks on my patch are a little easier.