Dingy downpour

Today, I tried some butterflying at Dourbes nature reserve, to the north of Couvin, but the weather forecast was totally wrong so I arrived to overcast skies and lots of showers; the worst conditions for observing butterflies!  A singing Turtle Dove was a nice surprise and I thought that was going to have to be my consolation for the lack of butterfly activity.  Eventually, though, the sun managed to break through the clouds for just twenty minutes or so, but that was enough for a few butterflies to become active, including this unflatteringly named Dingy Skipper.  I ended the day with just five species of butterfly before the heavens opened and I got drenched walking back to the train station.  One can't complain, though, when one of them is a fritillary, my first of the year, and allows you to get a picture like this.

Heath Fritillary

More happy families

Migration has been plodding along since I last wrote, with a Red Kite going north past my balcony the day after my visit to the coast.  This was not only a new bird for my 'garden' list but also the first time I'd seen one in Brussels, where they're pretty rare, the small Belgian population being restricted to the south-eastern part of the country.  The following week, I was heading to the supermaket through my neighbouring park when I heard a distinctive rattling song which lead me to my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year.  Yesterday, I paid my first visit of the year to the beautiful heathlands on the Dutch border and, despite the cold, showery weather, we got to see a migrating Honey Buzzard as well as my first Swifts of the year.  The local breeders were in full song with Tree Pipits everywhere, several Cuckoos, and a Woodlark displaying right above our heads.  The early starters, on the other hand, are busy finding food for their chicks; we saw a family of recently-fledged Crested Tits and, back in Brussels, these Great Crested Grebe-lets constantly begging for food.