Stork surprise

Over the weekend, I visited the Molsbroek near Lokeren in East Flanders, a reserve I've not visited for several years as it is quite a walk from the train station.  I was surprised to find this stork's nest, complete with at least three offspring, since I don't even remember there being a nesting pole before.  The main reason I went there was a singing Great Reed Warbler, which it didn't take me long to hear but then sang from deep within the reeds for at least fifteen minutes.  I was dreading it ending up as a heard-only tick but it eventually climbed up into view and sang in the open for at least another ten minutes before disappearing again.

The reserve houses a colony of Black-headed Gulls, which is always a wonderful auditory experience, as well as a good population of Black-necked Grebes.  Just as enjoyable, though, were the three Honey Buzzards which suddenly appeared circling right above me; two adults and one very ragged looking juvenile.  I got the impression the youngster was just out of the nest and the adults were teaching it how to fly.  The overcast weather wasn't great for odonata but Blue-tailed Damselflies were out in abundance, with mating pairs everywhere.  The females come in three different colour forms and I recently posted a photo of a fairly typical one, but this is the first time I have seen the stunning pink-bodied variety.

BE #202 (Great Reed Warbler)

BRU #108

Orchid overload

Since I was mainly looking down for butterflies instead of my usual up, I made some unexpected, additional discoveries and it turned out to be the orchids which were the star of my short trip away.  This was pretty much one of the first things I saw, before most of the butterflies became active, and, although I wasn't sure what it was, I knew I'd never seen anything quite like it before.

It has since been identified as the rare, five-petalled friburgensis variety of Bee Orchid, which usually has just three petals. 
I then discovered this huge spike of flowers with amazingly long lips; yet another species I've not seen before, the Lizard Orchid.

Next up was a field full of the much more expected Greater Butterfly Orchid, a species I've seen there in varying numbers on most of my previous visits.

Finally, and rounding off the day nicely was another orchid I didn't recognise.  Comparing the pictures, I thought it had to be a different species to the first one above but it is actually the commoner, typical form of Bee Orchid, looking just like a female bumble bee in the aim of attracting a male to collect its pollen.

Slowing it down (part 2)

I spent my second day in Dourbes nature reserve, probably my favourite place to look for butterflies and one of the best locations in Belgium for them.  Here, at least, there were more butterflies around, albeit in much smaller numbers than I'm used to, and I managed to find 16 species in total. 
First up, was one of my favourites, the exquisite Pearly Heath.

This area is one of the rare places in Belgium which has the aptly named Scarce Swallowtail, a species I've only seen a few times and almost always in flight.  This individual was lingering in a small area of the reserve and looking to land but had obviously been in consultation with yesterday's Wood Warbler as it was just as difficult to photograph.

Much easier was this White-legged Damselfly, which posed nicely for me, adding a bit of variety.

This unusual moth, with its curious wing markings, also grabbed my attention, and it didn't take me long to identify it as Mother Shipton, named after a 16th century Yorkshire witch!

 With a little bit of imagination, you can actually make out a witches face from the pattern on the outstretched, left wing, which is how it got its name.

Slowing it down (part 1)

After all that rushing around trying to add new species to my year and patch lists, I decided to have a relaxing couple of days taking pictures in and around Couvin, in the very south of Belgium.  At least, that was the idea but I hadn't considered that the unusually cold and wet spring might have delayed the emergence of our butterflies, and there were hardly any to be seen.  This pair of Wood Whites, seen right at the end of my first hike, were one of just seven species I managed to see, about half of what I would expect at this time of year.

Thankfully, though, there were plenty of other things to entertain me, including this rather interesting Mediterranean Spotted Chafer Beetle.

Although not the main purpose of the trip, I was also hoping being in the south would add a few new birds to my year list and it didn't take long to hear my first Wood Warbler singing in the distance.  It was way off in the forest, though, the other side of a stream, and the second, third and fourth ones I heard were equally impossible to see.  It was thus starting to get rather frustrating when I eventually found a very hyperactive individual right next to the path, and spent a wonderful half hour watching it sing and constantly changing its song perch, making it almost impossible to photograph.

In the evening, I made another walk around Mariembourg, where I was staying, finding a pair of Red-backed Shrikes, with the added excitement of watching a Peregrine successfully plunge into a flock of Starlings heading to roost!

BE #201 (Wood Warbler, Red-backed Shrike)

BRU #108

Dip, dip, duck

Since my last post, I've made several unsuccessful twitches to various year ticks, including a fruitless morning at the coast in the hope of intercepting some of the mini-influx of Rosy Starlings Belgium was graced with for just a few days.  On Monday morning, it was a Great Reed Warbler singing in La Hulpe, just outside of Brussels, which had moved on by the time I got there.  My attention thus turned to some of the other stuff I've been neglecting so far, especially now that the dragon- and damselflies are starting to become more numerous.

Red-eyed Damselfly, La Hulpe

I arrived home from my latest dip to the news that three Garganey had been reported at a lake in the west of Brussels.  This is a scarce, less-than-anual visitor to Brussels and one I'd not managed to connect with anywhere this spring so I reluctantly headed out again, far from convinced that they would still be there.  They weren't on the lake where they had originally been found, but I soon relocated them sleeping on the island of another lake nearby, thus breaking my losing streak which had set it after my trip to the Nightjars.

BE #199 (Garganey)

BRU #108 (Garganey)

Birding in extremis

Earlier this week, I did an evening walk on Kalmthout Heath with the aim of trying for Nightjars.  I knew it would be tight, however, since recent observations seemed to indicate they should start singing around 10pm and my last train back was at 22:29, but the station was a 20-minute walk away.  Having had a nice walk around the heath, seeing at least five Woodlarks, two of which were carrying beakfuls of food for their unseen young, I finally heard the distant churring of a Nightjar at 21:58.  I wasn't sure at first, having not heard or seen one in Belgium since July 2007, but another then started calling considerably closer.  I reckoned I had to leave my spot by 22:03 in order to make it back to the station in time but, just as I was exiting the heath, yet another Nightjar started up, this time right next to the path.  It was too much to walk away from so I waited another couple of minutes, and was rewarded by the bird flying out of the trees and off over the heath, giving a brief but good view as it banked in the evening sun.  By now, though, it was 22h05, so I then had to run back to the station!  Since we're almost half way through the year and my year lists have now reached the point where progress is very slow, each blog post will now conclude with my progress, showing my year totals for both Belgium and Brussels, with the latest additions in brackets.

BE #198 (Woodlark, Nightjar)

BRU #107 (Marsh Warbler)