Red or grey?

Last week, I successfully twitched this Grey Phalarope near Leuven.  At least, that is what it used to be called before the powers that be decided to adopt the American name of Red Phalarope instead.  Grey makes much more sense in a European context since 99% of the birds seen here are in winter-plumage, like this bird, although my first one ever was actually a bright red female I found in West Yorkshire way back in May 1995.  At the time, summer-plumaged birds were hardly even featured in British bird guides and I just didn't have a clue what it was, my most viable suggestion being a Turnstone that had fallen into a pot of red paint!  I have seen red birds since, on their breeding grounds in Svalbard, but it still feels wrong to me to name it by a short-lived breeding plumage most Europeans and North Americans never see.  Then again, the Red-necked Phalarope is also named after its breeding plumage so I guess it makes no sense to name one after its winter plumage and not the other.  Either way, they are extremely rare inland yet it seemed to be finding plenty of insects to eat.  It is only my fourth in Belgium (and the first inland), the last of which was this confiding individual at the much more usual coastal location of Ostend.

Maasvlakte

I went to the Dutch migration hotspot of the Maasvlakte over the weekend.  The two (yes, two!) White-throated Sparrows had, unfortunately, moved on and it was very quiet overall but the very first bird we saw was this showy Wryneck.  The tiny cluster of bushes held just five birds; the Wryneck, two Song Thrushes, a Chiffchaff and this Long-eared Owl sunning itself in a perfectly-positioned gap in the foliage.

Not bad, considering how few birds there were, but we felt we'd seen everything that was there and thus moved on to the harbour of Stellendam on the other side of the water to sort through the shorebirds.  We were enjoying the masses of Spoonbills, godwits, Oystercatchers etc when everything took to the air, and I noticed the huge silhouette of a juvenile White-tailed Eagle coming towards us.  This soon drifted off down the coast but we then spotted two more, an immature and an adult!  The immature even got harassed by one of three Ospreys that were loafing around the mudflats.

All photos by Theo Hortensius

More Modane

Having first discovered it in 2021, Modane is now my favourite destination for some mountain scenery and butterflying.  Since I was outside of Europe for most of June and July, I decided to have a couple of days there earlier this month, hiking back up to the scenic Lac de la Partie at 2500m on my first day.    

Swiss Brassy and Marbled (above) Ringlets were fairly common while the commonest skipper, contrary to all of my previous visits, seemed to be Carline, here giving a nice comparison with an Olive Skipper (on the left).

I had hoped the latest of my five visits to the area might provide some different species and I managed to add a few common species, including Purple Emperor, to my Modane list, which now stands at over 105 species photographed.  By far the most pleasing result, though, was finally getting some pictures of a Southern White Admiral, which I'd only ever seen once in flight before and was desperate to see well and photograph.

Little things

I've been out of Belgium for a while but will write about that later.  Before I left, though, I did a short walk in the Sonian forest, finally locating the top-secret location of the only colony of Fire Salamanders in the Brussels Region!  It was very quiet birdwise, allowing me to notice some little things I would normally walk past, such as this tiny, metallic green weevil.  There was also a Wren which was really showing off, so I decided to take a few photos and was very pleased with the result.

Wintry surprise

My Viennese trip also provided my first dragonflies of the year, including a couple of species I'd only ever seen once or twice before, so I made a point of paying more attention to them once I got back to Belgium.  A visit to my Brussels patch got me this nice image of a male Scarce Chaser, a species which is no longer scarce here having rapidly colonised Brussels over the past five to ten years.  I then noticed a damselfly and managed to take just one picture but it turned out to be my lifer Winter Damselfly!  This species is quite widespread but far from numerous and notoriously difficult to identify since its drab colouration makes it easy to confuse with teneral individuals of the much commoner species.  As a result, it was the commonest Belgian odonate I'd not yet seen, so I was pleased to fill that hole in my list without trying, especially since I've made a few, concentrated attempts to look for it in the past.

Double Grail

I was back in Vienna earlier this month and had set my hopes on seeing my most wanted European butterfly.  The weather was terrible, however, with just one sunny day during my week-long stay but at least that meant the butterflies would be active during my one and only chance to explore the Viennese section of the Donau-Auen National Park.  After a couple of hours, I'd had a frustratingly brief glimpse of what might have been my target species disappearing behind the bushes but that was all so I was relieved to find this information panel confirming I was in the right area.

I decided to linger nearby and, sure enough, soon spotted a magnificent Southern Festoon within 150 metres of the sign!

Very pleased that my research had paid off, I continued my walk, hearing a Black Woodpecker calling.  I managed to find the source of the calls but then noticed it going to a hole in a birch tree, out of which popped a baby Black Woodpecker's head!  This is only the second time I've managed to locate the Holy Grail that is a Black Woodpecker nest, and the first which contained young.

With a Great Spotted Woodpecker nest also found in a busy, city-centre park, Vienna has cemented its reputation of woodpecker wonderland gained from my first visit there 11 years ago.

Amazonian returns part 3

For the last two days of my short week in French Guiana, I headed into Cayenne and stayed at the Place des Amandiers, which seemed to be a birding hotspot.  The extremely common Carib Grackles were hopping around the breakfast tables and the park opposite was full of birds, not least the rather surreal combination of Ruddy Turnstones bathing in rainwater pools alongside Yellow-hooded Blackbirds.

I also really enjoyed seeing the ever-so-cute Pied Water-Tyrant and Yellow Oriole, and the very first bird I saw on the nearby Sentier de Montabo was this Green-tailed Jacamar!

All too soon, it was time to head back to Belém, where I had a couple more days before heading home and discovered a Reddish Hermit lek, which was a wonderful way to end my two weeks back in the amazing Amazon.