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!

Hush, hush

Grey-headed Woodpecker is almost extinct in Belgium.  When I first moved here, there were an estimated 20-30 pairs remaining in a small area along the German border but this number has probably dropped to 2-3 pairs at the most.  All sightings are automatically concealed to prevent disturbance so it is very difficult to obtain up-to-date information as to how many remain and where they are.  I visited their last stronghold near Eupen several times but always failed to find even the slightest hint that they might still be around so had more or less given up on seeing one in Belgium.  Last spring, I wrote about the woodpecker survey I was helping with, and thought I did well by finding four of our supposed five resident species in my sector.   One of the other participants, however, hit the jackpot by discovering a territorial male Grey-headed Woodpecker within Brussels!  It called right through until the end of May and then was not seen or heard again for the rest of year.  Fast forward to this year's reunion for the woodpecker survey, and I find out the Grey-headed is calling again in exactly the same spot as last year.  He must have been there all along but, when not being vocal, is virtually impossible to find.  I managed to glean some information as to where exactly within the huge expanse of forest this was and, this morning, by following its constant calls for a good ten minutes or so, finally got a great look at our Grey-headed Woodpecker.  Chiffchaffs really have arrived en masse now and I also heard my first Blackcap of the year.

Spring has sprung

What a difference twelve days make!  Last time I wrote, there was still no sign of any Chiffchaffs, whereas I heard my first one singing on 9 April and, this morning, they were all over my regular patch.  My first butterflies of the year were brought out by the sunny, warm conditions - this Comma, a Peacock and a Holly Blue.  Several Coots were already on nests whilst a pair of Egyptian Geese were attending five of these cute little fluffballs.

Since my last post I also made a short visit to Kalmthout Heath, which provided several displaying Woodlarks and my first Stonechat of the year but, apart from that and a surprise Merlin seen briefly in flight, the heath was deadly quiet awaiting the return of the rest of the summer migrants.

Masterpiece of construction

Spring is still being very elusive as it has been another grey and wet week but, during one of my daily walks around my neighbouring park, I did manage to locate this active Long-tailed Tit nest composed almost entirely of lichens.  This has got to be one of the most elaborate nests of all European species and is usually hidden well out of sight; I think I've only ever seen two others in all my years of birding.  There has already been good migration of Common Cranes and Red Kites in the east of Belgium but, here in Brussels, the first summer migrant to return is usually Lesser Black-backed Gull, and I saw 8 of them yesterday amongst a 300-strong flock of Black-headed, Herring and Common Gulls.

Waiting for spring

Our little foretaste of spring didn't last long as it was wet and windy for the whole of last week.  I was thus restricted to doing some balcony birding, although this female Great Spotted Woodpecker livened things up a little by making an occasional appearance.

At the weekend, it stayed dry long enough for me to visit my regular Brussels patch, where I saw no less than 45 species, all of them residents or winter visitors, but it won't be long now until the first Chiffchaffs arrive and spring can really get underway.