The meadows still have to flood, but the winter bird community at Blaugerzen is starting to form. The first Barnacle and White-fronted Geese are back, and mixed flocks of Lapwing, Starling and Golden Plover are on the fields again. They'll define the birding scene for next five months. #birding

A Goshawk managed to catch a Snipe at Blaugerzen the other day. Then got the attention of one, two, three Marsh Harriers. In the squabble, a juvenile harrier was eventually able to claim the prey for itself. #birding

The vole population around Sneekermeer has been exploding lately. One can tell as much from the huge number of mice-eaters like Great Egret roaming the fields. This evening no less than 150 Egrets came to roost at Mardyk. Overall there may be 200+ Egrets in Sneekermeer area atm! #ornithology

Meixu approached at a conference to ask if I could support an MSc project on island use by ocean-crossing migrants. Just so happened I always wanted but never got to delve into this during my pd on falcon migration at @ebdonana.bsky.social. We got going a few weeks later. 🤝🤓

doi.org/10.1186/s404...

The bulk of the Purple Herons seem to have left from Blaugerzen now all the fields are mown and collected. Fortunately, this handsome adult and juvenile pair still offer great views. The juv is feeding independently but seems to follow the adult wherever it goes. How long will they linger? #birding