De Hoge Veluwe, Red-breasted flycatcher and butterflies.

I really wanted to go see the red-breasted flycatcher that is staying somewhere on De Hoge Veluwe, a nature reserve on the high grounds in the middle of the country. That meant I had to take a long drive on the highway, two things I hadn’t done before. So, with some trepidation I took the car and off I went, shortly after rush hour. That trepidation wasn’t necessary. Everything went smoothly and google maps knew exactly where I wanted to go. An hour after I left home I had parked the car and upon opening the door I heard the bird singing. I had it all to my self for a bit, no other birders or photographers, but after about 15 minutes photographer and his wife pulled up and started chasing the bird around the trees, spoiling the fun. Luckily I had phonescoped some nice pics before they arrived and I also shot some video.

 

So, after a quick cuppa I moved on to pastures new. I found out about some nice rare-ish an new-to-me butterflies that had been seen nearby so I decided to give finding them a go, even though it wasn’t particularly sunny or warm. I had a very nice walk on in the woods and heather, the swifts were flying really low, sometimes whooshing past at knee level. I found Silver-spotted skipper (Hesperia comma) 

Heath Fritillary (Melitaea) 

 

Dark green fritillary (Argynnis aglaja), sadly I couldn’t get a picture of that one, it whizzed past twice but I never found it again. 

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas),

 

Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)

 

and Silver-studded blue (Plebejus argus),

 

To finish the day I drove on to the Jachthuis St. Hubertus, the hunting lodge built for the very rich people who once owned the park. I find it a bit of a monstrosity, but the Leopard marsh orchids round the moat/pond were nice.

Red-throated Pipits

The month of May always sees some Red-throated Pipits pass through the country, but those are mostly fly-by, only identified by their call. This weekend a couple were found on the ground in a new nature developement area near my home. I didn't have time to go before Wednesday evening. So I made reservations to take the car, and off I went, first to the gym but after that it was straight to het Tienhovens Kanaal, on the border between Utrecht and Noord-Holland to twitch them. I did get to see them, but only briefly, with no chance of usefull pictures sadly.

My bins on the dash, looking at the bins at the viewpoint.

Drivers license! Also, attempt at blog revival

Let's try to revive this blog shall we?

Since I passed my driving test on the 1st of May 2018 I’ve been using the local Greenwheels car to do all kinds of fun things. Since the 4th of May, the day I actually got my license, I’ve racked up a few kilometres to do some quick twitches, among other things. My first ride alone was on the very early morning of May 5th, to do a dawn-chorus boat trip for Het Utrechts Landschap, a good time in my opinion, no one to bother me and no one can feel bothered by me.

Sunrise over de Kromme Rijn

After the boat trip I went to the garden centre and bought a trunk full of plants for my balcony.

a trunkload of balcony-dressing