Once again I embarked on a trip to see some of Europe's exotics and a couple of resident species (though only a few as information was very hard to come by). I went alone to save my long suffering wife from any more crazy holidays. The weather and light was very poor and I was unable to photograph all the species and those I did some pics were not of the highest quality.
Saturday 1st May
After catching the midnight cross channel ferry to Dunkirk, I blasted up the motorway to Hook of Holland docks at dawn and quickly located one of the house crows present in the area, but I declined leaving the car due to the torrential rain. I quickly drove up to Leiden to meet Roelant Jonkers of City parrots the weather was poor and not really parrot weather but we tried anyway. The mammal list started with a fox and roe deer but no sign of the last of the scarlet macaw colony that once existed in the area. The Egyptian geese were everywhere and we saw several pairs locally. Moving on to Haarlem where in a park a few alexandrine parakeets were found amongst the ring necked parakeets. We headed back to Leiden for some lunch and then off to the Hague for Senegal parrots. They were not anywhere despite an extensive search of their haunts. We had loads of exotics in the waterways, Canada geese and greylag geese were amongst the large numbers of Egyptian geese. A couple of very dodgy black swans were also found . A white stork nest complete with storks was found and a trip to a local park produced large numbers of ring necked parakeets but no Senegal parrots. We tried the roost at dusk but a local event right next door had put them off and no parrots came into roost. We dined in a local restaurant and they even had proper chips!
Dawn broke and we headed off once again to search for scarlet macaws but to no avail. So we headed to Amsterdam where in a park we located a few alexandrine parakeets which showed very well. There were large numbers of ring necked parakeets present as well. One last look for the macaw on our way back to Leiden before parting company with Roelant. I headed off in the pouring rain to look for ducks. First stop was one of the hooded merganser sites (they are present at a few sites and breed at one) despite the pouring rain a drake hooded merganser was present and showed quite well. I visited a site from my last trip a lake on the edge of Worden where I quickly located two black swans who were enjoying the rain more than I, so I did not stay long. I headed to a site for ruddy ducks passing a pair of bar headed geese but I was on the motorway and could not stop. There was one ruddy duck at this undisclosed site (as they are shooting them here as well) but it was distant. I had a closer one in better weather in one of the parks and it was much more tame! I was a bit down with the poor weather and my next stop was no improvement, two excellent nature reserves near Leylstad called Lepelaarsplassen and Oostvaardersplassen in better weather these would easily fill a day or so. But I did not venture far from the car particularly as on the sea wall I could hardly stand. On the reserve I had a great assortment of ducks and terns doing battle with the wind, including a black tern wishing he had stayed a little further south. Somehow a grasshopper warbler was singing its heart out in storm conditions it was quite a feat but he kept out of sight. I moved towards the reserve cnetre picking up a good number of spoonbill for which the area was named I learnt at the excellent visitor centre which was dry and warm and they offered advice on what was about and the best spots. I carried on to Oostvaardersplassen which again was excellent despite the weather but I did not see and of the white tailed eagles that breed there, but I did catch up with some common cranes and large numbers of red deer. The big barnacle goose flock also held a bar headed goose and a few emperor geese there were probably a couple of other species but they were distant and I had to physically hold the tripod to stop it blowing over (and I have a really heavy one). A fox was scavenging near the deer or may be after one of the many rabbits that were around. There were some of the primitave Heck cattle used for grazing management scattered around. The next stop was also in Flevoland another hooded merganser site, a pair were present but in difficult to view at distance and in storm force winds and pouring rain (top May weather!) I headed south to Appledoon to a monk parakeetsite, I had a couple of flyover ones as I parked up, but the rain returned as I got out so I did not venture as far as the nest.
Monday 3rd May
I started off in Arnhem at Sonsbeek park where a wander round produced loads of geese of various non native species but my targets were ducks. I quickly located a rather tame pair of mandarin ducks in the gloom of the morning. Heavy rain took over as I searched for wood ducks but they were present. I checked out another site in Arnhem but nothing but feral ducks. I headed north to Almelo to see if the long staying Baikal teal was still present but it had not been seen for a week, but beaver signs at the site were interesting. The weather was improving as I headed into Germany to Zwillbroker Venn a rather pleasant nature reserve on the Dutch border where flamingos breed. These are the most northerly 'wild' breeding flamingos (clearly they are of captive origin). Three species are present, the most numerous are the Chilean flamingos with a fewgreater flamingos and a couple of Caribbean flamingos some hybrids are occasionally produced. There were several birds already on nests amongst the large black headed gull colony a few med gulls was also present. The first pheasant of the trip was also seen here and a rather nice purring turtle dove the pick of the smaller birds. I had a leisurely afternoon here wandering round in dry weather. The next stop was in Neuss near Dusseldorf where a park holds a colony of free flying snow geese after eventually finding somewhere to park I took a wander quickly finding the lake with 20 or so snow geese including some blue morphs. They nest on the island and fly freely around. There were also Canada geese and white fronted geese present as well, they were all pretty tame. I drove a couple of hours to Kassel arriving late afternoon and visited a Commonwealth war cemetery high up on a hill, singing skylarks the breaking the eerie silence. My main purpose was to scour the town for racoons introduced to this part of Germany and are common at night in the town. I scoured the town for a suitable area, a wood next to some suburbs looked a good spot and indeed it was with two sightings within an hour. I located a bin on a lamp post emptied of rubbish definite racoon work, so I put some bait down and waited a couple of hours in the hope it would return but it never did. I took a drive round picking up a fox and a couple of badgers before the sat nav had me entering some forestry tracks although they were metalled. I came upon a tiny fox cub sat in the middle of the track and got a poor photo before he moved off. Another hour produced nothing so I called it a night.
I started the day at Wuppertal Zoo where some American chipmunks (the exact species is not known) live wild in the grounds and in the gardens nearby. I spoke to the staff none really spoke good English but they did confirm their presence and that they were hard to find but they saw them in all parts of the zoo. The persistent drizzle made it harder to find them but eventually one gave up its presence with their characteristic call but it was high up in the trees and I got nothing more than brief views. I scoured the whole zoo for hours without any more sightings. I did a few touristy things in improving weather finding a palgue of bank voles at one site. I arrived in Wiesbaden late afternoon to search for parrots in a park. A few alexandrine parakeets and loads of ring necked parakeets were present but no sign of any parrots.
Wednesday 5th May
I battled the really early morning traffic and pouring rain to get to Stuttgart's Rosenstein park, I parked in a very dodgy area where some dealing and selling of stolen goods was occurring (another reason for not taking the wife). Still the yellow fronted Amazon parrots didn't seem to mind at least seven were seen in a short visit. But I could not find the blue fronted Amazon that is also present. With little else about apart from a confiding hare I moved on to Ludwigsburg a bit like Richmond park they have some deer not captive but not wild. A large herd of fallow deer some mouflon although I had a nailed on site in Belgium for some wilder ones and some Axis deer which were the most elusive. The rain came so I headed off to Waghausel for some nailed on Coypu. The rain went but it was overcast as I arrived, the reserve was excellent with a few hides and loads of pools and channels. Nightingales were everywhere and a bluethroat gave me some brief views as did a grasshopper warbler. I met a few other birdwatchers but they were drifting away as I was arriving. A ruff and several greenshank were present amongst the ducks, coots and black necked grebes but no sign of any coypu. A few purple herons were about the place but the wind was keeping the smaller birds down. I met a local couple who spoke very good English and had just seen a coypu we exchanged sightings and I headed off to the site of the coypu but no sign. Answering a call of nature right at the moment a muskrat not a coypu swam across the channel but it was gone by the time I had finished got the camera etc. not to be seen again. I wandered back to the entrance the long way round and picked up a coypu swimming across one of the ponds briefly although only got a record shot. I passed a family of Canada geese on the path when a large vole moved from the bank into a channel, a water vole but in seconds it was gone. Walking back to the car I encountered another family of Canada geese which I was herding to a spot to pass them when out of nowhere I was hit square in the face by a greylag geese and knocked to my feet. His family along with another Canada family were over 30 metres away and I had not really seen him concentrating on the Canada's in front of me. He flew back to his family and they all ran off. The Canada family near me were alarmed by the attack and in the confusion lost one of the goslings. I got to my feet having a sprained ankle, a swollen lip and muddied clothes located the gosling caught in a bramble, freed him and reunited him with the Canada family. I easily passed them and carried on, the greylags had disappeared so my path was clear. That was when I noticed my rain shield from my bins was missing lost in the attack so I had to negotiate the Canada family again to retrieve it and pass them once again on my return all without incident. As I was leaving I met a local birder and we swapped sightings, he had just seen 7 wood sandpipers and snipe from the hide so I went to take a look. I scanned for a while but they had clearly moved on and was just about to leave when a large coypu swam by and started to feed mostly hidden but eventually came out into the open but the light was fading fast but I got some photos. I finally decided to head back to the car when the heavens opened and 20 mins later when I reached the car the rain promptly stopped - magic!
Thursday 6th May
Torrential rain did not awake me but the alarm from next door set at 5:30 did, the fact he checked out yesterday and no one else checked in meant it continued endlessly. About 6.30 I left and went into Heidelburg for a walk by the river I only found one swan goose there are more that live here, but it was a bit of a half hearted effort due to the weather. I went into the zoo when it opened, plenty of exotics here but I was after one in particular in the ape house. Here free roaming tree shrews live but they have made it into the zoo grounds and even into the university. They pass out of the apes internal quarters to the outside world and further a field, there was one just going into the gorilla enclosure as I arrived but none ventured out probably due to the weather. The staff have been recapturing them and a trap was deployed nearby. A few touristy things were done in the pouring rain before heading into Belguim for beavers. Arriving at the beaver site a wild boar was in the road but the beaver site held no beavers and I watched until it was dark. I had another site to try another day. I did a night drive round the area which was fairly productive 3 foxes both fallow and roe deer and two beech martens.
Friday 7th May
I started at dawn at Rouge-Cloitre park on the outskirts of Brussels, it was overcast another perfect day for photography not! I wandered through the wood this early mainly to beat the crowds, dog walkers etc. but there were still a few about. I was in search of Siberian chipmunks which I found after about 10 mins of searching, they were quite weary but using my excellent field craft (food) I soon had them down to a few feet. They could not fathom what to do with monkey nuts so I had to open them up and give them the peanuts. The two I had stalked took a little while to work out there was more than one nut and squabbled over it for a while before a great tit took it and a nuthatch quickly worked out the free food bonanza eating half of the nuts. A short walk further on and I saw at least a dozen more. The lakes here held the obligatory Egyptian geese and a lone drake mandarin duck other exotics the usual geese and some flyover ring necked parakeets. Timed very badly I headed into the centre of Brussels at the tail end of rush hour they are crazy drivers and it was a bit like dodgems at times. I found the spot where several monk parakeet nests were present and they were well attended with noisy occupants. I watched them for a while before heading to the Botanical garden where large numbers of geese live. The weather perked up here and the walk was pleasant all the usual introduced species were here with a feral population of barnacle geese. Both ring necked and alexandrine parakeets were also present in the gardens. With the weather improving I headed to a site for terrapins but as I arrived the sun had gone and the rain started so no terrapins. I had some reports of Pallas Squirrel at a site just over the border in the Netherlands so despite the rain I headed there. I eventually found the site as some roads were blocked off and to my surprise quickly located a squirrel, hastily getting the camera out of the bag etc. it had gone. But after a few mins it returned and I got a few shots before the camera was too wet. I had a wander round what turned out to be a nice reserve but the weather was not on my side. Back at the car I could hear sandhill cranes I drove a little way and could still hear them, I homed in on the call to find fields full of them and 10 other crane species as well as red necked wallabies. It was a breeding farm with well over 100 cranes. I headed off to my last destination of the day stopping again at the next farm which also had Sandhill cranes along with a large selection of exotic waterfowl some I did not even recognise. Perhaps the squirrels came from here originally. My last stop was at Zammel with one target American bullfrog but even in the pouring rain they proved elusive with only brief views, the marsh frogs present behaved no better. As dusk came I headed off to dry out.
Saturday 8th May
Dawn broke and I was scouring the forests and farmland in an area where mouflon are apparently common, or not. After hours I eventually found a small flock (but they were easier than on a recent trip to Southern Spain). I spent the rest of the morning in the woods near the beaver site but only added a few bird species to the list, so after a bite to eat I headed off to the beaver site itself. On the way a white Rolls Royce haring down the centre of a narrow road refused to move and despite me moving off to the side onto the grass he hit me. The car not badly damaged and he admitted it was his fault until he saw the damage on my car and back tracked. I started taking photos and asked for his details he refused so I started to call the police he then co-operated a bit more, as I left I found my tyre marks in the mud off the side of the tarmac and none on his, I hope this photographic proof will help but I am sure this will be a protracted and difficult claim. I parked up at the beaver site by a nice stream, I took it easy for a while watching a song thrush chasing off a jay from her nest. I walked the mile or so up the valley to where a beaver dam was and fresh signs of activity. There was also evidence of plenty of wild boar activity nearby as well so I was going to be in for a good night. I whiled the afternoon away watching firecrests and other common species on the woodland edge. A black stork flew over and I settled in to my well hidden vantage point, so hidden a fox tried to use it before realising it was occupied. There was no sign of either beaver or boar and after a few hours of darkness I went back to the car, a bit of a poor day to finish the trip on.
Sunday 9th May
I had a nice lie in due to yesterdays late finish followed by touristy stuff, a peregrine falcon of note before a late afternoon evacuation from Dunkirk home. The weather never really made it suitable for ice cream but I did have a few chips on what was an eventful trip.
