Spring is just around the corner - local birding in Zaans Rietveld
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The sun is shining, which with all the grey and rainy weather of late was a nice change. So I was keen to go out and see what type of birds were already nesting and visiting my local nature spot the Zaans Rietveld. I also had something to test. A piece of kit that probably will help to get more keepers while hiking around and not carrying all the weight all the time. I will dive into that topic later.
Like I said the sun was shining it was pretty good weather and with minimal wind it was a well deserved break from the last stretch of winter that gave us mostly rain and wind here in The Netherlands. I took my bike and wandered off to a few of my regular places here in my area in the meadows.
Getting to my first spot I think the local Staatsbosbeheer, its like forest preservation agency, took down most of the trees in this spot, which is a shame but maybe needed to preserve other parts of this area. Nevertheless is was way more quiet than before with birds. However there were still two Common Kestrels here and one was posing nicely.
Getting that shot it was the only real photo I got in the spot so I decided to move on and go to Zaans Rietveld. This area is another meadow that is managed by Staatsbosbeheer where an agricultural meadow has been given back to nature, to take its course - with some help of the same Staatsbosbeheer. Here you can find many water birds, hares, some Scottish Longhorn cows and smaller wildlife which in turn attracts birds of prey like the Kestrels, Buzzards, Kites and more. This time it was more water birds and especially a lot of Godwits.
In the end a really nice two hours spend and seeing the first signs of nature. Trying out new gear but will keep that to myself for now. Let me know what you think and don’t hesitate to leave a comment or an e-mail. Click to view larger in a light box and navigate with mouse or arrow keys. Enjoy!
