I have been a super-amateur birdwatcher since a couple of years, (I think I could mark my start probably around the summer of 2013). However, I never really kept notes, which I will do from time to time here.

  • Yesterday (27/09/18) I saw a common sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos in the Bourgoyen who was shaking his/her ass (teetering) all the time. The bird was wading and foraging in a little muddy puddle. I don’t think they are very common in Belgium. They are smaller than I expected sandpipers to be, so it took quite a while to ascertain myself of the species. However their characteristic behavior while foraging makes them actually quite easy to discern.

  • I forgot my binoculars when we were traveling in Denmark. However three noteworthy observations should be mentioned. At Brændegård Sø, in the neighborhood of Faaborg (Fyn) we met a local birdwatcher, who was very well acquainted with the local sea eagles and ospreys. He showed me the large female sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) resting in a tree. Later he pointed us towards a osprey (Pandion haliaetus), who was just starting a hunt. A wonderful bird, which I saw for the first time at that occasion. Later that week, in the neighborhood of Sønderborg, we saw a curlew (Numenius arquata) coming very close to where we were located. It was the first time I had such an exquisite chance to look at this beautiful bird without binoculars, having the feeling the bird was totally at ease with our present. The beak of the curlew remains a wonderful thing to look at.