Monday 14 March 2011

Greetings from Amsterdam

I'm currently in the capital of the Netherlands relaxing after a long day of travelling here from London via Brussels. It's taken nearly ten hours, but I'm now in the hotel where I'll be staying for the next three nights. Tomorrow's plan is to visit the zoo in Amsterdam, commonly known as Artis, as well as the natural history museum and botanic gardens in the same area. Although today was mostly spent in transit, I did get a bit of birdwatching done from my seat in the train from Brussels. Below is a list of birds I saw, including a couple of dubious ones that went just that little bit too quickly...

Great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
Grey heron (Ardea cinerea)
Mute swan (Cygnus olor)
Greylag goose (Anser anser)
Canada goose (Branta canadensis)
Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Wigeon (A. penelope)
Tufted duck (Aythya fuligula)
Hen harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
Coot (Fulica atra)
Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
Herring gull (Larus argentatus)
Feral pigeon (Columba livia)
Wood pigeon (C. palumbus)
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Magpie (Pica pica)
Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
Carrion crow (C. corone)

I'm not sure about the hen harrier, as I say, we were moving at a helluva speed, but I'd like to think it was one. Saw many birds on large water bodies, but without bins and at high speed I had no chance of identifying them as anything other than "bird".

That's all for now, dinner beckons...

2 comments:

Jae Kay said...

That's quite a collection of sightings for a train journey!!

m said...

What can I say, I'm an obsessive :P