Sunday 31-May 2009
After Chipriani's closed almost 2 weeks ago, or more, Neil ketp working for the old Boss, VJ doing some wrapping up on the book keeping side.
Then last Friday week he got a DJ spot in the restaurant / cafe "President", and then on Saturday afternoon (yesterday) he was asked to start in the Kitchen doing the "cold" things. He sent me ans SMS then called. He did that and could have a job with them on an ongoing basis. Viv and I went to see him last night , i.e. Saturday 30th May, and he was finished and sitting at the bar chatting to the barmaid. He showed us the DJ table, a "Pioneer" and very good indeed, at least 5,000.00 euro worth.
Last Friday night Neil got an hour in radio Flevoland between 20.00h and 21.00h He gave a very short interview (30 seconds) before he started. He was playing techno house .. or something. That went well, and he said that there was probably app. 1000 listeners at the time.
zondag 31 mei 2009
Birding Sunday 31-May-2009
Birding
Kromsloot park, Sunday 31/5/2009
Sunny day, little breeze, all to play for sheep that eat giant inedible “berenklauw” blocking the swing close gate with new locks.
A long list of usual birds, but as usual the park also holds some surprises.
Blackbirds X 8
Blackcap X 7
Black and white wagtail X 1
Blue tit X 3
Buzzard X 1
Carrion crow X 3
Chaffinch X 2
Chiffchaff X 8
Cuckoo X 1
Common tern X 1 – first time in 2009
Coot X 10
Feral pigeons X 8 flying
Garden warbler X 7
Greenfinch X 3
Great Crested Grebe X 1 not seen in the park since January 2009
Great spotted woodpecker X 1
Grey lag goose X 15 flying
Hobby X 1- always a delight
Hedge sparrow X 1
Jay X 1
Lapwing X 2
Lesser whitethroat X 6
Mallard X 1
Marsh warbler X 3
Nightingale X 1
Purple heron X 1- keeps showing up, now considered a resident
Reed bunting X 4
Reed warbler X 15
Song thrush X 1
Starling X 6
Tree creeper X 2 – gave us a good close up view together with his his pitched call
Willow warbler X 6
Woodpigeon X 7
Wren X 6
I probably missed a few but there you go, can’t win them all?????
Interesting ones underlined, and in bold…..
A fox, lazily and nonchalantly nosing round in the meadow, never even got suspicious though we were I must say reasonably far away.
No swans, widgeon, goldfinches, goshawk, kingfisher, bearded tit (this time) great egret, great tit, grey heron, long tailed tit, tufted duck, waterhen, nonnetjes, gadwell,
Kromsloot park, Sunday 31/5/2009
Sunny day, little breeze, all to play for sheep that eat giant inedible “berenklauw” blocking the swing close gate with new locks.
A long list of usual birds, but as usual the park also holds some surprises.
Blackbirds X 8
Blackcap X 7
Black and white wagtail X 1
Blue tit X 3
Buzzard X 1
Carrion crow X 3
Chaffinch X 2
Chiffchaff X 8
Cuckoo X 1
Common tern X 1 – first time in 2009
Coot X 10
Feral pigeons X 8 flying
Garden warbler X 7
Greenfinch X 3
Great Crested Grebe X 1 not seen in the park since January 2009
Great spotted woodpecker X 1
Grey lag goose X 15 flying
Hobby X 1- always a delight
Hedge sparrow X 1
Jay X 1
Lapwing X 2
Lesser whitethroat X 6
Mallard X 1
Marsh warbler X 3
Nightingale X 1
Purple heron X 1- keeps showing up, now considered a resident
Reed bunting X 4
Reed warbler X 15
Song thrush X 1
Starling X 6
Tree creeper X 2 – gave us a good close up view together with his his pitched call
Willow warbler X 6
Woodpigeon X 7
Wren X 6
I probably missed a few but there you go, can’t win them all?????
Interesting ones underlined, and in bold…..
A fox, lazily and nonchalantly nosing round in the meadow, never even got suspicious though we were I must say reasonably far away.
No swans, widgeon, goldfinches, goshawk, kingfisher, bearded tit (this time) great egret, great tit, grey heron, long tailed tit, tufted duck, waterhen, nonnetjes, gadwell,
maandag 25 mei 2009
Birding 19th May 2009, Kronslootpark, Almere
Neil J Bourke, Almere Plot: Kromslootpark langs the A6, Almere. After buckets of precipitation, and a somber morning at home, doubtingwhether to go out to Amsterdam, or not, and what about flying lessons forJim, no, not on such a rainy morning, and will I go to the Rode Hoed thismorning or not… The afternoon broke clear and bright with patchy areas of cloud. The birdswould be as happy as the dove when the rain stopped after 40 days and 40nights, and would resound all round the park, surely! Muddy entrance hinders us at first but all plastic wellington boots canhandle even the most unfriendly terrain. Is that a purple Heron, or two,yes over the very first plain there are two purple herons in a courtshipflight. We could go home now I thought. And all round a cacophony of summervisitors, from Willow warblers, to Cuckoos, to reed warblers, chiffchaffs,whitethroats, swifts, barn swallows, house martins, reed buntings, andgarden warblers, and some not exotic as green finches, something with theabbreviation “WH” coots, black headed gulls, carrion crows, cormorants,gadwell, (pair) mallard, with soup ducks, grey geese, wrens, blackbirds,wood pigeons, long tailed tits, great tits, blue tits, chaffinches, pair ofgoldfinches, (same place as last Thursday) startling, blackcap, widgeon,(pair) just like last Thursday, great spotted woodpecker, buzzard, muteswan. An admirable list in any one’s books. But let me mention also theHobby, which was sighted not once but several times, and one time eatingsome small prey on the wing, what a sight? Now this is noteworthy indeedand it is only Thursday that we saw him / her last, but it always remains athrill to see it. My wish is to see the Hobby hunting low down (it wasalways high over the treetops today) and for instance chasing dragonfliesover one of the water features in the park. Nevertheless my excitement could hardly be contained when I heard a newsound (to me at least) and staring into the reeds from where it came, Ispied a light coloured bird most unlike the SBNB’s (small brown nondescriptbirds) so prevalent in undergrowth, and with the aid of binoculars the trueidentity was unveiled, namely my First sighting (I purportedly heard onelast year with Wim C in the Oostvaardersplassen) of a bearded tit. Anotherone to chalk down. WOW. With the aid of my secretary, Vivienne, I was able to walk unhinderedthrough the park as Vivienne wrote down the names of the birds as wewalked, a very convenient method of bird counting, and one, which I think Iwill continue using as long as I can. Maybe with some training I may beable to dispatch Viv on her own to the park to do the counts whilstcatching up on some much needed theory on birds back in my library. Question: Why so few song thrushes, Robin, magpies, collard doves,dunnocks, wrens, in the park? Where have all the ducks gone?Another question: where were all the marsh warblers today, and why don’t Ihave meadow pipits, and sky larks, and tree larks, and all the other birdsthat Wim has? The golden oriel keeps avoiding the “park” as well.
Birding 24th May 2009
Birding 24th May 2009
Location: Kromslootpark, Almere
Time: 08.00-09.00h
And the Lord said let there be a host of Startlings decend on the park, and let them eat all that goeth before them, and let there be such a din that all other pleasant birdsong be drowneth out, and let them infest every tree and bush, and cover the plains and paths as locust, young and old alike, and it was so.
What a difference a week can make. A deluge of common or garden startlings, yet they were all in the park on this morning. Have they no homes to go to, like that working class housing estate they were born in?
Aided by my assistant (Vivienne) we noted the plague that decended upon the normally hetrogenously populated mixed vegetation that is the KSP, and if a stranger should have dared to take his constitution for the first time that morning, I am sure he would have left with a most skewed opinion of the fair place.
Nevertheless unperturbed (well we were) we strove on hearing
1. Bearded tits X 4 - sighting of the day I would say, looked like a family, all staying very close together.
2. Blackbirds X 8
3, Blackcap X 7
4. Blue tit X 1
5. Buzzard X 1
6. Carrion Crow X 4
7. Chaffinch X 2
8. Chiff Chaff X 6
9. Common whitethroat X 6
10. Cuckoo X 4
11. Cormorant X 4
12 Coot X 10
13. Garden warbler X 4
14. Goldfinch X 2 (pair)
15. Greenfinch X 1 (particularly quiet)
16. Mallard ( the tame sort who did not bother to interupt their sunning) X 2
17. Mute swan X 3 (flying)
18. Reed bunting X 2
19. Reed warblers X 18
20. Song thrush X 1
21. Tree creepers X 3
22. Willow warblers X 4
23. Wigeon X 1 (drake)
24. Woodpigeon X 3
25. Wren X 6
No woodpecker, Hobby, purple heron, grey or common heron, great egrets, great tits, long tailed tits, lapwing, tufted duck, gadwell, great crested grebe, meadow pipits, hedge sparrow (Dunnock) black and white wagtails, moorhen, magpie, jay, bluethroat, harrier, goshawk, sparrowhawk, nuthatch, .... of course I may have missed them but still ........ What I simply cannot understand is the absence of the swifts, house martins, and barn swallows, which were in abundance last week. This birding remains a mystery indeed.
Neil J Bourke 25th May 2009
Location: Kromslootpark, Almere
Time: 08.00-09.00h
And the Lord said let there be a host of Startlings decend on the park, and let them eat all that goeth before them, and let there be such a din that all other pleasant birdsong be drowneth out, and let them infest every tree and bush, and cover the plains and paths as locust, young and old alike, and it was so.
What a difference a week can make. A deluge of common or garden startlings, yet they were all in the park on this morning. Have they no homes to go to, like that working class housing estate they were born in?
Aided by my assistant (Vivienne) we noted the plague that decended upon the normally hetrogenously populated mixed vegetation that is the KSP, and if a stranger should have dared to take his constitution for the first time that morning, I am sure he would have left with a most skewed opinion of the fair place.
Nevertheless unperturbed (well we were) we strove on hearing
1. Bearded tits X 4 - sighting of the day I would say, looked like a family, all staying very close together.
2. Blackbirds X 8
3, Blackcap X 7
4. Blue tit X 1
5. Buzzard X 1
6. Carrion Crow X 4
7. Chaffinch X 2
8. Chiff Chaff X 6
9. Common whitethroat X 6
10. Cuckoo X 4
11. Cormorant X 4
12 Coot X 10
13. Garden warbler X 4
14. Goldfinch X 2 (pair)
15. Greenfinch X 1 (particularly quiet)
16. Mallard ( the tame sort who did not bother to interupt their sunning) X 2
17. Mute swan X 3 (flying)
18. Reed bunting X 2
19. Reed warblers X 18
20. Song thrush X 1
21. Tree creepers X 3
22. Willow warblers X 4
23. Wigeon X 1 (drake)
24. Woodpigeon X 3
25. Wren X 6
No woodpecker, Hobby, purple heron, grey or common heron, great egrets, great tits, long tailed tits, lapwing, tufted duck, gadwell, great crested grebe, meadow pipits, hedge sparrow (Dunnock) black and white wagtails, moorhen, magpie, jay, bluethroat, harrier, goshawk, sparrowhawk, nuthatch, .... of course I may have missed them but still ........ What I simply cannot understand is the absence of the swifts, house martins, and barn swallows, which were in abundance last week. This birding remains a mystery indeed.
Neil J Bourke 25th May 2009
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