Tuesday, November 25

Snowy owl on snowy Texel

Last weekend a bird species that has been on my wish list for a long time brought our family for a weekend trip to Texel. A snowy owl, a high arctic bird species, is currently present at our favorite Wadden island near De Cocksdorp. During our holiday in Norway (see weblog of May 2008) we dipped this beautiful bird at the Varanger peninsula where on one occassion a birder told us that he just saw a snowy owl flying by 5 minutes ago. Arrgghh...... Time for revenge on Texel.

Fortunately the Texel owl was still present, but unfortunately it was very distant. Even with a Nikon D300 combined with a 600 mm and 1.7 TC (30 times magnification!) it was still a white spot in the green grass fields. The weather was in 'arctic' style as we had snow storms on saterday and sunday. Time for walks on the windy beaches and through the dunes. Of course we finished these refreshing walks with afterparties of hot coffee and apple pie or Texels bockbier!



Cheers,
Dirk-Jan