Spring flowers

There's a saying in Holland 'Bloemen houden van mensen', meaning 'Flowers love human beings'. I'm not a typical macro photographer, but last weekend I got the change to join an excursion to a nature reserve for a highly vulnerable plant species, snake's head frittilary. About 80% of the Dutch population can be found in the wet grasslands on the outer banks of IJssel and Vecht, around the small town of Hasselt. This plant belongs to the lely family and gives beautiful purple or white flowers in the last weeks of April. Our guide learned us some interesting facts. Did you know that it takes about 7 years to reach their flowering state? It was quite confronting to see their need for extensive agriculture on the grasslands surrounding the nature reserve. No flowers at all! Manuring and early mowing of the wet grasslands have a devastating effect on them. It's a good thing that this vulnerable species is nowadays protected. We celebrated an ultimate spring morning with beautiful weather.


Cheers,
Dirk-Jan

Bluethroat

One of our most colourful summer residents that arrives in April is the bluethroat. These beautiful birds, with their almost radiating blue throat, inhabit our marsh lands and reed fields. Once the males found a suitable habitat they make regular flights in their small territory and sing from their favorite posts in order to attract a partner for the coming breeding season. Their behaviour is quite predictable. Yesterday evening I found such a territorial male and followed him for about 4 hours. Precious moments with a small friend ................

Dirk-Jan

Yikes ...... Snakes!

Dear all,

Early spring is the ideal period to get out and observe the Dutch snakes. These cold-blooded creatures need sunlight to warm up before they get active. They leave their shelters as soon as the temperature is above 10 degrees Celcius on sunny or partly cloudy days. In early spring their warming takes quite some time and they can be found in moorland on wind-sheltered spots while taking a sun bath for hours. Last weekend we had planned a snake excursion with some friends. We were very lucky with our guide and also the weather conditions were perfect. Thus far I had only seen a few snakes in my whole life, but last saturday we found about 15 of them. Most of them were the dangerous European adder, but we also found one smooth snake. We had a wonderful day with lots of fun, learned a lot, and took some nice pictures of these beautiful animals.

Cheers,

Dirk-Jan