Incubating Whiskered Treeswift: Day24

feest vrijzinnig jeugd

my little girl is growin' up ....

Do something good for nature

Why not support a nature organization this season? yes, you can!!!!! Like the Nature Conservancy, for instance, which beats the system by buying valuable natural areas before they get developed - isn't that brilliant!

Sound of Music | Central Station Antwerp (Belgium)

is this doesn't cheer you up, then I don't know what will .... it's as much fun to watch the expressions of the onlookers as the dancers!

fathers day

What kind of dad gives up his day to go birding with the family --- why, stijnieman!!!!! We did make him champagne breakfast, with strawberries, spoonbread (Virginia tradition), eggs, bacon, toast - yummmmmmmmmm! And let him catch a nice bike ride ... but then we packed him up in the van and drove out to watch the barn owl and little owl babies get ringed at one of my Belgian friends' barns in Oost-Vlaanderen. Was soooooooooooooooooooooo neat to see these little furry fuzzballs!!!!!! They were adorable!

Comptine d'un autre ete : L'apres midi (Planet Earth Video)

just heard this piece by Yann Tiersen, called Comptine D'un Autre Ete L'apres Midi - also on the soundtrack from Amelie. Heard it at the girls' piano recital, and we all fell in love with it immediately! Great to see it with this footage from planet earth -- another of the kids favorites! Alex wants to play this piece someday --- hopefully not too far off in the distant future ....

spring flowers

Got to know some spring flowers this year .... like this purple hyacinth, for instance
and this wild garlic, which smells divine
here's slanke sleutelbloem, also known as wild primrose
and bos anemone, which is also "anemone" in English

from underneath the anemone is even prettier, but you must rise early for this treat

earthday birthday

We celebrated EARTH day today!  Made food webs, talked about how we're all connected in this beautiful thing called LIFE ...   

Made an earthday cake and blew out the candles!
Learned why insects are important ..... #1 - so birds can eat them, of course!
 How did you celebrate?

Belgian dunes

During easter break, we visited de Panne near the French border (Westhoek natuurreservaat), and got a much-needed dose of nature.  Thanks to these donkeys and other grazers, the kids were happily entertained while hiking about!

Scattered around the dunes were green oases (although not looking so "green" here), filled w migrants like whitethroat, blackcap, chiffchaff, willow warbler, grasshopper warbler, stonechat, crested lark.  
The kids just wanted to play on the beach, but our planned detour through the dunescape to search for grazers (wild ponies for Phoebe) delayed us 1.5 h reaching the beach, but as you can see, the kids didn't suffer too much.  
Bont zandoogje is the Flemish name for this vlinder ---- and they were everywhere.  Not a rarity by any means, but definitely a beauty.
Alex was so happy to rescue this toad on the road and deliver it to safety, near the Nachtegaal (Nightingale) visitor center.  We heard so many nightingales!!!!!  But saw not a one ....
The willow warblers grow like weeds here, but they wouldn't behave and give me a decent foto.  Always hiding a beak or a tail ..... guess i need more patience.
Duindoorn, which translates to dune thorn, but again i should look up the proper English name, was spectacular in bloom, and overgrew the trails at Oosthoekduin natuurreservaat, creating the most picturesque views.
love this shot of father and son ...
The kestrel was hard at work, and so fun to watch.  We waited and waited for him to make a kill and were thoroughly entertained by his aerial dynamics. 
The dunes, sands shifting, winds blowing .... nothing lasts for long here ... which only adds to the charm and beauty.