Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Birds of the Western Scheldt


The Western Scheldt is being talked about. Antwerp wants bigger ships to be able to come to their port and therefore some sandbars had to be dredged. To compensate for this loss of habitat (?) for wildlife, an agreement between Belgium and the Netherlands has been made to flood the Hedwige polder, a very sore point in our province. The main issue is birdlife. This does not pretend to be a scientific point of view, merely a 60 year observation: I have never seen the water as clean as it is today, the birdlife is more abundant then I can remember. The obvious change that I notice is the abundance of Japanese oysters. Their shells are everywhere. Some birds that I managed to catch on digital film:





Top picture: Bergeend, Shelduck, Taranto Taranto
Middle picture: Scholekster, Oystercatcher, Heamatopus Ostralegus.
Bottom picture: Steenloper, Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria Interpres

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