Rosy starling and catching up..

After a few very busy weeks, I finally have time to write a blogpost again. I was very busy with fieldwork in evenings and nights, so it probably isn't surprising that most of the recordings made are from evening/night active species.
A few weeks ago, on a normal afternoon, I was monitoring House Sparrows in Pijnacker between greenhouses when I suddenly realised I just heard a Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix). A complete strange location for a breeding bird, so it had to be a migratory one. With the realisation that it should be a rarity in this area, I made a (poor) recording for proof. It turned out to be one of the few observations in the muncipality, lucky me..

On the 9th of May we were supposed to meet for the last preparations for the big day. Together with a housemate we have done shopping and were already cooking. I almost died of hunger, but when a Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus) was discovered only 5 minutes from my house, we (Big Day team) immediately ran away, leaving my housemate shocked with half cooked diner. She finally saw how a twitch happened and how I 'suddenly' overcame my hunger :).

It was windy and the bird sat far away. Sheltered by a car, I made a recording of the flushed bird which called only once. The joy of the local birders and sheep is clearly audible ;)

Another adventure in the evening and night at the military area last Tuesday. In my first round in the evening, there were about 30 Common Swifts (Apus apus) swirling around a building. Adults were screaming from out of their nests, a wonderful sound and typical for those warm evenings. Maybe that's why I love them?

The same evening, although a couple hours later, a few juveniles of Long-eared Owls (Asio otus) were bothering their parents with calls for food. A total of eight juveniles were calling, I think it should be from two nests. Will the parents notice the difference between theirs and others kids? How to feed them all! Note the variation between calls:

I almost catched up with my recordings. Yesterday, supposed to be a relaxing afternoon with a picknick, changed into an afternoon birdwatching as an adult Rosy Starling (Pastor roseus) was discovered near Hilversum. We haven't had that much records of adults and for many, including me, it was the first time. I just installed myself with my recording gear (in case of) and sat in a sheltered position when I saw the bill opening and closing through my telescope. I recorded it and only after a while (after my recording), other observers noticed that the bird was singing. Me and another recordist approached the bird to capture a beter recording, but the bird flew away (not because us). It never sang again! Another first for Waarneming.nl and only the fifth for Xeno Canto! The bird was on quite a distance and sang very softly, so I appologize for the noise, but you can hear it clearly. Quite different from Common Starlings isn't it?

Later in the afternoon we went for a Common Rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus), but because of the wind, I couldn't get more than a record 'shot'. I indeed was 'pleased-to-meet-you'.

Pieter Doorn and Alwin Borhem are busy for a big year and they really are on a good schedule and very close to each other. In the evening, we had diner for 5 and went for Common Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus). I failed to record the awesome sounds of Nightjars ('tjoek tjoek' and the stuttering end of the song), but I managed to make a decent recording of the normal song.

In the near future I will write a blogpost of different calls of Reed Warblers and Tawny Owls :)