Cbirding, English Style: One huge Bog!

What do you want on a Sunday that might be sunny, a beer? sleep 'till 12:00? Or getting up around0 5:00 and go for 1 huge bog? I went for the latter, together with Pim J. who (fortunate for me) picked me up in front of my house. 1.5 hour and 3 dead Hedgehogs later we arrived at the Fochtelooerveen (don't try to pronounce that, please..) finding it filled up with fog so we went for an other walk close-by.
While Pim was phoning his wife I suddenly located a Corncrake that was calling nearby and after a couple of yards we heard another one calling closeby, I even got to make a recording that can be heared here : http://waarneming.nl/sound_details.php?id=504
Thx to Menzie I even got to make a Sonogram (above), I can't tell you much about it though. The Corncrake repeated it's song 5 times, the bending thingie in between is a Linnet (clearly audible on the recording). We heared 3 Corncrakes in the area, couple of Yellowhammers, manny Linnets and 1 Whinchat. 1 Siskin flew by as we drove to the next walk.

We made a walk through another area next to Fochtelooerveen, few Goldfinches feeding, 1 Crossbill flew over our heads and 1 smexy Red-backed Shrike male in the bushes, Pim spotted a female after that close by. A pair of Whinchats perched quite nicely.
We ended up right next to the Fochtelooerveen so we figured we'd make a walk there instantly, I was very excited with my first Small Red Damselfly, it was a dull female though there were some males present:

Winchat seems to be very common in these parts of Holland, I rarely get to see them in my county. Few Stonechats present and again a lot of Linnets.
Next we drove to one of Hollands most extraordinary hides, it's shaped like a 7 and is 16 meters high, we got good views on Common Cranes and Hobby's. Het Fochtelooerveen is the only place in Holland where Cranes breed, they started in 2001 and in 2005 even 2 pairs! We saw 5 birds including 1 juvenile, unfortunate we didn't see the Short-toed Eagle that has been lingering there for years now.

^The hide of all hides

^PJ

The Cranes were a bit distant but I managed to get 1 'decent' shot.

The Fochtelooerveen, really large, compare with the White wagtail in pic. 2

The wagtail was so close to the tower that with 20x you could hardly get the entire bird on screen, so I made a close up.

While I was photographing a Ringlet this damselfy flew by, it was a White legged Damsefly, a new species. When I reported the sighting I got a message that it was the first White legged for the Fochtelooerveen ever..

This Sooty Copper was near the parking lot.

We then dropped by the only place in Holland where Red-necked Grebes breed regurly, a lot of Yellow Wagtails on the road to the hide.

And again the northerns have developed a strange kind of hide, you have to walk 162 meters underground in order to climb a stair to the smallest hide ever ;-)

Diependal is sort of an oasis for birds, in the middle of all kinds of meadows there is this huge water area with reed. 2 Spoonbills were present, as was 1 Great white Egret. Pim found the first Red-necked and Black-necked Grebe of the day. When I was trying to get a glimpse of the closest Red-necked Grebe I noticed 2 swans, they were swimming away from me so I couldn't see their beak. When they started foraging 1 of them showd his lower jaw (underside of the beack) and that was yellow! With Mute swans that part is black (sometimes lighter but never yellow), when 1 turned his head it was clear to me that I was looking at the only pair of Whooper swans in Holland atm, really cool! At another hide there were 12 Black-necked Grebes, 2 Goldeneyes (!) and 1 Red-necked Grebe.

^Spoonbill
^Red-necked Grebe

We drove home, well, I thought we did. Pim had other plans, we stopped at the Vossemeerdijk near Kampen and had a look at some flamingo's, 10 of them were Chilean and 3 Greater, another new species for me!

^2 Greater Flamingo's ^1 Greater Flamingo (right)