[NatureNS] Dutch & Belgian birds

Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:19:20 -0300
From: Brian Bartlett <bbartlett@eastlink.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Cc: marles@nb.sympatico.ca
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Having spent two weeks of May in Belgium & Holland, I'm sending a few photos of birds and other things seen there. These aren't Nova Scotian images, so might not fit some people's idea of the mandate of this listserv. But I thought that since many are of waterfowl--and Nova Scotians have special reasons to be interested in waterfowl--some of you might enjoy seeing them, especially those of you who haven't travelled in Europe (birders who've travelled in Europe will no doubt be familiar with the species photographed here). Many of these species are feral or "introduced" in Europe -- Mandarin Duck, Bar-headed Goose, Egyptian Goose, Canada Goose... Jackdaws are very common, but rather exotic to a North American eye, I suppose as a Red-wing Blackbird might be to a European eye. I found them entertaining to watch. 
    Many of these photos were taken in a protected forest of The Hague, Clingendael, about a half-hour bike ride from the North Sea. Others were taken by canals in Bruges (Belgium), and in Amsterdam. Coots are common on the canals. In the town of Delft, made famous by the painter Vermeer as well as the pottery, I saw Coots nesting on the canal right across from where Vermeer is suspected to have lived. Notice that this coot, Fulica atra, lacks the bill-shield's red bump on the American Coot, Fulica americana.
    I've also thrown in a few miscellaneous photos, including one of the ocean god Neptune (a living busker in an Amsterdam square), two showing the Bear as a symbol for Bruges, a couple of oddly located mirrors in the greenest area of Brussels, and one of a hard-to-define work of art in the main lobby of the Musees des Beaux Arts in Brussels. It was created by Jean Fabre, an Antwerp-born artist descended from the famous entomologist, Jean-Henri Fabre. As far as I can tell, the globe is covered with the bodies of many thousands of dead beetles. (Fabre apparently has done paintings using his own blood and sperm as paint, so it seems likely he would've used real beetles for this oddly disturbing work.)
Brian (thanks to Ian M. for some help id'ng the birds)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Picasa Web Albums 
To: bbartlett@eastlink.ca 
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2008 10:51 AM
Subject: Invitation to view Brian's Picasa Web Album - Dutch birds


     You are invited to view Brian's photo album: Dutch birds
              Dutch birds
            Jun 4, 2008
            by Brian 
            View Album 
            Play slideshow  

      If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser:
      http://picasaweb.google.com/bbartlett53/DutchBirds02?authkey=tmKuHQlO-E8 
      To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.
         

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<DIV><FONT size=2>Having spent two weeks of May in Belgium &amp; Holland, I'm 
sending a few photos&nbsp;of birds and other things seen there. These aren't 
Nova Scotian images, so might not&nbsp;fit some people's idea of the mandate of 
this listserv. But I thought that since many are of waterfowl--and Nova Scotians 
have&nbsp;special reasons to be interested in waterfowl--some of you might enjoy 
seeing them, especially those of you who haven't travelled in Europe (birders 
who've travelled in Europe will no doubt be familiar with the species 
photographed here). Many of these species are feral or "introduced" in Europe -- 
Mandarin Duck, Bar-headed Goose, Egyptian Goose, Canada Goose... Jackdaws are 
very common, but&nbsp;rather exotic to a North American eye, I suppose as a 
Red-wing Blackbird might be to a European eye. I found them entertaining to 
watch. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Many of these photos were taken in a 
protected forest of The Hague, Clingendael, about a half-hour bike ride from the 
North Sea. Others were taken by canals in Bruges (Belgium), and in Amsterdam. 
Coots are common on the canals. In the town of Delft, made&nbsp;famous by the 
painter Vermeer as well as the pottery, I saw&nbsp;Coots nesting on the canal 
right across from where Vermeer is suspected to have lived. Notice that this 
coot, Fulica atra, lacks the bill-shield's red&nbsp;bump on the American Coot, 
Fulica americana.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I've also thrown in a few miscellaneous 
photos, including one of the ocean god Neptune (a living busker in an Amsterdam 
square), two showing the Bear as a symbol for Bruges,&nbsp;a couple of oddly 
located mirrors in the greenest area of Brussels, and one of a hard-to-define 
work of art in the main lobby of the Musees des Beaux Arts in Brussels. It was 
created by Jean Fabre, an Antwerp-born artist descended from the famous 
entomologist, Jean-Henri Fabre. As far as I can tell, the globe is covered with 
the bodies of many thousands of dead beetles. (Fabre apparently has done 
paintings using his own blood and sperm as paint, so it seems likely he would've 
used real beetles for this oddly disturbing work.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Brian (thanks to Ian M. for some help id'ng the 
birds)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- 
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A 
title=picasawebalbums-noreply@google.com 
href="mailto:picasawebalbums-noreply@google.com">Picasa Web Albums</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=bbartlett@eastlink.ca 
href="mailto:bbartlett@eastlink.ca">bbartlett@eastlink.ca</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, June 06, 2008 10:51 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Invitation to view Brian's Picasa Web Album - Dutch 
birds</DIV></DIV>
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