| NOVEMBER |
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Second week of November I went back to Germany for the Cranes. Not as far as Mecklenburg Vorpommern though. Me and my cousin Eli ("Olepole") went to an area with bogs and moors between Osnabrück and Bremen. The area is called "The Moors of Diepholz". For migrating Cranes it is a stop between NE Germany and NE France (Lac du Der). You have to be here late October or beginning of November. First week of this month people counted about 60.000 Cranes in this area. Around Wagenfeld there are various moors and agricultural land with some leftovers from the maizefields. The Cranes sleep in the moors and, at daytime, feed in the cerealfields around the moors. Every evening there are flying to the sleepinggrounds.  Lonely crane on it's way to the moor.The most interesting moors are: The Rehdener Geestmoor, just northwest of Wagenfeld and the Neustädter Moor, east of Wagenfeld. In both moors there are impressive observationtowers. The Geestmoor is spectacular in morning and late afternoon, because there is a large sleepingplace for cranes. The Neustädter moor is an extensive landscape of heather, bog and surrounding forest.  Neustädter Moor (from observationtower)Besides Cranes there are several other birdspieces in this time of year, like geese, raptors (specially Hen Harriers) and Great Grey Shrikes. In the Geestmoor is even a sleepingplace for Hen Harriers. Eli and I saw about 8 different Harriers at the same time(mainly males). The picture below, a female Hen Harrier, was taken at the Neustädter Moor.  Last week of November winter was knocking on our door. Frosty nights and a little bit of snow here and there. Walking alongside the IJssel River I suddenly stumbled upon a juvenile Goshawk who was eating from a hare she just killed. The next day I brought my camouflagetent and managed to make some pictures of this magnificent raptor.  The Goshawk and what was left of the hare. The juvenile female Goshawk |
picture:The Rehdener Geestmoor in the morning