Posts Tagged: wadden sea

Strandskade

… so the oystercatcher is called here in Denmark, which literarily translate to beach magpie. Indeed it’s black an white feathers provoke similar names in other countries. In Germany it fun name is “Halligstroch”. Once again the similarities to an ostrich are bound to its black and white appearance and its storming around in the mud.
I had to find a spot where I could approach them better and faster than in the muddy wadden sea. Luckily Rømø is connected to the mainland via a huge dam that even has a bicycle path. I rode out there and along the dam birds were sitting in lager flocks… and off course they took off whenever I got closer than fifty meters. Anyway, light was good and they seem to know that they didn’t have to go far to be out of my reach.

Actually, I got out there in hope to find some bald eagles hunting. Yes, their population is growing and they found out about the wadden sea and its festive table of food. Somewhere I read that they often can be observed from the dam Off course no eagles too be found but that kind of endeavor takes more than one spontaneous cycle ride to be successful. Enjoy their oystercatcher in flight. I did and the challenge I posed to myself in the last post… well, check!

Bar-tailed godwit

Wikipedia states that they are an endangered species, although noting that they tend to show up in large flocks of ten thousand birds a more in the wadden sea. Here on Rømø they do appear along the shallow shores of the madden sea quite frequently. Took me few hours and dirty cloth to get near enough to get some decent pictures. There is nothing to hide when water is gone and the flat, muddy ground with its inhabitants that are used to spent half a day under water and the next in the wet mud. When I was farest from the shore the rain set in and it was about than that they partly started ignoring me and seem to care more about digging for foot than running away from me. Before I wasn’t able to get closer than 30 meters, as one of them hissed its waring call and all flew off. This was the first session and there is more to come. The oystercatchers are far more sensitive and shy away earlier….. challenge accepted. 😉