Weidevogels. What does that mean? Weidevogels; literally translated, means "meadow birds". This class of bird encompasses a range of birds both largish and small...birds that like to nest on bare, dry ground as well as those that prefer a tall, grassy paddock. Some of these weidevogels even filter into the urban setting to find nesting places, like roof tops and other, sometimes unbelievable locations. Do you recall the Bip's posting about some nesting geese just outside where she used to work? I am sure that you have all seen YouTube vids of; for instance, ducks and robins that nest in the craziest places. Here in North Holland our group is primarily concerned with farmer's fields. Now then, why specifically farmer's fields? Well, because on land that is reserved for animals or not tilled obviously there is no threat from man...only the natural predators. The farmers on the other hand, represent an enormous risk to nests, eggs and newly hatched chicks. There is a situation whereby farmers can elect to be thoughtful of the wild birds and request a stipend if they agree to observe the suggestions of the weidevogel protectors and conservationists. This means postponing cutting hay or ploughing fields until the nests or chicks can be removed (temporarily) or urged out of the target field. In the case where weidevogels are nesting in paddocks where stock is grazing, then we have special "cages" that we place over the nests so that the cattle or sheep will not step on the eggs or chicks. Back to the funding--it is paid for by tax euros which are allocated by the local government. If a participating farmer has seriously threatened birds nesting on his land then in addition to the stipend, he can get a "bonus"; as it were, for each nest of these special bird's nests that have been identified and recorded. Obviously it is all voluntary as are the army of volunteers that do the legwork of searching, counting nests and eggs and then following up and determining the disposition of the nest and its contents. The farmer signs a contract that is binding and if he does not keep to his agreement, then the money is withheld and not paid. There can be extenuating circumstances where new client farmers are concerned, because for them it is also a learning process. The bookwork is tedious and must be done precisely and recorded on the wall of the farmer's barns. The field worker teams also have a smaller booklet to keep account of how things are going. It goes without saying that all this info is recorded and sent in at the end of the season to the number-crunchers and eventually we get the final, big picture. As for the volunteers-- well, there are advertisements in the papers and on the telly and radio...as well on websites on the internet asking for volunteers. If one wishes to do this work, then they must attend classes and work as a team member for at least three years before they can work independently. The volunteers are then divided and placed in groups in their home regions of the country. This is a country-wide program. Well then, that is the background of the program, now to some of the practical aspects of what I have experienced: The groups gather either early in the morning or late in the afternoon/early evening. The process is simple: first, before entering the field you make yourself comfortable and survey the field and sky as you listen for the bird calls. Then you take out your binocs and scan the field to look for signs of bird activity. Depending upon if the field is grassed or bare soil one spends more or less time with the survey prior to entering the field. Of course bare ground fields can be surveyed for nesting birds or chicks, but usually you just go all the way to the back of the land and simply walk back and forth in the rows until the entire field has been systematically checked. In grassy fields the technique is to spot where you think a bird id nesting and walk straight to it. This may take several attempts, but walking the fields and hoping to scare a bird up wastes time, especially in the early part of the incubating cycle...after a certain point they become, nest fast", and remain seated on the nest until the last moment. Sort of like rabbits in a field. The two bird types that were to be seen in my area nesting on the bare earth were the scholekster and the kievit. Pictures of the birds, nests and eggs will follow shortly. I have mentioned that there are many sorts of birds that fall into the meadow bird category, but all these various types do not occur in every field. Further, things like the wild duck (mallard) and things like wagtails and field larks are not especially looked for; however, if they are seen and a nest is found, it will be noted and counted. Our group was focused upon the somewhat threatened species here and I will list them and show pics in a moment. Right. Oké then", let's begin with the most commonly found of the "big four" which nest on bare ground. First of all there is the Vanellus vanellus. I shall use the Latin names of all these birds so that there can be no mistake what bird I am speaking of. I realize that all these birds have different names locally. These are certainly one of my favourites. I like their flying acrobatics as well as their various calls. I find it a bit exotic-looking as well. Their nests are pretty simple. Often whilst walking in the fields, one comes across several nests that have no eggs in them. They are "practice nests" that the male makes and then tries to convince the female to lay there. A male may make several of these, until the female finally agrees to use one. You can see that this one is a bit scraggly and thus fell short of the mark in the female's eye. The next one however is smooth and is tidy. It will be used by the female. Here is a nest with four eggs in a typical setting for this bird. They also nest in places along the banks of canals or in fields with very short grass. Here is an example of that. These nests are so open to predators such as foxes or the various birds that fly over head. It is surprising that more aren't plundered. I suppose that the egg colouring isn't immediately apparent to the passing predator's eye. This little chick lay so still that if the nest had not been marked, I could have easily missed seeing it. Speaking of marking, when nests are found they are marked with thin bamboo sticks a meter long. The sticks are pushed into the ground one meter or sometimes two to the right and left of the nest (angles inwards towards the nest) in line with how the furrows are ploughed in the field. Like this: Another weidevogel that commonly nests on the bare ground is the Haematopus ostralegus. Their nests are even more Spartan than that of the Vanellus vanellus. These eggs are quite a bit larger than the previous bird's, but are lighter in colour. When we visit grassy fields, a different approach is taken to locating and marking the nests. In such an instance, we look and try and determine where the nest is before we enter the field. Sometimes when the grass is low, birds like the Haematopus ostralegus and the Vanellus vanellus will make nests. Here, the attractive nest of a Haematopus ostralegus. One of the most endangered birds that we monitor is the Limosa limosa. This bird is a wader; as you can see by the length of its legs, but it seems to prefer the moist ground of fields. When the grass has any length at all, it weaves it into a sort of canopy over its body, making it almost impossible to recognize. Have a look at this nest. The nest is just left of the little triangle of dandylions. Do you notice its location in the very centre of the foto? Here is a closer view. When we locate a nest, it is opened and the eggs are counted and documented. Then the grass is pulled back over the eggs and the site is quickly left. This nest had four large and somewhat slender eggs. Some fields do not get mowed, but have cattle grazing on them. The nests must be protected with iron cages to prevent the cattle's heavy hooves from crushing the fragile eggs. I was guesting in the field featured below and the Field Manager told me that the group there were just a tad tardy in getting the protectors in place and the young cattle ruined one of the nests. In this field I found the nest of a Tringa totanus. This bird has been on the threatened list for a while, but is making a comeback in its numbers. The nest was not easy to see, but I did notice a little hole in the grass tuft and stopped, looked and took one step closer and the female exploded out of the nest. I looked inside the little tunnel and counted three eggs, then quickly closed it up again. The next step was to place a steel protector directly over the nest. Then I swiftly moved away to record the findings in the record booklet. Looking back, you can see how it is situated. After making the notations, I scanned further from the edge of the field before proceeding. I don't know what it was in this field, but these young cattle really seemed to like me. While I was kneeling down to write, there was one that came right up to me and nuzzled my cheek and licked on my jacket. I pursed my lips as if to kiss it, and my bride snapped a foto. That rat! Hahaha--it was a cute pic, though I shall post this one instead however. Sometimes when we go back to check on the progress of the nests, we encounter some of the lesser pleasant aspects of the field work--predation. Here is a foto of a nest that has been plunderd by something like a fox or weasel. Sad, but a fact of life. So, I have outlined the various aspects of the field work that we do: the observing, finding of nests and eggs, recording, and the final aspect before handing in the final data is what we call, "Alarm Counting". This is basically a technique where one walks into a field that has been monitored to see what birds fly-up. They are counted and their type is checked-off. We notice their behaviour--if there are chicks present they have a recognizable behaviour...so that is noted. Why do this? Well it has to do with the farmer ploughing or mowing. If we determine that there are probably chicks in the field we will either place sticks with plastic bags on them (the noise will frighten the birds to the edge of the field), or if it is a bare field, we can sort of herd them aside. Then the farmer can do his work. It is a very satisfying work if you particularly like birds. The figures that we gather, seen in the bigger picture nationally and world wide gives one the idea of how things are going with any particular bird sort. The trends determine actions to be taken. I realize that has been a long-winded posting, but I hope that you will find it interesting. it is work that most people could do with a minimum investment of time.I know that Marlingardner does things along these lines. Addendum: All of the foto's of the birds were not taken by me but rather gathered from the internet to show what the birds in question look like. Perhaps you recognize them and know the common name at least in your region.
Sjoerd, I enjoyed this posting very much.. I admire and praise people who give of themselves (time, energy, money) in support of conservational efforts... Hank
Thanks for the long-winded, informative and very interesting post! You're doing a hugely important job for the birds, and I'm so glad you take the time to do it. I wish we had that kind of program here, but we haven't as far as I've managed to find out. The cows seem to have taken a liking to you. Or is it that they're worried about their grass?
Thank you so much, HANK--I appreciate your words veryu much. Thanks CHERYL--It is so kind of you to say so. Thanks so much, DROOPY--I'll bet that there is such a program up there. I know that there is a bird protection organization that organizes bird counting there...so perhaps they do this kind of conservation as well. Ach the cows: I think that it was love at first sight.
Hi Sjoerd- I also enjoyed reading your post. It is sure a good thing for this earth that there are programs like this, and people like you who will do this to preserve our wildlife. You must have a really trained eye to see some of those nests. Amazing that these birds nest in such vulnerable places. Interesting bird pics too! The cattle know a good guy when they meet him!
S, That was a great informative post. We have none of those birds here and it was very interesting to see them and learn about their nesting habitat, too. Thanks!
Hi Sjoerd, a great project,..i like those steel frames you placed over the eggs,..its very hard to spot those eggs and the chicks and many a time i nearly stepped on a nest but for the dogs alerting me by sniffing the spot. We also have a nationwide program to protect wildlife,..no cutting of hedgerows during nesting time,..and farmers do enter a contract not to cut the hay during the time the Crex crex,'Corncrake',..breeding period. Many times i decided to go ashore on the river i was politely told you may but not with the dog as the Tringa totanus,'Redshank',.. were nesting,..its nice to see people protecting the wildlife here,..and i am pleased to see it happening where you are located. Lol about the cows,..you shouldnt tempt them.
Hiyah KAY--Thanks for reading the posting and thanks for the compliments. You are a very nice woman. Spotting nests?--well, I have a little krinkel in my brain whereby I can remember things that I see and in a way I can see some small, miniscule part of something and recognize it as a part of a known whole. There is also something in that head of mine where I can somehow blur out surrounding things and see what I am looking for very sharply. It is a little oddity that has come in handy in the past for this and that. Cows--I like 'em. Thanks C-- I appreciate your kind words. I am really pleased that you liked the posting. PHILIP--Thanks for liking the posting. Yes, those metal cages are very strong and really do the trick. They are made from pieces of that steel mesh that is used in conjunction with concrete for strengthening. They have been cut to size and then held together with those plastic ties that you can make ever tighter, but cannot make loose again. I do not know the english word for those. I was really pleased to hear that you folks have a conservation program there. Corn crakes are endangered over that way, I have heard. Boy, I would like to see one of those in real life. I believe that we have this bird here as well, but I have never seen one. I really like the redshank. They have such sweet calls. Hahaha--the cows--yes, give them a little attention and they want to monopolize you completely--Udderly ridiculous. ;-)
Hiyah KAY--Thanks for reading the posting and thanks for the compliments. You are a very nice woman. Spotting nests?--well, I have a little krinkel in my brain whereby I can remember things that I see and in a way I can see some small, miniscule part of something and recognize it as a part of a known whole. There is also something in that head of mine where I can somehow blur out surrounding things and see what I am looking for very sharply. It is a little oddity that has come in handy in the past for this and that. Cows--I like 'em. Thanks C-- I appreciate your kind words. I am really pleased that you liked the posting. PHILIP--Thanks for liking the posting. Yes, those metal cages are very strong and really do the trick. They are made from pieces of that steel mesh that is used in conjunction with concrete for strengthening. They have been cut to size and then held together with those plastic ties that you can make ever tighter, but cannot make loose again. I do not know the english word for those. I was really pleased to hear that you folks have a conservation program there. Corn crakes are endangered over that way, I have heard. Boy, I would like to see one of those in real life. I believe that we have this bird here as well, but I have never seen one. I really like the redshank. They have such sweet calls. Hahaha--the cows--yes, give them a little attention and they want to monopolize you completely--Udderly ridiculous. ;-)
Sjoerd, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post, what a noble job you are doing! keep up the good work and the interesting posts.
CRIS--Glad that you liked this. I believe that it is necessary work, but it also has personal benefits in terms of being outside, walking kilometers and kilometers and it is great for relaxing the mind, for when in the field I am focused on what I am doing and nothing else...and that is relaxing for me. Thank you, KK.
wonderful post sjoerd, and wonderful work you're doing there. i'll have to check into what the farmers do here. i know we have peoples here who keep count of flocks of birds at different times of the year. a fun job and vrey itneresting. those nests are so weird, the ones in the open. course, our girl ducks are making new nests every other day trying to fool us. they are not very experienced, and they make them out in the open and they look much like your pics. only one girl who's trying to be broody has a nest full of her feathers and the 'white rock' she's setting on covered with straw. i thought all birds covered their nests with straw or feathers, except the newbies who are just learning. i was surprized to see your pics of the open nests! those cages are made of what we call 'rebar'... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebar we have a lot of pieces of that on this place from when the previous owners built the cabin before we bought it. it's neat stuff to work with. i was wondering if the birds mind those cages over their nests? i would think it would bother them. you wrote about keeping books aand numbers being kept on the side of the farmer's barn. is that with paint? are there any pics of these barns? i thought it was a cool idea!
Thank you so much, Bunkie. I am really surprised how those birds can nest on practically bare ground. Of course terns DO nest on pure ground...or should I say, "stones and pebbles". I shall try and take some pics of the barns and sheds to show you. Keeping the stats: There is a paper form that is hung inside the barn or shed on a wall, and the form has columns and squares to record the data in. Thanks for the info on the "rebar". I do not think that the birds mind the presence of the grating, at least they do not loose their eggs or young. Those sections of rebar are great to use to make arches for climbing plants. I have been looking for some used rebar to make some arches for my lottie, but it isn't common to find and a piece of it is a bit expensive.
