The Green Heart of The Netherlands

Everybody knows Gouda for it’s world famous cheese. But since cheese is made from milk that comes from cows that need to eat lots of grass, there must be some green fields in the neighbourhood. And indeed, Gouda is at the centre of what is called The Green Heart of The Netherlands. Close to the rivers Hollandse IJssel and Gouwe as well as near by the Reeuwijkse Plassen there is an abundance of green flatland. Yesterday and today I took my camera out to see what was on offer in terms of wildlife. In this blog I will share the results.

My first stop, yesterday, was a natural reserve called Goudse Hout. This area has many ditches in typical Dutch grass land.

There are various public footpaths available and the reeds alongside the ditches provide shelter for insects and waterfowl.

Walking at the end of the afternoon, you can here many birds performing there evensong, but with all the trees now fully green, there was is no change to see any of them long enough for a decent picture.

It was however with great pleasure that I saw two Small White butterflies (Pieris Rapae) mating. Their courtship was like a ballet in the air. The results are shown below.

 

When crossing one of the ditches by the small bridge, I did see a dragonfly hovering over the water. As always, you cannot automatically see which one it actually is, but I knew I would sort that out at home. Picture first, name later…

It turned out to be a male Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum Cancellatum). The first picture was tsaken while he was resting on a leave, but later he performed it’s aerial dance and I was able to caught him in the act.

This dragonfly occurs nearly all over Europe except northern UK and Scandinavia; to the east, the range extends to Kashmir and Mongolia.

The adult male has a blue abdomen with a black tip and transparent wings, and the female has a yellow (later: brown) body with black bands along the abdomen and transparent wings. Even the immature males look that way. (source: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

Today, while cycling near the lakes of Reewijk, I saw four Barn Swallows (Hirundo Rustica) on a power line. They were not going to fly while I had my camera ready, but as soon as I stowed it away…you get the idea. Still, since it was the first time I took a picture of this versatile flyer, I could not keep it from this blog.

And therefore I will also show the four of them, resting on the lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, a picture of some Greylag Geese (Anser Anser) that had just landed, as the picture on top shows. They look beautiful against the green background of this wonderful area in The Netherlands.