iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Het verdient een mooie naam, zo'n kleurrijke troep #kemphanen en -hennen. Een menigte kemphanen? Een gala? Een karavaan? Verschillende aspecten van de soort roepen verschillende connotaties en woorden op. Wie kan wat moois bedenken?

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Just noticed these upside down spikes in the corners of my hotel room in Spain. What a shitty way to keep the swallows and martins from nesting here. 😪

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

YOUNG GODWITS, GRAND FLIGHTS - Last autumn two young godwits that we feared to have died suddenly sent amazing data from Senegal. They had flown to West Africa in a non-stop flight. Among them W1WCCG, who achieved an AVERAGE speed >90km/h. 😳🤯 Read the story at: www.birdeyes.org/young-godwit...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

On the train back home, still buzzing from some great days at @vogelwarte.bsky.social where Hans Schmid wrote "Getrennte Wege" - a classic synthesis of Honey Buzzard migration. A quarter century later the species has revealed a few more, but still not all of its migratory "Geheimnisse". #ornithology

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Great day exploring the hills around Sempach ahead of a work visit to @vogelwarte.bsky.social. Good practice wt woodland birds of which I've seen very little since moving to Fryslan few yrs ago. Lovely soundscape wt whistling Red Kite, croaking Ravens, ticking Hawfinch, rattling of Mistle Thrush...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

The meadows still have to flood, but the winter bird community at Blaugerzen is starting to form. The first Barnacle and White-fronted Geese are back, and mixed flocks of Lapwing, Starling and Golden Plover are on the fields again. They'll define the birding scene for next five months. #birding

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

Teenagers SILENE and SPARTINA only reached France and N Morocco on their 1st journey in 2024. Now they caught the wave to W Africa! They flew together for 10h until SILENE split of to land in basins of a phosphate factory. Let's see how far they'll go! 2/2 www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

Over the past 2 weeks, no less than 10 Dutch GPS-#Spoonbills made the crossing from Iberia to Africa. They did so in classic Spoonbill fashion by starting the ocean-crossing near Cadiz, rather than taking the Strait of Gibraltar. 1/2 #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

After a super intense week with a back-to-back Spoonbill and Wader Study conference, its time to shift to lower gear for a bit. Starting the day with a slow stroll through the fog at Griene Dyk. Hoping for a Yellow-browed Warbler among the plentiful Gold- and Firecrests. #birding

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

What an honour to open the 50th @waderstudy.bsky.social conference with a plenary on Spoonbill migration culture on the beautiful stage of DOT in Groningen. The Spoonbill-inspired concerto 'Solanum' by Tjibbe Stelwagen and Caspar Kootstra made for a perfect tandem wt the arts. #ornithology

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

A dramatic end for an ambitious Spoonbill. Yday morning LAYLA crashed into the ocean just offshore Madeira, 56h after departing from the Wadden Sea. She rested barely 7h even though she found nice Spoonbill hotspots on the way. Poor choices... #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

The www.BirdEyes.org team is thrilled to announce a new paper by Mohamed Henriques showing how Spoonbills change space use over the course of their summer stay in the eastern Dutch Wadden Sea. After breeding, many adults converge in the Lutjewad area. #ornithology www.birdeyes.org/lutjewad-amo...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Yday >1900 #Spoonbills left 🇳🇱 via the watch-site at Cadzand! Among them were 4 GPS-birds that departed from the Delta, including LUNA who met PLUK in flight over Ostend (🇧🇪). Meanwhile, TAAS and HIDDE jointly flew from Balgzand to the Delta. #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

Five of our GPS-tracked Spoonbills left the Netherlands, four of which flew past Cadzand-Bad after departing from staging sites in the Dutch Delta region. The birds used a narrow migration corridor to cross Belgium, mostly flying within a few 100m offshore, before ultimately dispersing a bit more in northern France.

Spoonbills PLUK and LUNA met each other in flight near Ostend, Belgium, after departing from staging sites in the Dutch Delta and the port of Antwerp, respectively. They flew together for roughly 3.5 hours before splitting up again in northern France.

Spoonbills HIDDE and TAAS departed from Balgzand in the southern Wadden Sea together for a relatively short flight to the south of the Netherlands.

Spectacular number of Spoonbills recorded flying past Cadzand-Bad near the Dutch-Belgian border. 2nd highest count ever in the Netherlands.

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Astounding for the @batumiraptorcount.org crew to reach the 1 million milestone so early in the season. 😳 Congrats to all volunteers and flyway trainees, expertly led by the first ever all-women coordinating team: Eva Drukker, Elien Hoekstra and Mitra Daneshvar. Celebrations are in order! 🤩

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

A Goshawk managed to catch a Snipe at Blaugerzen the other day. Then got the attention of one, two, three Marsh Harriers. In the squabble, a juvenile harrier was eventually able to claim the prey for itself. #birding

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

Ten days ago #Whimbrel LYTSE GRIENE went off radar after many weeks in Cádiz. A sign the bird had continued south, confirmed a few days later: after a 50+h flight to Guinea-Bissau, and a 5day stop in Liberia, he made it all the way to Ghana! #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

A 50+h flight from Cadiz, Spain, to a brief stop in Guinea-Bissau, and then onwards to Ghana via a 5-day stop-over in Liberia and a shorter stop in Ivory Coast. Will LYTSE GRIENE stop here, or move even further along the African coastline?

The 5day stop-over of LYSTE GRIENE near Harper, Liberia, before proceeding eastward to Ghana.

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Migration is a go! Yday 3 @globalflyway.bsky.social GPS-Spoonbills flew from 🇳🇱 to 🇫🇷. Among them were adults MIGUEL (orange) and STERN (purple) who met each other in flight at noon, and then flew together for 9h until they split up again south of Le Havre. www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

Current position of all Dutch GPS-tracked Spoonbills alive today.

Last weeks tracks of Miguel and Stern, including their first migratory flight on Sept 5th. Both birds flew roughly 24h non-stop and flew together for 9h from the Dutch-Belgian border till Le Havre (France).

Miguel and Stern met each other IN FLIGHT around noon on Sept 5th.

Miguel and Stern split up again after 9h of joint flight, each continuing flight for another 5-9h to different stop-overs along France's Atlantic coastline.

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Crappy pics in enerving times. A juv Red-footed Falcon has been staging at my local patch for two days along with a notable influx of Wheatears. This morning a quick stop at the lake shore en route to the office yielded an Osprey and two nice flocks of Spoonbill heading south. #Migration! #birding

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Managed a proper count of the Great Egret roost at Mardyk, Sneekermeer, yday evening wt a fellow birder. A total of 167 Egrets. Most arrived from min bf till 15 min after sunset. At the peak 40 Egrets arived in a 5 min window. Curious how this will develop towards the Egret peak in October! #birding

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

GREATE GRIENE has now been staging in the Bay of Arcachon for over a week, and is likely to stay much longer. For comparison, LYTSE GRIENE has been using a small range in the Bahia de Cadiz for over a month. Curious if and when these two #Whimbrel will complete the trip to West Africa! #ornithology

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

After staging at the Russian-Finnish border near Varanger for 12 days, #Whimbrel GRUTTE GRIENE departed southward in the evening of Aug 17, averaging 66km/h to reach Arcachon (SW France) in the early hours of Aug 20. Over France the bird consistently cruised at 4-5km above sea level. #ornithology

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Wasn't quite sure what to make of this odd cloud formation at Blaugerzen yday evening, but it was hard to miss. Turns out to be a fallstreak hole aka 'hole punch cloud'. The cloud was noticed and photographed by many folks for miles around. Stuff of legends. 🤭 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallstr...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

The vole population around Sneekermeer has been exploding lately. One can tell as much from the huge number of mice-eaters like Great Egret roaming the fields. This evening no less than 150 Egrets came to roost at Mardyk. Overall there may be 200+ Egrets in Sneekermeer area atm! #ornithology

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

Meixu approached at a conference to ask if I could support an MSc project on island use by ocean-crossing migrants. Just so happened I always wanted but never got to delve into this during my pd on falcon migration at @ebdonana.bsky.social. We got going a few weeks later. 🤝🤓 doi.org/10.1186/s404...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

Very proud of @meixu-cm.bsky.social who just released a pre-print of her MSc research, showing how Eleonora's falcons negotiate prevailing winds and use islands to cross the Indian Ocean. A neat collaboration with Laura Gangoso et al from @ebdonana.bsky.social. #ornithology doi.org/10.1101/2025...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

The bulk of the Purple Herons seem to have left from Blaugerzen now all the fields are mown and collected. Fortunately, this handsome adult and juvenile pair still offer great views. The juv is feeding independently but seems to follow the adult wherever it goes. How long will they linger? #birding

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

August is a great month to see Purple Heron at Sneekermeer, but this year feels exceptional. At least 4 ad and 3 juv at Blaugerzen this evening, gathering to roost in the trees around the old turbaries. A distant Red-backed Shrike became species 180 on my Sneekermeer-list. Good summer #birding! 🤓🤩

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

After a tense wait, the 3rd #Whimbrel we tagged in Frisia past April is now back in view too. GRUTTE GRIENE bred 90km SE of Murmansk and is now staging at Varanger. Will GRUTTE GRIENE make a non-stop flight to Africa like POTSKAR did? #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Huge news for bird migration researchers in the Afro-Palearctic flyways! The Sahel Rainfall Index and annual flood extent developed by Leo Zwarts et al (2009,2023) is now #openaccess by Altenburg & Wymenga. Critical data to understand annual survival in migrants! #ornithology sahelrainindex.info

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Spoonbills of Schiermonnikoog tend to move to the mainland shore in late summer, just like this year's young (yellow, left) are doing. Yet most adults (right) linger on the island. Our field crew confirms: lots of late renesting attempts! #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

Early this morning #Whimbrel POTSKAR landed in Guinea, W Africa, after flying 7000+km from St-Petersburg, Russia. It took POTSKAR 5.5 days of NON-STOP flight, varying altitude from 10s of meters over the Baltic and the Med, to >5km over land. #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

After a 10 day sojourn in the taiga of N Finland, #Whimbrel LYTSE GRIENE decided it was time for a change of scenery, and travelled 4000+km to the salt marsh of Cádiz (Spain) in ca. 64h. Made short stops of at most a few hrs on the coast of Sweden and N France, averaging > 60km/h. 🤩 #ornithology

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Just realised that the Black-tailed Godwit I filmed on 11 July -W1WCPP- is actually a @globalflyway.bsky.social bird! Fledged in Koudum, W1WCPP is now exploring the Frisian interior before their first migration. At no point while watching them did I realise they carried a transmitter. #ornithology

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Cool! There are currently two GPS-tagged/colour-ringed juvenile Godwits foraging in the area you mentioned (see map). They are roosting in the Witte and Zwarte Brekken, where yesterday I saw 63 Spoonbills (👇). Funny how often Godwits and Spoonbills end up in the same places. bsky.app/profile/wmgv...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

July is a good time to see the pronounced age difference in the timing of Black-tailed Godwits @globalflyway.bsky.social. While most adults left the breeding range by now, all of this year's young are still in 🇳🇱 and may not leave till Sept. #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Went looking for GPS-Spoonbill IJSBRAND this evening after a tip from Spoonbill researcher Camilla Dreef. There turned out to be an impressive flock of 63 birds, just 5km from my home. 😍 IJSBRAND had gone to forage elsewhere but maybe he'll hang around a bit so I might see him later this week. 🙏

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

I see someone is paying attention 👍🙏. Was also struck by this Whimbrel. So far couldn't find any indication the area was recently logged. Here are 2 street view images of similar forest type 5km from the Whimbrel. Same bird clearly used open patches and avoided forest during breeding.

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Early May we lost contact with the #Whimbrel we tagged in Fryslân (🇳🇱). Last week Potskar (pink) and Lytse Griene (purple) left their respective breeding sites in 🇷🇺 and 🇫🇮, and sent 2 mths worth of data! 🤩 Now waiting for Grutte Griene (green)! #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

The great arrival from the tundra has begun in the Wadden Sea! This evening's tide brought 1000s of Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit and more. 😍 Sadly had to run bf peak tide bc of a storm wt raindrops the size of Phalaropes. Looking forward to an evening tide wt fairer weather. 🤗

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Round trip complete! Spoonbill PRUNUS reached the Wadden Sea yday evening, and after mingling with the Spoonbills on Texel for the night, she arrived back at her Vlieland home this morning - 41 days since she left on her epic adventure! #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Spoonbill PRUNUS is back on Dutch soil! She reached the Belgian border yday afternoon, crossed Belgian airspace in 2h, spent the night in the Western Scheldt and finally moved to Schouwen-Duiveland in Eastern Scheldt Nat. Park this morning. #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Unbelievable ... After flying south on June 8th, travelling up and down the Atlantic coast of France and Spain, and a 10-day trip into the Iberian peninsula, Spoonbill PRUNUS is now heading back north! Will he come back all the way home? #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

Always fun to spot colour-ringed #birds on my local patch at Sneekermeer. Juvenile Godwit W1WCPP was ringed by my colleagues in SW Fryslân this spring. Just a few small areas offer shallow water here through summer. These are also a magnet for waders on passage, incl. 35 Ruff (90% males) yday. 🪶

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Less than 3 wks ago the first of this year's cohort of juvenile Spoonbills tagged for www.waakvogels.nl ventured out on the mudflats. By now, most are making long trips, and some are exploring the mainland shore! They grow up so fast! 😆😍 #ornithology globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

After what looked like a risky 10-day adventure through Spain's interior, PRUNUS is back in familiar terrain. This morning he arrived in the Reserve de Chaise de Lesgau in SW France, where he spent several days around mid-June. What a bird ... #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Spoonbill PRUNUS just keeps on surprising... After spending 8 days in central Spain, PRUNUS is now heading back rather than continuing south. Spent the night in a small wetland near Fuentes de Nava, where it also spent night of 28-29 June. #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Spoonbill PRUNUS is still "pond-hopping" in Spain's interior. This kind of seemingly erratic search behaviour, far from the traditional Spoonbill hotspots, is often not a very good sign. Still, there is hope for this experienced adult. #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Even in summer, Doñana's flooded marshes sustain countless migrant birds from NW Europe. Godwits en route to West Africa, and teenage Spoonbills 'oversummering' in Iberia made do with fish ponds & rice fields last few yrs. Now, they much prefer the marsh! #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

PRUNUS is still hot, but still feels like he is in trouble. After showing very little movement yday, this Spoonbill moved to a tiny lake in the scorching countryside of Toledo. Fingers crossed he makes it to the coast as the heat diminishes. #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

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Wouter Vansteelant @wmgvs.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Dat Tjibbe en Caspar in Lauwersoog spelen is alvast erg toepasselijk. #Lepelaar SOLANUM is geboren "aan de overkant" op Schier. Daarna verbleef ze wekenlang bij 't Lauwersmeer, tot ze daarvandaan naar Portugal vloog. Ik zocht SOLANUM paar keer op, en zag haar bedelen, stoeien, vissen en spelen. 👀🪶😍

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