Summer time and the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high
4 Likes
Absolute classic ! 
1 Like
I never realized that Ella is singing about fish fighting for dear life… 
If I decrypted the Dutch subtitles correctly, there was too little oxigen in the water caused by the heavy rain @roger_holland ?
1 Like
Ooo Gordon,
What a nice song to start my day 
Indeed a clasic Toby,
And it’s actually strange that I had never heard this in the lyrics, but now I hear it straight away… I still have a lot to learn in English music, finding lyrics in music that I have been listening to all my life… in the beginning of When I was trying to figure out music lyrics, I often thought they were so stupid that I stopped… my shortcoming/mistake…
And Yes Nicole
In the past, when I was fishing along the water’s edge and it was raining very hard, you would often see a lot of fish on the surface, and passers-by under their umbrella would always shout… "NICE FISHING CATCHING weather ,I see them swimming "… and very occasionally I would just try it out. to explain that it was not exactly the case, but a lack of oxygen …grrrr
Greetings and the song is sounding still in mu head
1 Like
I can just picture this now thinking about nice fish catching weather
1 Like
Ha ha …Good old fashioned TV humor… 
before the days of all reality TV 
Hello interested parties and passers-by
Nature lovers, biologists and forest and meadow managers should definitely read on !!! 
First of all, Sorry James, I was hoping for something more spectacular in terms of photos 
, but fortunately there is Google images , 
first let’s take a look at the photo that it’s all about…drum roll
Okay, that blue line is going well and at this distance I don’t even dare to say with 100% certainty that this is the
Bosbeekjuffer- CALOPTERYX VIRGO
The photo is from last week and we had no idea at the time of the importance of a good photo of the right species, so in theory it could also be the Weidebeekjuffer ( of which we were able to take good photos yesterday … also special and on the ‘Red List’, but not as endangered as the other one)
3 of the male bosbeekjuffers entertained us for more than 15 minutes last week at this water stream, in In de Leuvenumse bossen which has been restored to its original form as much as possible … sometimes only a meter away so very easy to recognize … when we also sent this report in a bit of a hurry last week entered into the national database, I have not yet read whether it was so special, but within an hour I received an email from the manager there who really had to ask whether I had placed the map pin correctly, because this species had long been extinct in the Netherlands except for a few places in the south … all photos of course failed that day …they are very busy flyers , So yesterday we went back to take good photos of this species and …and …and … we didn’t see any flying around … possibly 2 at a distance through the binoculars…but ,well it is how things go when you are looking for them…
It is the first time in more than 13 years that I have walked/drive with legs doing some work in the forest with my girl because most forests are not accessible of course, but here they have built a 2 kilometer long hard sand/shell path for the low to the ground living species
Sometimes I made it a bit exciting and … well I leave a photo of me at the stream later , there I had to go over a lot tree roots, soft patches of grass and a short (6 meter) steep descent, you have to take some kind of extra risk for nice spot It’s a good thing you don’t see some things coming in advance … sorry wife 
Now wrap up,
When leaving the forest yesterday, the ranger woman spoke to me about my experience, I told her that I was grateful to them who makes this possible and when I told her the news about the new species we had seen, she was incredibly happy and proud, because this is the ultimate confirmation that the plan and all the hard work has worked … it started with meandering the stream like it was long ago , meadow fields with many diverse native flowers and stopping intensive livestock farms in the area that make the water oxygenless, and with the perennial ryegrass - (Lolium perenne ) which causes an enormous impoverishment of insect species (close to zero)… I thought I saw tears of happiness in her eyes
That woman with her story was certainly the icing on the cake
Like I said, luckily there is Google images and the photo is really as blue as we have seen it many times last week, sometimes 1 meter away
Made in France by Filip Mineur
Greetings ,Rogier
6 Likes
Here are the photos of the ‘Weidebeekjuffer’ (Calopteryx splendens)
and a nice surprise in the garden: The ‘Distel Vink’ ( Carduelis carduelis )
They normally come to the garden of another flower with up to 15 birds at the same time to eat the seeds in the autumn and winter, in the summer we hardly see them.
It’s funny that some of you have probably seen those insects flying in the ditch behind or in front of your house every day for a lifetime, and that we are so lyrical about this.
our own photos
Man : Status: red list, not in immediate danger of extinction
Female : Status: red list, not in immediate danger of extinction
Male and Female : Busy trying to get off the red list
Man : Status: in danger -
Status: quite common bird but certainly also the most colorful bird at first glance in this wide area
De putter of distelvink(Carduelis carduelis )
So,
I hope that I have made some people happy with this, but it is certainly also important for me to be able to retrieve this as a reference work when more and more gray cells fail me … the guitar-related part is in the name of the professional photographer
Greetings,Rogier
10 Likes
Very nice pictures, Rogier. Wow, you must have a fantastic camera and whoever took those of pictures - your wife or you - has some serious talent 
Reading your updates made me smile a lot. Hmm… I could imagine a little blues piece or blues improv called “Beautiful demoiselle” 
1 Like
Filip Mineur?
You could have took your guitar with you and played some romantic background music.
2 Likes
Hi Nicole, @JokuMuu
Thank you and nice to read.
It is a very small Canon of 19+ years old, 10 to 15 photos per battery (got 5 in a bag now 
) I’m guessing one of the first digital cameras and it was given to us 9 years ago by my sister-in-law who no longer wanted to work with it, but it is indeed making some beautiful photos and it makes us look forward to a newer model…and except for the bird they were taken by my wife, I had to be careful not to fall into the water there
Hi James @james
Yes, the word Mineur is the same here as your Minor … by the way, it is also the bomb disposal company of Stratego
nope ,quiet area, the only ones with wheels that are allowed there are people like me or those of the walking type, BBQ, music etc is not allowed, but during the next non-blues improvisation I will think of this when I meander over the fretboard ( I read that yesterday in a comment by BrianL on one of my topics that he was talking about me meandering over the fretboard and I thought about that when I was looking at the water yesterday afternoon …we where 2 hours there so i could think a lot ,and also keep thinking…Grrrr still no photo that I can show to James…really 
)
Greetings
2 Likes
That was a nice read with some beautiful pictures, Rogier!
That makes my biologist-heart melt a little. 
It’s been way too long I took the time to actually observe some nature in action. But I’m glad you and your wife could enjoy some time outdoors and - even cooler- might discovered that a (believed to be) extinct species possibly settles down again in your area! That’s awesome! Not surprising the ranger was so happy to hear what you told her.
1 Like
Hi Lisa ,
Thank you and
I was thinking of you when I typed that … It’s a shame that fieldwork too often falls by the wayside/sidetrack for many… our group of friends also includes a biologist (and I am an amateur biologist I like to say ) and also a forester in the group and In that respect they have a better job, 90% he is outside
Ps:I took a look at the car navigation and it showed a 21 minute drive…so I could have also posted some photos in ‘photos of where you live’ …but I always think it’s a long enough time to ride, you also have to walk 10 minutes before you reach the water …
Greetings
1 Like
I took my grandkids (9 and 6) pond-dipping last week and they caught all sorts of tiny water creatures. We examined them with a magnifying glass before releasing them and when we got home we looked them up on the Internet to identify them. I feel it’s important that youngsters are aware of nature and their surroundings and the part we all play in conservation issues.
5 Likes
Hi Gordon ,
How nice to read ,that is It’s amazing what you do as a grandfather… that’s how it should be
And it gave me warm feelings from my youth back. For me it was a part-time Wednesday teacher who often took the whole class along the meadows and streams and in private time me and her 2 daughter too …also started a small living room museum with all kinds of things that we found at excavated land… but also so many creatures with a scoop neatly out of the water to the top (if only there was Google back then)
I got my first microscope before I was 9 years old (looking at it now but this one is broken ) and Oooo man man, a lot of innocent animals ended up under it 
and also a lot of blood from boys and girls from the neighborhood and school
Nowadays I wait until they are dead for further examination and admiration
Greetings and thanks for the smile it gave me
4 Likes
Ooo my goodness…
No Gordon Ooooo my
those sentences together so were not at all as it was said in my head …
I wait until the little creatures are dead before I admire them very magnified and dissected… not the neighborhood children, really not the children … oh my stomach I don’t have it anymore …
Error in order and execution (my wife behind me “What did you type strangely again?” 
)
Greetings and sleep well 
3 Likes
Great photos Roger. I should take some time out out to capture the little critters who come and visit out humble abode. My daughter is constantly taking pic of cicadas dragonflies and all sorts when she visits and I just accept their presence ! Should be like you and share more. Thx you.
2 Likes
Thank you Toby and I hope that many read what you type and do something with it
That is also the reason why I post a lot of garden photos ,it makes me very aware of all ,but I always forget to add the wildlife (zoomed in it still seems quite a bit ), my wife has many beautiful photos of the insects and zoomed flowers from the garden and I forget to ask her phone in the evening. to post one , and many photos are in frames behind glass and that looks even worse than taking a photo of my computer screen which I do so often
so this
It is so understandable in so many other situations, but give everything the attention it deserves, first the guitar wife of course
Greetings
1 Like
Good morning Rogier, I’m very happy to read about your trip and good time out there in the wood with your girl and that you enjoyed it much!The pictures are just beatiful 
It’s a blessing we are, not all people can be like this, or find it difficult to be, and their life seems to be a bit more grey and sadder sometimes…we need to keep on to take colourfull pictures and keep on telling and writing these kind of stories for those people too. Thanks for making me smiling
1 Like