Avocets!

After some of our small group took a short tour around Bruges we set off for the Zwin, a nature reserve in Belgium (the only proper one, according to our guide), on the ocean. It was cloudy, around 10C, with some wind.

It was a good experience, with a range of waders and a few ducks, but they were quite distant. (We did see a closer kestrel at the end.) The Pied Avocets were among the stars, in my view, and I captured this active group. They are closely related to our American Avocets -they are called "pied" because of their black and white coloration. In that vein I would note that this image is not converted to black and white.

Afterwards we drove eastwards to the Ardennes (not much on the way). Tomorrow we'll be looking for woodland birds--above all woodpeckers.

No time for comments--too much time on the road.