Wouter Vansteelant

@wmgvs.bsky.social

Trying to understand the world from a bird's perspective 🐦 | Migration and movement ecologist at BirdEyes.org. | Guest researcher at ibed.uva.nl | Co-founder of batumiraptorcount.org Full portfolio at www.wouter-vansteelant.com

We know that birds can sense magnetic fields for navigation. But how does that work? Do they have little magnets wired up to their brains? The most likely answer is 1000X times weirder than that, and involves quantum spin. Let's talk about 'cryptochromes' & magnetic sensing.🧪

A blue and red feathered parakeet? with a simple bar magnet illustration overlayed on it, and yellow lines of force radiating out from the head.  It also has the word "yes*" underneath it.

I stole this from a cover photo for a video on the topic from YouTuber "Learn with Kay" with title "Birds navigte with Magnets in their heads ??" [sic]

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 · 9mo ago

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...

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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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

170.000 RAPTORS IN ONE DAY! After yesterday’s heavy rain and a quiet morning, today the sky exploded with Steppe Buzzards and large eagles! Continuing from 10 am until almost the end of the count. At some point, we counted over 14.000 raptors in less than 20 minutes. THAT'S BATUMI! #ornithology

Today's totals! See our website for more details!Steppe Buzzards. Photo by Filiep T'jollynAfter-count team photo - with perhaps the most beautiful rainbow ever seen in the background

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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After the thrill of reaching the million, we went straight to the peak of diversity. The challenge of counting high numbers of birds slowly shifted into identifying the (relatively) fewer but more difficult ones: the large eagle species! But they also brought a special guest along...👇 1/2

Lesser Spotted Eagle - Photo by Eduardo Campos Wals
Lesser Spotted Eagle - Photo by Matthew Sprangers
Black Kite (left) and Steppe Eagle (right) - Photo by Matthew SprangersLesser Spotted Eagle - Photo by Filiep T'jollyn