Birding in Brussels Central

Bonjour,

Mon nom est Eric, et je suis un photographe d'oiseaux en provenance d'Australie. Je serai en visite à Bruxelles le 8 Juillet 2011 pour un jour. Je vous serais très reconnaissant si quelqu'un peut me recommander Un bon endroit dans le centre de Bruxelles pour moi d'aller observer les oiseaux pendant quelques heures le soir du 8 Juillet.

Je dois m'excuser car je ne parle pas français, et donc ce texte est traduit par Google Translate.

Je vous remercie beaucoup.

Eric

Hello,

My name is Eric, and I am a bird photographer from Australia. I will be visiting Brussels on 8 July 2011 for one day. I would very much appreciate if any one can recommend me ONE good place in Central Brussels for me to go birding for a few hours on the evening of 8th July.

I must apologise as I do not speak French, and hence this text is being translated by Google Translate.

Thank you very much.

Eric

Hi,
What kind of birds would you like to see? Waterfowl, warblers, others? Depending on your answer members of this forum will be able to help you and maybe somebody would be able to take you out for a little birdtour that afternoon/evening.
Regards,
Yann

Hi Eric,
At first you can visit the cathedrale, next to the Brussels Grand Place, hosting a couple of peregrine falcons.
They are nesting for the moment, you'll get more infos out here :
http://www.fauconspelerins.be/
Emilie

Hi Eric and welcome in Brussels,

More than 100 different species of birds (included feral (for example 3 different species of parakeets) and exotics (ducks and gooses) are nesting in Brussels during July. We have different species of raptors, warblers, herons, ducks, sandpipers, gooses, woodpeckers.....

Brussels is considered (for occidental europe) as a green city. Than it's depend what you want to observe and your own knowledge in birding. Are you eventually a confirmed birdywatcher/photograph or naturalist?

May be, it will possible to pick you and to show you one of more attractive places in centrum of brussels during the evening?

It will be surely nice to meet you with other birders from Brussels if agree.

Alain Boeckx
( moderator member for Brussels Birding)

Thanks to all for your responses. Sorry for being late in my reply as I have been traveling over the last few weeks and didn't have the opportunity.

My primary interest is in bird photography. You can view some of my images from my website: http://www.mountainsbeyond.org/Nature/index-avian.htm
I do not have any specific target birds in mind when in Brussels. This will be my first birding trip to Europe and hence most birds will be new for me. Prior to Brussels, I would have toured Scotland, and Svalbard, and my overnight stay in Brussels is because I am enroute to Varanger in Northern Norway for more bird photography. Hence I am quite happy to get a few new birds, and better still to meet up with some of the local birders.

I will now respond to the individual posts as above.

Thank you.

Eric


------- translated using Google Translate -------------
Merci à tous pour vos réponses. Désolé pour le retard dans ma réponse que j'ai voyagé au cours des dernières semaines et n'a pas eu l'occasion.

Mon intérêt principal se trouve dans la photographie d'oiseaux. Vous pouvez voir certaines de mes images sur mon site web: http://www.mountainsbeyond.org/Nature/index-avian.htm
Je n'ai pas tous les oiseaux cible spécifique à l'esprit quand à Bruxelles. Ce sera mon premier voyage d'observation des oiseaux en Europe et, partant, la plupart des oiseaux sera nouveau pour moi. Avant de Bruxelles, j'aurais fait une tournée en Ecosse, et de Svalbard, et ma nuit à Bruxelles parce que je suis en route à Varanger en Norvège du Nord pour la photographie d'oiseaux plus. C'est pourquoi je suis très heureux d'avoir quelques oiseaux nouveaux, et mieux encore de se retrouver avec quelques-uns des ornithologues locaux.

Je vais maintenant répondre aux messages individuels comme ci-dessus.

Je vous remercie.

Eric

Thank you Yann for your response.

I am happy with any birds which I can photograph well; hence I am open to all options. Prior to Brussels, I would have visited coastal eastern Scotland, and hence would have had the opportunity with photographing the nesting coastal birds there. I have had the opportunity to photograph palearctic waterfowls (especially ducks) while I was in Japan recently http://www.mountainsbeyond.org/Nature/AvianJapan.html and my coming Varanger trip would also give me more opportunities for more waterfowls. Passerines would always be nice to have, but I know they are not easy to photograph.

I would very much appreciate if any of the members in the forum can take me out for a little birdtour that afternoon/evening. I arrive into Brussels Airport at 1620 hrs. I was planning to take the airport train to my hotel at Hotel Albergo, Victoria Regina Square,11-12 / 1210 Brussels, and then to go birding from then. I know the hotel that I am staying is within walking distance to a number of city parks, but I am not sure which of them would be the best if I was to go out on my own to seek the birds. If someone could advise me, or even come along with me, it would be most appreciated.

Thank you.

Eric

Yann Coatanéa wrote:

Hi,
What kind of birds would you like to see? Waterfowl, warblers, others? Depending on your answer members of this forum will be able to help you and maybe somebody would be able to take you out for a little birdtour that afternoon/evening.
Regards,
Yann

Thank you Emilie for your response.

The Peregrines would be nice. I guess the reason for my post here is to gather as much information as possible so that I can make the best decision on where to go with such a short time I have in Brussels. very much appreciate our suggestion.

Thanks again.

Emilie Vanderhulst wrote:

Hi Eric,
At first you can visit the cathedrale, next to the Brussels Grand Place, hosting a couple of peregrine falcons.
They are nesting for the moment, you'll get more infos out here :
http://www.fauconspelerins.be/
Emilie

Thank you very much for your warm welcom Alain. It is a pity that I have so little time in Brussels, and I would have very much preferred to spend more time in Brussels.. maybe in the future I can do this.

Looking at the map of Brussels, I do agree with you that it is a very green city. In fact my problem is that there are so many parks and green areas for me to choose from that I need the help from members of this forum to decide which would be the best site for me to optimise my one single evening in Brussels. Thus I am really looking forwards to birding in Brussels despite my very short stay.

I consider myself a non-professional naturalist firstly (a person with a high interest in the natural world), and my main interest is in photographing the beauty of the natural world, especially birds. I cannot consider myself as a birdwatcher. This is because my vision is not very good (I have very severe short-sightedness), and I find it hard to appreciate the birds just by looking at them even with binos. Instead I appreciate them better by taking photographs of the birds, and more importantly sharing them with others who are interested in birds and nature.

I would very much appreciate if I can meet up with yourself and others in the forum; it is great to be able to network with yourself and members to share experiences in our common interest. I will also be most happy to share my experience on birding/bird photoraphy in my region of the world (namely Asia and Australia).

With warmest regards,

Eric

Alain Boeckx wrote:

Hi Eric and welcome in Brussels,

More than 100 different species of birds (included feral (for example 3 different species of parakeets) and exotics (ducks and gooses) are nesting in Brussels during July. We have different species of raptors, warblers, herons, ducks, sandpipers, gooses, woodpeckers.....

Brussels is considered (for occidental europe) as a green city. Than it's depend what you want to observe and your own knowledge in birding. Are you eventually a confirmed birdywatcher/photograph or naturalist?

May be, it will possible to pick you and to show you one of more attractive places in centrum of brussels during the evening?

It will be surely nice to meet you with other birders from Brussels if agree.

Alain Boeckx
( moderator member for Brussels Birding)