http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/index/ en mail@hikingmoose.com Copyright 2008 2008-05-11T00:21:00+01:00 http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/het_gerendal_nl_20_km/ http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/het_gerendal_nl_20_km/#When:01:21:00Z The weather predictions for today are awesome. Sun, blue skies, gentle breeze so time to go for a nice long walk. Elgar could not wait and is test-driving our GPS (see picture on the right).This time we opted for a walk in Het Gerendal of about 17 kms (at the end we had walked 20 kms), the track we downloaded from GPSwalking again.We have taken a lot of stunning photo's which, as usual, can be enlarged when clicking on them. So.... be patient while loading this page. Hope you enjoy it! The plant world in the valley Gerendal is differently than elsewhere in The Netherlands. This is due to the fact that the soil is a rare mixture of materials like loess, lime and zinc. You therefore find an enormous mixture of plants in this valley. Walks 2008-05-11T01:21:00+01:00 http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/meinweg_national_park_walk/ http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/meinweg_national_park_walk/#When:13:19:00Z It was the first sunny and warm day of this year so time to put on our walking shoes and to go for a walk. Since a few days we are in the possession of a GPS and Topo maps so this was also an opportunity to see how the GPS works. We downloaded a GPS-track from the Dutch site GPSWalking and transferred it to our GPS. Most pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. We opted for a 10-kms walk in De Meinweg National Park. De Meinweg National Park is a park of terraced landscape caused by fault lines below the surface. The four terraces bridge a height of about 50 metres and feature woodland, health land, bog pools and streams. De Meinweg is the only nature area in the Netherlands where a population of wild boars is allowed to roam freely. The adder also occurs here. De Meinweg National Park forms part of the German-Dutch Cross-border Park Maas-Swalm-Nette After a couple of 100 metres an Anguis Fragilis or better known as slowworm/blindworm crossed our path. In Dutch this creature is called a Hazelworm. It is a limbless reptile, which is active during the day (diurnal) and occasionally basks in the sun, but is more often found hiding beneath rocks and logs. Slowworms are often mistaken for a snake, but have some distinctive features which differentiate them from snakes: Insects, Reptiles, Walks 2008-04-20T13:19:00+01:00 http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/roe_deer_in_the_field/ http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/roe_deer_in_the_field/#When:20:18:01Z It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, although rather cold for the time of the year. We decided to do a walk in our neighborhood and crossed an area where a new 'forest' has to arise. Lots of young trees and bushes are planted there. A small track was leading into this area and we followed it in the believe that it would bring us closer to home. But, as you can guess, that did not work out well and we did ended up in a open field. And then...suddenly there they were: 4 lovely Roe Deer. Ofcourse they spotted us straight away as we made too much noise. We had never expected to see Roe Deer in this particular area, although we just recently asked ourselves the question whether we would ever see Roe Deer at all (in the wild that is) I was able to make one 'lucky' shot: One of the Roe Deers just jumped up to run away. When you look closely you can see 2 more Roe Deer in front of him/her trying to get away as well. The picture can be enlarged a little bit by clicking on it. Mammals 2008-04-07T20:18:01+01:00 http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/easter_monday_snowy_and_cold/ http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/easter_monday_snowy_and_cold/#When:19:25:00Z Eastern has turned out to be very very cold. With frost in the evening and snow in the early morning the idea of Eastern just vanished into thin air. On Easter Sunday we had lots of sunny spells and a lot of birds (buzzards, skylarks, and other bird species) took that moment to find something to eat. We even spotted 6 hares running around on the fields. Already in the mood for the breeding season When we woke up on Easter Monday our garden had turned into a winter wonderland with lots of snow and....... a lot of birds trying to find some food on our feedingstation which was completely covered with snow. We saw a lot of House Sparrows, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Blackbirds and................ huh......that is not a Chaffinch....no... it is a Brambling (male). In Dutch this bird is called a "Keep". And not just one, but a couple: Mr. and Mrs. Brambling. Underneath the picture of Mrs. Brambling The Brambling, Fringilla montifringilla, is a small passerine bird in the Finch family and Birds 2008-03-24T19:25:00+01:00 http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/walk_at_rothenburg_od_tauber_germany/ http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/walk_at_rothenburg_od_tauber_germany/#When:17:58:00Z In January we haven taken a short break and decided to go to the historical town Rothenburg ob den Tauber, situated in Germany, about 80 km under Wurzburg. We did several walks in the neighborhood. For that you need the "Wanderkarte Rothenburg" which one can buy at the Tourist office. It contains about 13 walks with different lengths. It is definitely worth it to buy this map as it will also show you Rothenburg from outside it walls. A part most tourists visiting Rothenburg o.d. Tauber do not see, unfortunately, cause the views towards Rothenburg are just amazing. To get a map of the region with this specific track highlighted please click on Google Maps: Rothenburg o.b. Tauber This walk is numbered W7 (to Leuzenbronn and back), but we also did a part of walk W8. And ofcourse......not without taking Elgar the Hiking Moose with us. Oh...some pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. Don't forget to click! We did not start this walk in Rothenburg itself as we had our overnight stay at a lovely old mill outside of Rothenburg, which can be very crowded during high season. Pension Fuchsmuehle, here you can see the B&B on the right handside (blue colored house), is ideally situated: it is quiet and peaceful and Rothenburg is at walking distance (15 minutes). From the windows you look up to the walls & towers of Rothenburg o.b. Tauber. The rooms are clean and spacious and the owners are very friendly. We can truly recommend this Pension (B&B). Information about their pension can be found at: Pension Fuchsmuehle. Press the Read More tab if you want to see more of this walk. Walks 2008-02-15T17:58:00+01:00 http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/new_look_for_the_hikingmoose/ http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/new_look_for_the_hikingmoose/#When:22:10:00Z On this special day, it is Valentine's day you know, Elgar decided it was time to show off the new look of the Hiking Moose. The Hiking Moose, an Elgar look-a-like, now adorns the website. Elgar is very very very proud on his look-a-like, as it really resembles him: a moose with naughty eyes but a happy and sweet character. The HikingMoose mascot is designed by Travis Oakes from Travis Oakes - Creative Services, as well as the background (with hills, trees, rising sun, etc). Amazing how someone can create such a great mascot just from a stuffed Moose (sorry Elgar, it is just wat you are actually) Design of the blog was done by Mel from Emtwo. We do hope to fill this blog with more and more content, so visit us now and then. Miscellaneous 2008-02-14T22:10:00+01:00 http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/a_greenfinch_groenling/ http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/a_greenfinch_groenling/#When:21:09:00Z The Greenfinch, Carduelis chloris, is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. The Greenfinch is 14-16 cm in length, is mainly green, with a bright yellow in its wings and tail. The female however has a duller color pattern. They can be found in gardens, woodland and farmland edges and outside the breeding season they can form large flocks. They feed on seeds, as is clearly visible on this picture. This picture was taken in our small garden. Birds 2008-02-02T21:09:00+01:00 http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/teal_or_wintertaling/ http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/teal_or_wintertaling/#When:23:47:00Z Today we spotted a few teals, male and females. Teals (in Dutch: Wintertaling) are small dabbling ducks and especially the males have a beautiful color pattern. Their heads are chestnut coloured with broad green eye-patches, a spotted chest and a black-edged yellow tail. Females are mottled brown. The first photo shows a teal couple enjoying the few hours of sun one can get during wintertime. On the left the male and on the right the female teal. Here you can see very clearly the chestnut coloured head and the broad green eye-patches. Also the spotted chest is clearly visible. And this photo shows the black-edged yellow tail which really is an eye-catcher. Just lovely small ducks to watch. Birds 2007-12-27T23:47:00+01:00 http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/eurasian_kestrel/ http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/eurasian_kestrel/#When:15:36:00Z Today we watched a Kestrel trying to catch some food on this rather cold and breezy Christmas Day (yep ... in the Netherlands we have 2 Christmas days). This time we had brought along our birding scope and managed to get some pictures. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour, which is to hover at a height of around 10–20 m over open country and swoop down on prey. Their prey consists out of small mammals (mice, voles), large insects, frogs, earthworms and sometimes small birds. A Kestrel does not make its own nest. It merely accepts sites in church towers, old windmills or hollow trees or nest boxes set up by humans. Even deserted nests of other birds are sometimes used. We hope to show you some pics of a Kestrel’s nest next summer, as they are breeding in a nest box just nearby. Birds 2007-12-26T15:36:00+01:00 http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/finally_some_winter_in_the_netherlands/ http://www.hikingmoose.com/index.php/site/finally_some_winter_in_the_netherlands/#When:21:47:00Z In former times winters in the Netherlands were long and cold. Nowadays, due to global warming, we are presented with warmer winters, with lots of wind and rain. But last week we had a short cold wave bringing cold clear nights and beautiful bright skies during daytime. One day we woke up to find a frosted landscape. Here are some pictures to enjoy. The sun just came up behind the trees, trying to warm us up a bit. After walking through the fields, we came across a small forest, and oh my... an astonishing view it was. All the trees were covered in frost and it all looked like a fairytale. Please enlarge underneath pictures by clicking on them. As you can see from underneath pictures it was really a winter wonderland. And remarkably not many people were up. All running around like a madman to get all the groceries in for the upcoming Christmas days, to buy the last Christmas presents and you name it. We just enjoyed the views presented to us. One more picture to finish this winterfeeling. O....nope....here is just one other picture. Taken by our parents, who live about 200 kms away from us. They even had more frost than we did. Sometimes it is just not fair . But this one looks just great, doesn't it? Landscapes 2007-12-22T21:47:00+01:00