mudflat salt marshes Scheldt river NL 758 AM 240408_0699

Mudflat and salt marshes occupied by various birds. Morning at low tide in the Scheldt river delta in South West Netherlands.

Now that the salt marshes and mud flats have dried up, the birds have occupied the area for feeding and mating.
Between all the birds, the sound recording begins with a #0:04 seal briefly blowing off steam at 200 meters, but clearly audible.
In the distance, huge ocean liners sail to and from the port of Antwerp. Their deep humming engine sound fills all of the 5 km wide estuary of the Scheldt. I see an MSC container ship that has an output of 98,000 hp. On the high seas, the ship burns about 262,000 liters of fuel oil per day.
But yes, to console ourselves, we Western Europeans like to have all this Chinese junk that we will throw away next week. And then we just listen to the #2:33 church bells calling us to pray the “Confiteor”; mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Which means; through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Hopefully we humans will get wise one day.

Birds detected by Merlin Bird ID app and the help of the database https://www.macaulaylibrary.org/;

#0:00 Eurasian oystercatchers all the time, Black-tailed Godwit, Mallard, Eurasian Curlew, Common Shelduck, European Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull

The deep thump of huge seagoing ship engines fill the mouth of the river. One comes from the North Sea, the other goes there.

About the location: The Westerschelde
The Westerschelde, Schelde or Scheldt rises in northern France and makes its way through Belgian and Dutch territory to the North Sea. From source to estuary, a distance of no less than 360 kilometres, the Schelde is transformed from an insignificant stream to a major river.

The course of the Westerschelde
During the last Ice Age, 116.000 to 11.000 years ago, large quantities of sand were blown in from the North Sea, which was dry at the time, and created a long sandy ridge from Hulst to Tholen now known as the Rilland Rug (Rilland Ridge). The Schelde at that time flowed northwards, trapped between the sandy ridge and the Brabantse Wal. Settlements were built on the slightly higher-lying Rilland Ridge that later grew to become villages and towns. The Honte was a creek running from the sandy ridge into the Schelde. During the Early Middle Ages, flooding from the North Sea created a system of creeks and gullies that finally penetrated the Rilland Ridge area and connected up to the Honte, more than a thousand years ago. This new connection to the Schelde was scoured out further in the centuries that followed and from the sixteenth century onwards it became the main course, named the Westerschelde (Western Scheldt). The Rilland Ridge is still present, below the ground
and water level. The Westerschelde estuary, the mouth of the river where fresh river water and saline seawater meets, gets its name from its original location, to the west of the Oosterschelde (Eastern Scheldt).

Drowned villages
There's hardly anything of them left to see, but there are three drowned villages in front of me in the Westerschelde. From east to west, they are Oud-Rilland, Gobbenoord and Valkenisse. There are about 250 drowned villages in Zeeland and Noord-Brabant. Often, all we know about them is a name on an old map. Sometimes we are luckier though, and we can find remains. As in this case for Oud-Rilland and Valkenisse. Gobbenoord was drowned in around 1530.
And that's about all we know about it.

Breakwaters
On behalf of the national government, the Province of Zeeland is creating
600 hectares of new tidal nature area (with high and low tides) along the
banks of the Westerschelde. This is being done by extending dykes and
giving the river more room by building breakwaters. The water in the
Westerschelde flows fast. Breakwaters reduce the water speed so that sand
and silt can sink and raise the level of the bed. The sediment is absolutely crawling with animal life: an absolute banquet for many water birds and waders. At the same time, the sediment protects the many archaeological treasures that can be found in front of the sea dyke, such as the drowned villages.

Salt marshes
Salt marshes are higher lying than mudflats. They remain dry at high tide,
so plants can grow there. The salt marshes are only covered by a layer of
salty water after a storm or a very high tide. The silt and sand are trapped
between the plants so that the salt marsh builds up further. Birds that
like the reeds nest here, such as the sedge warbler, water rail and marsh
harrier. The large numbers of bearded reedlings here are exceptional.
These beautifully shaped members of the tit family clamber up and down
between the reeds like genuine circus acrobats, searching for small
spiders, mosquitoes and other insects. If you think you might have seen
one, it was probably the long tail poking up above the reeds.

Mud flats
Mudflats are areas that are covered at high tide and exposed when the
water is low. They may look like a muddy mess, but they are in fact well-
filled banqueting tables for many wading birds. At low tide, they use their
unusually shaped beaks to winkle shellfish, crabs and worms out of the
ground. Peaceful conditions are very important for that.

Seals
This is one of the few places in the Westerschelde (Western Scheldt) where you may be lucky enough to see seals lying on the sandy areas. They come here to rest and sunbathe when these areas are exposed at low tide. Later in the spring, it is also the place where the
pups are born and nursed. (Text from information panel at this location). Come over and enjoy).

More tracks today / All tracks recorded trough the year at this location

Date/time: April 8, 2024, start 7:58 AM. High Tide 10:36AM

Weather: 12-13c, clouds 89 - 91%, wind S-SSE 1 – 7 km/h, 1010 hPa, humidity 98-87 %, UV-index 0.6, visibility 6-27 km, Dew point 11c

Location; Sea dike of River The Schelde (Scheldt), (‘belevingspunt Rilland’, near platen ore plaat van Valkenisse) Rilland, Zeeland, Netherlands (Holland), Europe. GPS 51.40050 4.12307

Gear chain: Sennheiser mkh30/50 MS, in Rycote cyclone small, windjammer > Sound Devices 302 >Tascam dr-100 Mk2. Adacity > Decoded Mid-side to STEREO, MID channel +3 dB.

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