Het is van alle tijden dat koningen, presidenten, bisschoppen en generaals om hun successen bejubeld worden in verhalen. Maar het waarheidsgehalte van deze verhalen is vaak dubieus. Ere wie ere toekomt gaat vaak niet op. Dat geldt ook voor het Koninginnenkruid, een nazomerbloeier die met zijn...
What a powerful presence an eagle emanates. No wonder the Greeks saw the bird as being the right hand of the supreme god Zeus. And that kings, emperors and other rulers have been keen to use this king of the birds as a symbol to enhance their own importance: its image decorates many flags,...
They are easy to spot in birch trees in the autumn and the winter: one or more branches with a large number of smaller side growth. The so-called Witches Broom. How these resulted from a wild growth of twigs and involved witches is the subject of the following tale whose roots certainly lie in...
From the time of the Hesperides in Ancient Greece up until the era of Snow White’s stepmother, the apple has been one of the most important fruits figuring in myths, legends and fairy tales. It is always pictured in a positive light. Could this be due to the apple having a healthy image because...
Literally translated, the common Dutch name for the Green Sandpiper is “Little White Butt”. Seriously! It is a nervous wader which often goes undetected because of its colouring which acts as camouflage. Why did it become so nervous? How did it get its small white butt? To find out...
Blaue Reiher sind bekannte Erscheinungen an Graben und Pfützen. Vielleicht ist es dir aufgefallen daβ Reiher etwas widersprüchliches haben. Einerseits benehmen sie sich vornehm und graziös, aber andererseits stehen sie frech neben Fischern zu betteln und wandern manchmal sogar in die Küche um...
Blue herons are a familiar sight on the banks of ditches and ponds. Maybe you have noticed that they have something distinctly contradictory about them: on the one hand their manners can be highly refined and gracious; on the other they are common and uncouth in how they go begging fishermen...
A cock is the boss over a hareem of hens. This proud stately creature was once a tough independent bird. How he came to be a domestic pet is a special story. Draw closer and listen to my tale: Like every other year all the people and animals from far and wide came for the […]
Butterflies are a symbol of freedom and colour. The atalanta is a dark brown butterfly with striking small white spots. Its wings are tipped with white spots and encircled by a necklace of red beads. Did you know that this delicate fragile flower-lover has noble origins? Draw closer and listen...
When I’m out rowing on a summer’s day I enjoy looking at the wild flowers growing in the banks. The clear blue fragile little flowers of the Water Forget-Me-Not move me in particular, because they remind me of a romantic and tragic story of a lovestruck knight: In the year 1248 an English...