The city of Rotterdam hosts the 2021 Eurovision song contest. A large ribbon of bold colours runs from Rotterdam Central Station to Ahoy Arena, full of lyrics from winning songs of previous editions of the festival. The bright colours are inspired by flags of the different countries that have taken part in the contest.

Every year on May 4th, the Dutch commemorate civilians and soldiers who have died in the Kingdom of the Netherlands or elsewhere in the world since the outbreak of the Second World War, both in war situations and in peacekeeping missions. This month, I visited the Arnhem Oosterbeek war cemetery. I just focussed my camera on one of the many tombstones and searched on the internet for more information about this young person who died for our freedom.

Nice colours of spring at the Oldenaller estate, close to the Dutch town Putten.

I spent a day in a photo hide at the Veluwe, owned by Dutch photographer Geurt Besselink. A great experience! The first photo shows a hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes, Dutch: appelvink), a beauty in our local forest. The second photo is a woodpecker (Dendrocopos major, Dutch: Grote bonte specht), also one of my favorites.

My post in January looks silly now. I mentioned that snow has become rare in The Netherlands and at the time I had a few hours to make some winter shots before the snow was disappeared. But now, in February there is suddenly a full week with a lot of snow…..

Due to the many rains recently, the floodplains of the rivers are flooded, like here in Oosterbeek, the Nederrijn river.

Snow-days have become rare in The Netherlands. On January 17th, I had 3-4 hours time to shoot winterphoto’s before the snow disappeared.

Hair ice or frost beard, can form on dead wood and takes the shape of fine, silky hair. This may happen when a specific fungus, exidiopsis effusa, is producing water inside the wood, being pressed out. When temperature is below zero and the air is humid, the water will turn into ice. A spectacular phenomenon.

The hunting lodge Saint Hubertus in NP the Veluwe, was founded 100 years ago, designed by architect Hendrik Berlage. To celebrate the anniversary, the lights in the building are being turned on between 16:30 – 17:30 during a number of dark days in this december month.

An impressive beech hedge was created in 1865 in a park close to Arnhem. Purpose was and is to enjoy a shadow rich walk inside. The photo was taken inside the hedge.