ORIOLE BIRDING TOUR REPORT THE NETHERLANDS 12TH 16TH AUGUST 2011

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Magdalene Preston
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1 ORIOLE BIRDING TOUR REPORT THE NETHERLANDS 12 TH 16TH AUGUST 2011

2 Friday 12 th August The tour met at Harwich International ferry terminal at 2145 for the evening crossing to Hoek van Holland which departed on time at just after Saturday 13 th August We arrived on time in Hoek van Holland at 0745 and after a slightly slow departure from the terminal we saw our first trip birds in the form of two INDIAN HOUSE CROWS around the car park! The drive from here to Lelystad took us towards Amsterdam and our journey added a few nice birds as we travelled along. About twenty White Storks were seen, and several small flocks of Egyptian Geese were noted. A Great White Egret stood sentinel like in a roadside field where several large flocks of Northern Lapwings were also seen. A few Common Buzzards and Common Kestrels, Marsh Harrier, four Eurasian Jays and Common Tern were also seen by the time we reached the island of Flevoland. Here we met Joan and Andrew on the Knardijk road of the Oostvadersplassen, with a great panorama of the surrounding wetlands. Fifty Black Terns were seen hawking over the water and settled on the buoys and railings, and large numbers of wildfowl included mainly Tufted Duck, Common Pochard, Common Coot and Great Crested Grebe. Five Eurasian Spoonbills were seen feeding in the corner of one of the lagoons where hundreds of hirundines and a couple of Common Swifts were hawking over the water. Small numbers of Northern Shoveler, single Eurasian Wigeon and three Common Teal completed the wildfowl present and a superb juvenile NORTHERN GOSHAWK flew past us at close range before quartering the reeds along the Oostvadersdijk in harrier like fashion. A couple of Yellow Wagtails and a few Common Linnets were the only passerines of note and we soon decided to head west along the dyke for more views over the Isjelmeer and freshwater lagoons of the reserve. A breakwater on the seaward side hosted large numbers of resting gulls and terns, including a fine adult CASPIAN GULL, seventy Common Terns and two more Black Terns giving nice close up perched views. Further good flight views of both Eurasian Spoonbill and Great White Egret were had and many Marsh Harrier could be seen quartering the reedbeds. Stock Dove and Gadwall were added to the list before we decided to head back to the small reserve at Knardijk. Here seven more Eurasian Spoonbills and another Great White Egret were seen from the hide and the bushes held common passerines with a European Nuthatch seen by Neil and a Great-spotted Woodpecker flying over. Two Common Chiffchaff were in the willows but the highlight was a superb HONEY BUZZARD flying low over the marsh, though unfortunately it headed in the wrong direction. From here the drive towards Lemmer on the North-east Polder added another possible Honey Buzzard sighting, along with about twenty Common Buzzards, two hundred European Golden Plover, two White Storks and another Marsh Harrier. After a protracted lunch stop in Oudemirdum we took a short drive along the coastal route towards Workum but failed to see much more of interest. On the Isjelmeer though another four Eurasian Spoonbills, Great White Egret, many hundreds of Northern Shoveler and Gadwall and a fine male Marsh Harrier were seen. We then drove the final 80 miles north to Loppersum and our base for the next three nights. Sunday 14 th August A magnificent days birding around the Lauwersmeer, the premier birding site in The Netherlands and it did not disappoint. We arrived in drizzle and overcast conditions but as we pulled into the Ballatsplaas a superb male Common Redstart flicked across the path and perched in some Buckthorn with two Common Whitethroats. A short exploration of the scrub added another Whitethroat, three Blackcap, Common Chiffchaff and thirty-two Common Snipe flying over. Along the road south of here the waters of the Lauwersmeer at Vlinderbalg opened up to our right and we pulled over to scan the huge concentrations of birds. Common Teal and Northern Shoveler thronged the open water areas and six superb juvenile Spotted Redshanks fed in the foreground. Two Common Greenshanks, five Green Sandpipers, twenty five Common Ringed Plovers, one Grey Plover, three Yellow Wagtails, three Marsh Harriers, one Ruff, one Dunlin and fifteen Goldfinches were added and a huge female NORTHERN GOSHAWK flew across flushing all the ducks and waders. The highlight though was probably the CASPIAN TERN which flew in and circled the pool before heading off south. Nearby at Jaap Deensgat we parked and walked down to the hide overlooking another inlet of the lagoon. This place was simply awesome with colossal numbers of birds present. 159 Eurasian Spoonbills were outside the hide, with many juveniles giving their strange trilling call. Thousands of ducks smothered the water, mainly Common Teal, Northern Shoveler and Gadwall but we saw about ten Garganey, three Northern Pintail and a Eurasian Wigeon. Four more CASPIAN TERNS gave some stunning views on the ground and in flight, while careful examination of the forty Ringed Plovers present yielded a fine adult Curlew Sandpiper, ten Dunlin, five Common Sandpipers and a Green Sandpiper. One hundred Ruff and a staggering seventy Spotted Redshanks were also present, and a

3 TEMMINCK S STINT was picking nervously on a mud spit dwarfed by Starlings and White Wagtails! A Eurasian Hobby dashed across scattering the birds and two ringtail MONTAGU S HARRIERS gave some informative views over the nearby woodland, while four Great White Egrets stood sentinel like along the reed edge. Three RUDDY SHELDUCKS were a real bonus if a little distant and along the path to the car park we added Sedge and Reed Warblers, Northern Wheatear and Bearded Tit. Feeling mentally exhausted already we headed to a nearby cafe for a quick coffee and loo stop before continuing round the north end of the Lauwersmeer to Bantpolder. The long grass on the sea bank held about one hundred Yellow Wagtails and White Wagtails and two Northern Wheatear, while offshore among the thousands of gulls were about one hundred Common Shelducks and fifty Black Terns. On the sea wall, a juvenile Arctic Tern was found emaciated but still alive, and we took the opportunity to photograph it in the hand before finding it a quite spot in the sun to maybe recover. One thousand Common Redshanks were pushed off the sea to roost in the fields with hundreds of European Oystercatchers and Eurasian Curlew, five nice Whimbrel and a spectacular arrival of three thousand European Golden Plover. After dropping back into Lauwersoog for a delightful lunch and quick check on the bird news, we headed to the south-west corner of the Lauwersmeer to the area known as Ezumakeeg. From the South Hide, we were greeted with the sight of five thousand Northern Lapwings, five hundred European Golden Plover and 150 Pied Avocets. Amongst these were probably five hundred Ruff, one hundred Black-tailed Godwits, one Little Stint, single juvenile RED-NECKED PHALAROPE and a fine Wood Sandpiper. Two more Garganey were seen but had we checked the thousands of ducks more thoroughly we would have no doubt seen more these ones just happened to swim into the scope view while watching the Phalarope! From the North hide, our last stop of the day, ten Wood Sandpipers and a Little Stint were noted along with six Common Sandpipers, two hundred Ruff, fifty Black-tailed Godwits, fifteen Eurasian Spoonbills and ten Little Gulls. These included both a breeding plumage adult and a fresh juvenile, a plumage not seen in Britain. Thirty Black Terns hawking the water included a group of ten which broke off and flew right over our heads, and the tin lid was provided by a sub-adult WHITE-TAILED EAGLE circling the distant trees mobbed by a Marsh Harrier! Monday 15 th August A quieter birding day today with a bit more travelling involved as we endeavoured to check out a couple of new sites. First we travelled about one hour south-west towards Assen to an area of open swampy heathland called Fochteloerveen. This was quite unlike any terrain we d seen in the country and almost looked like the New Forest! We quickly added Yellowhammer and Stonechat to the list, which was common, and out on the heath we saw seven Common Snipe, ten Common Teal, Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk and Skylark. The overcast weather wasn t helping in our quest for our target bird, but as the day warmed up and raptors started to appear our quarry loomed into view a splendid juvenile SHORT-TOED EAGLE. One of four birds reportedly present in the area, it began hunting and gave stunning views as it flew right over us before circling up in the now beautiful light and demonstrating its hovering feeding technique. A second bird appeared and just as we were about to walk back, two COMMON CRANES gave a nice fly past. Heading back to the car, we then drove North to the Lauwersmeer [having good views of up to five Whinchat on the way] and arrived at our favoured cafe for lunch at about One hundred Ruddy Turnstone were roosting on the harbour wall at high tide, our first of the trip. After lunch, we called in at nearby Bantpolder where once again about three thousand European Golden Plover were roosting but this time they wheeled around and settled right in front of us. We quickly realised the culprit of their disturbance as a fine adult Peregrine drifted across the polder and landed on a concrete block where we were able to scope it. Nearby at Paesens, we parked up by the seawall and walked over to view the shoreline. Not much was about though we did add three Red Knot and also saw two Common Greenshank, ten Grey Plover, thirty Ringed Plover and thirty Ruddy Turnstone. Heading back around the Lauwersmeer, we called in finally at Jaap Deensgat where the high tide had certainly pushed a lot of yesterdays birds away from the hide. The light wasn t as good either, but the sight of 160 Eurasian Spoonbills sweeping in the water in a feeding frenzy wont be forgotten in a hurry. RUDDY SHELDUCKS had increased to twenty, a Cackling Canada Goose and blue morph Snow Goose of dubious origin had joined the vast numbers of Greylag and Barnacle Geese, and a female NORTHERN GOSHAWK mobbed a Common Buzzard over the pines. Two CASPIAN TERNS were again present and three Garganey flew in, while two stints on the distant spit were probably Temminck s. The unbelievable sight of five hundred Spotted Redshanks, the biggest flock any of us had ever seen, roosting on the pool just sums up how brilliant this place is and how vast the numbers of birds are compared to the UK. Tuesday 16 th August

4 We checked out of our hotel this morning and began our southbound journey towards Hoek van Holland, with one birding stop en route. We decided to take a different route back and cross the Waddenzee on the road between Harlingen and Den Helder. This gave us the opportunity to stop and do some birding around the sluice complex at the Harlingen end, which we had found productive in the winter months. It was quite cold and windy here in this exposed location, but on the sheletered, northern side of the sluice we found large numbers of Black Terns feeding. Walking down onto one of the jetty s meant we were literally ten metres from a feeding flock of about seventy birds, dip feeding low over the water and calling. This was a magnificent sight to be so close to these fantastic birds, but the bar was raised as a cracking juvenile WHITE-WINGED BLACK TERN flew in from the sea to join the flock and again, passed so close we didn t even need binoculars! A stroke of good fortune to end the tour, and we also noted Common Terns, Great Crested Grebes, thirty Grey Herons, thirty Yellow Wagtails and a Northern Wheatear before embarking on the final leg of our journey to Hoek. Birds seen along the way included several Eurasian Spoonbills, Common Buzzards, four White Storks and two Eurasian Hobbies. A short stop for lunch saw us arrive on time for the 1430 departure to Harwich. We enjoyed a smooth crossing noting a few Northern Gannets and Northern Fulmar and arrived on time at 2000 when the tour concluded. Systematic List Birds 1. Little Grebe 2. Great Crested Grebe 3. Northern Gannet 4. Northern Fulmar 5. Great Cormorant 6. Grey Heron 7. Little Egret 8. Great White Egret 9. White Stork 10. Eurasian Spoonbill 11. Mute Swan 12. Greylag Goose 13. Cackling Canada Goose 14. Egyptian Goose 15. Barnacle Goose 16. Snow Goose 17. Common Shelduck 18. Ruddy Shelduck 19. Mallard 20. Common Teal 21. Garganey 22. Eurasian Wigeon 23. Gadwall 24. Northern Pintail 25. Northern Shoveler 26. Tufted Duck 27. Common Pochard 28. Common Pheasant 29. Common Kestrel 30. Eurasian Hobby 31. Peregrine 32. Marsh Harrier 33. Montagu s Harrier 34. Common Buzzard 35. Honey Buzzard 36. Short-toed Eagle 37. White-tailed Eagle 38. Eurasian Sparrowhawk 39. Northern Goshawk

5 40. [Water Rail] 41. Common Coot 42. Common Crane 43. Pied Avocet 44. European Oystercatcher 45. Common Ringed Plover 46. European Golden Plover 47. Grey Plover 48. Northern Lapwing 49. Red Knot 50. Common Redshank 51. Spotted Redshank 52. Common Greenshank 53. Eurasian Curlew 54. Whimbrel 55. Common Snipe 56. Green Sandpiper 57. Common Sandpiper 58. Wood Sandpiper 59. Black-tailed Godwit 60. Ruff 61. Curlew Sandpiper 62. Dunlin 63. Little Stint 64. Temminck s Stint 65. Ruddy Turnstone 66. Red-necked Phalarope 67. Black-headed Gull 68. Common Gull 69. Herring Gull 70. Lesser Black-backed Gull 71. Great Black-backed Gull 72. Caspian Gull 73. Little Gull 74. Sandwich Tern 75. Common Tern 76. Arctic Tern 77. Black Tern 78. White-winged Black Tern 79. Caspian Tern 80. Great-spotted Woodpecker 81. Woodpigeon 82. Collared Dove 83. Stock Dove 84. Common Swift 85. Skylark 86. Meadow Pipit 87. Pied Wagtail 88. Yellow Wagtail 89. Sand Martin 90. Barn Swallow 91. House Martin 92. European Robin 93. Common Redstart 94. Stonechat 95. Whinchat 96. Northern Wheatear 97. Dunnock 98. Common Blackbird 99. Song Thrush 100. Blackcap

6 101. Sedge Warbler 102. European Reed Warbler 103. Common Chiffchaff 104. Common Whitethroat 105. Blue Tit 106. Great Tit 107. Bearded Tit 108. Rook 109. Carrion Crow 110. Western Jackdaw 111. Magpie 112. Eurasian Jay 113. Indian House Crow 114. Common Starling 115. House Sparrow 116. Chaffinch 117. Goldfinch 118. Linnet 119. Reed Bunting 120. Yellowhammer

TOM BEDFORD S OXFORDSHIRE LIST [IOC 2017] UPDATED

TOM BEDFORD S OXFORDSHIRE LIST [IOC 2017] UPDATED 1 Canada Goose 2 Barnacle Goose 3 Greylag Goose 4 Pink-footed Goose 5 Tundra Bean Goose 6 Greater White-fronted Goose 7 Mute Swan 8 Tundra Swan 9 Whooper Swan 10 Egyptian Goose 11 Common Shelduck 12 Gadwall