Another huge gap between today and my last post; hope you're still there and willing to keep on checking every now and then. It's just that my life nowadays is like a rollercoaster and in between jobs, being a father (or something like that) and birding there almost no time left for things like writing boring words on a poorly visited weblog.
Well, dry your tears and read this short update. Two weeks ago, that's Saturday the first of october, I finally saw and found my first autumn warblers, and although they were "just" Yellow-browed, I took some time to fully enjoy them. The first ones are always a joy, both for the eye as for the ear. I saw and heard three birds today, two at the Pomp campsite, and one at Robbenoort. Actually, I should have started this post another way, because the first bird of interest on this beautiful autumn day wasn't a YB Warbler, but a Red-throated Pipit at the Kustweg. The bird came flying in from the Wadden Sea and passed at about 50 meters distance, calling out loud. Nice, encounters with scarce pipits have always been rare in my birding life. Other things worth writing down today: 2 Red-necked Phalaropes at Ezumakeeg, a Firecrest and a Hen Harrier at Kustweg and at least one Grey Wagtail at Robbenoort.
The next day, Sunday, I saw a perfectly fine juvenile Long-billed Dowitcher, found earlier that day by Martin Olthoff. Perfectly fine because I had never seen such a fresh, juvenile bird before, and although it took some time to relocate it, the bird eventually cooperated rather well, providing good possibilities to study every feather. By the way, the location, a/the submerged field near Vierhuizen, was fully loaded with birds, mainly Lapwings and Golden Plovers but also considerable numbers of Little Stints, Ruffs, Dunlins, Curlew Sandpipers, Spotted Redshanks etcetera, so it might we worthwhile checking it a couple of more times in the near future, bearing in mind the numbers of nearctic waders in Great Britain and Ireland.
Last weekend, the second but my first Deception Tours weekend took place on Vlieland. Unfortunately and like every year there was no chance for me to get there on Friday morning already, but this year it was even harder for me to go to school as if nothing was happening, because while I was teaching, on Vlieland record-breaking numbers of Gannets and Great Skuas were passing, along with a lot of other sea watching pearls. All I could do was to finish my working day like I should and get to the sea as quickly as possible. At 17.35 I finally saw something that looked like a sea dike, so without knowing where I was (it was somewhere near Harlingen, because I had to catch the boat at 19.00) I parked my car, got my telescope and camera, hoping for some last birds. And believe it or not, the first bird I saw was a Leach's Petrel, shortly followed by a group of no less than 6 Pomarine Skuas! In the next 20 minutes, I could add 13 Arctic Skuas, 2 more Pomarines, 5 Great Skuas and 7 Gannets to my day (or actually half an hour) list. At 18.05 I left, and it turned out that the place where I had been watching called Roptazijl; a memorable place! 40 minutes later, I was on board the ferry to Vlieland, and just before sunset, another impressive group of skuas (8 Arctics) passed the harbour of Harlingen. What would tomorrow bring??
Well, the answer is both simpel and disappointing: almost nothing. It was hard to believe, but despite the apparently (still) perfect circumstances, the contrast with the day before was shocking. There were still some birds flying, but generally far away and in very small numbers. Some Arctic, one Pomarine and a handfull of Great Skuas, 2 Leach's Petrels, 3 Red-throated Divers, a Purple Sandpiper and a distant Sabine's Gull; it may sound not too bad but considering the circumstances and the breathtaking numbers of the day before it felt like a cold shower.
I spent the afternoon searching (vainly) for song birds, but eventually I just couldn't resist twitching the Two-barred Crossbills present near Stortemelk campsite. Two splendid males were found earlier this week and showed very irregularly near a small pool where they come in to drink. When they were reported, I knew I had to get there within 15 minutes to stand a chance and fortunately I succeeded. Because I was still wearing my seawatch-outfit, I sweated like a pig when I arrived, but it was worth the effort.
The next day my physical condition was once again tested. I found myself somewere far away from my bicycle when a Siberian Stonechat was reported, again at Stortemelk. A new species for me, and one I had not twitched ever before because I knew that one day I would either find one myself (yeah, right) or one would be found during a DT-weekend. But than, a horror scenario almost became truth, because when I finally arrived at Stortemelk and (literally!) raised my binoculars to see the bird, it decided to fly (far!) away in the direction of Duinkersoord, a very large and difficult to survey area, full of suitable habitat. And because almost everyone had already had the chance to enjoy the bird, there were only a few people willing or eager to join my search....
To cut a long story short, after 45 minutes of searching and after having lost hope, it went exactly as it almost always goes: the bird misteriously re-appeared where it was found. One problem for me: I was already near the Beach hotel. The next 15 minutes teached me that the sand dunes of Vlieland are very inconvenient when you're in a hurry, but eventually I managed to get back to Stortemelk and I saw (only) my third new species this year. Brilliant, and a Short-eared Owl and Great Grey Shrike were a nice bonus.
A Little Bunting, found by Rommert on the east tip of the island, was my next destination and the last thing we were able to do before the rain and wind came in to stay. The rest of the day was spent in and around the forest and produced lots of birds (new arrivals could be welcomed throughout the whole day, which made birding exciting despite te bad weather) but nothing to write home about.
Despite having missed one of the best seawatching days ever, it was a weekend worth remembering.
Pics on http://www.pbase.com/martijnbot
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