19 Feb 25 - Dutch Nuns

Pete Moore & I had had a good night's sleep & a decent breakfast at the Fletcher Hotel in De Koog on Texel on Day two of the Dutch Spectacled Eider twitch. There was time for a bit of Birding before we left the island. Plan A was to have a look to see if the Spectacled Eider was showing well. Pete had a look over the seawall, before quickly returning to confirm that it was even colder in the stronger on-shore wind, than on the previous day and none of the observers seemed to be watching it. There seemed to be little point in spending the limited time we had, to try relocating it.

An old style Dutch windmill

Plan B was to have a more leisurely drive back to the ferry and to catch the 10:00 ferry off the island. That would give us a bit more time on the mainland than if we had caught the next ferry an hour later. After a few stops to check Geese flocks and for a few tourist photos, we arrived a few minutes early at the ferry.

A large Brent Goose flock: There are about twenty-five Barnacle Geese and a few Greylag Geese in this flock

Two White-fronted Geese with a Greylag Goose

Many of the Dutch houses were photogenic

Even the more normal houses look good

Fort De Schans: This Fort has a Napoleonic look about it. It was commissioned by William of Orange had around 1574, to protect Texel and the channel past it from the Spaniards. It was later strengthened by Bonaparte in 1811, when it presumably took on the Napoleonic look. These days, the road is the same level as the top of the fort and the seawall towers above it

This was one of several buoys I saw, which were good at reflecting the maritime past

Cormorant: We had our eyes set on a more-interesting cousin

Within a few minutes, we were boarding the Texel ferry and thirty minutes later, we were in Den Helder.

The road from the ferry: This shows how low the land is compared to seawall

A replica of the Prins Willem in Den Helder: The original 17th Century Dutch East India Company ship made her maiden voyage to the Dutch East Indies in 1651. She sank near Madagascar in 1662 on a subsequent voyage. This replica was built in 1985, but it was badly destroyed by fire in 2009. After some rebuilding, the restoration was abandoned due to the cost

We were quickly through Den Helder and on the road to Lelystad. However, we took a quick detour to a channel near the village of Anna Paulowna to look for a flock of Smew.

Smew: Male. Initially, there were just three males & a couple of females present

Smew: Males are also called White Nuns, as their head pattern reminded Birders of a nun's white wimple

Smew: Females are often called Redheads by Birders (for obvious reasons)

Smew: The females have a lot of white in the inner wing

Smew: Another female showing off her wing pattern

Smew: Two males with a female

Smew: Males: After a few minutes, the males started displaying

Smew: Once the males started displaying, additional males and a female arrived, until there were seven males and three females

Smew: This female responded with a bit of head bobbing

Smew: In the end there were three females in the group

Smew: Males

Smew: Displaying males

Smew: Males. It was good to see these males as the last male Smew I saw in Dorset was in 2012

Smew: The males have a good head shape when seen face on

Smew: More responses from one of the females

Smew: The males were sometimes distracted with moving each other on, rather than displaying to the females

Smew: The highlight of the display was this almost vertical stretch

Smew: A final stretch from these two males. We were conscious that time was rolling on & we needed to get going, if Pete was to get into Amsterdam at the time he had promised to meet the family

It was a thirty minute drive to reach Enkhuizen, after leaving the Smew site. This is the start of a twenty-one mile raised causeway which crosses between the Ijsselmeer on the left and the Markermeer on the right of the road. Some parts of the causeway are just a raised road, but other parts are protected by a seawall. It's an outstanding piece of large-scale construction.

Part of the raised causeway between Enkhuizen and Lelystad: Going the long way around would force you through Amsterdam and easily add another hour to the journey

Finally, we arrived at the Nature Park on the edge of Lelystad. I will cover this in the next Blog Post.

18 Feb 25 - Geese Galore On Texel

This is part two of the day on Texel twitching the Dutch male Spectacled Eider. Having had good scope views and taken mediocre photos on the choppy seas in the first half of the afternoon, we headed out in search of Geese. Not a hard target, given there are many thousands of them on Texel. Our first Bird stop was for a small party of Fieldfares feeding on the seawall.

Fieldfare

Fieldfare: I was surprised about how few Passerines we saw on Texel during the day: this was the highlight

A Dutch trip wouldn't be complete without some windmill photos

Another view of the same windmill: In case, there is a Dutch law of having to put windmills in any article or Blog about Holland

The first field of Geese we stopped at, proved to be a large flock of Brent Geese.

Brent Geese: This is only about a quarter of the flock

Brent Goose: This was one of three Brent Geese that were close to the road in another field

It didn't take us to find a large field of mainly Barnacle Geese.

Barnacle Goose: This was just part of a large Barnacle Goose flock that filled the whole field

A mixed Goose party: At the front of the Barnacle Goose flock was a real mixed Goose group, with an Egyptian Goose, two Greylag Geese, a Barnacle Goose and some White-fronted Geese (left to right)

Another large field, but this time it was mainly White-fronted Geese.

White-fronted Goose: These are the nominate albifrons subspecies which breed in North Russia and East to North East Siberia. They Winter from Europe to Southern Asia, North India, South China & Japan

White-fronted Goose: A closer crop

Many old Dutch houses have high, steep roofs which will maximise the number of rooms

As we that thawed out from the morning's bitterly cold wind, Pete was keen for another look at the Spectacled Eider in the late afternoon as the sun would be behind us. The light was better, but the Spectacled Eider was further out, due to the dropping tide. Despite the better light, I couldn't improve on the photos from the morning.

Brent Geese: This massive flock flew over as they were heading to roost

We decided to start heading towards our accommodation for the evening. There were more fields of Geese to check in the last of the sunlight. There should have been a few Tundra Bean Geese on the island, but finding them without detailed directions hadn't proved easy, given the large numbers of Geese-filled fields to check.

The sun finally set on an excellent day's Birding: It was time to head off to our hotel in De Koog

The sun might have given up for the day, but these Geese hadn't. They were still busily feeding in the fading light.

Barnacle Geese: With some White-fronted Geese in the penultimate field that we checked

White-fronted Goose

Greylag Goose: There were a couple of Greylag Geese with a White-fronted Goose in the foreground and some distant Barnacle Geese

A final post-sunset Geese flock: This party of White-fronted Geese with a couple of Greylag Geese were nicely lined up with the very last post-sunset glow

I had sorted out a room in the Fletcher in De Koog on the West side of Texel. I had hoped to be greeted by a life-sized statue of the most famous Fletcher in the foyer, but perhaps Ronnie Barker wasn't as well-known in Holland. It was a reasonable-priced hotel with a good breakfast, given Texel accommodation is not cheap. We briefly looked at the restaurant, before heading out to the Burgers, Beers & Blues restaurant that Pete had spotted as we walked from a nearby Lidl car park. We both reckoned this was a much better option for the evening meal.

13 Sep 15 - June & July: Summer Doldrums On The Studland/Ballard Patch

June is typically the most quiet Birding month on the Studland/Ballard patch. All the migrants have moved through Dorset, barring the odd straggler. Additionally, most species are busy breeding, but when the females have eggs or chicks in the next, the males don't tend to sing as much as they do when initially defending territories. An established male which starts to sing more frequently again is often a sign that the pair are planning another brood. So the territories are often a lot quieter than earlier in the spring.

I managed to make a few visits to Brands Bay in June, where I was not too surprised to find a couple of distant Brent Geese in the back of the bay on 7 June. Unfortunately, too far out for photos. Most recently years we seem to have one or two that failed to make it back to the Siberian breeding grounds. Looks like they were just late stragglers in departing, as I haven't seen these since or heard of them elsewhere in Poole Harbour.

Brent Goose: Photo from the annual Poole Harbour Pelagic (1 Jan 15)

The bigger surprise was finding a party of ten Bar-tailed Godwits over summering in Brands Bay. Five were seen in mid May with ten present at the end of May. Some were seen in early June, but all ten were present again on the 21 June. Some of the party stayed around until the end of August. This is a common Winter species in Poole Harbour which erratically appear at Studland when their preferred low tide feeding areas along Shore Road & the Arne to Newton Bay are disturbed. In the Spring & Autumn, Brands Bay are more frequently home to migrating individuals, but typically they have departed by late May. So it is unusual to find them oversummering on the patch. Generally, there is a reasonable flock of Black-tailed Godwits which never make it up to the breeding grounds or are very late departing, but these Bar-tailed Godwits have made checking the Waders more interesting this Summer.

Bar-tailed Godwit: Dakhla, Western Sahara (10 Feb 14)

Another unusual species for the patch was a single late Whimbrel in Brands Bay on 14 June. They are regular Spring & Autumn migrants through the patch, but generally have moved through by the end of May.

Whimbrel: Brands Bay (21 April 14)

With the combination of the Turkish Birding trip in late June/early July & tidy up jobs for me following major work on the house while I was in Turkey, then I wasn't out on the patch as much in July as I would have liked.

South Haven: How I like to see the beach as I arrive in the early morning: empty. South Haven (26 July 15)

South Haven: Who would have thought July is meant to be our Summer. South Haven (26 July 15)

Birding in July revolved around early visits to South Haven (hoping to add a Little Ringed Plover to the patch Year List) & low tide visits to Brands Bay. Last year Graham Armstrong saw Little Ringed Plovers on several dates, thanks to early morning visits to South Haven in July. Unfortunately, Graham had the only LRP sighting in late June: a mid week individual when I wasn't around. I managed to connect with a few early returning Ringed Plovers, Sanderlings & Dunlins, but no LRPs. Having seen only one Little Ringed Plover on the patch in Brands Bay on 17 Aug 2009, then this wasn't a species I expected to add to the Studland Year List. But I plan to spend more time in future years, visiting South Haven before the grockles descend so hopefully I will have more luck in the future with this scarce patch species in the next few years.

Sanderling: They were present on most early morning visits to South Haven in July, providing I got there before the dog walkers, joggers & fishermen. South Haven (31 July 15)

Sanderling: They are fairly approachable if you are careful. South Haven (31 July 15)

Brands Bay continued to attract up to seventy Black-tailed Godwits on July visits. Additionally, up to seven of the Bar-tailed Godwits stayed around the whole of July. They seemed to be feeding in other other local sites as well as their numbers varied visit by visit. But as the tide started rising, they tended to return to Brands Bay to roost. Although I guess they may have also moved to Brownsea on the higher tides. After the excitement of the Hudsonian Whimbrel in Pagham, I was grilling the Whimbrel in Brands Bay more carefully this Autumn, but unfortunately, it didn't appear in the bay, after it finally departed from Pagham. However, up to six Whimbrel were feeding in Brands Bay in July.

Reed Warbler: Walking out to the beach across the South Haven boardwalk is always pleasant in the Summer as there are several pairs of Reed Warblers breeding around the boardwalk. There are probably around ten pairs around the Studland patch. In comparison, Sedge Warblers are sadly only migrants through the patch. South Haven (10 July 15)

The highlight of June & July was the appearance of three Common Sandpipers in Brands Bay on 18 July, with a further five on the 25 July. This was the only Studland/Ballard Year Tick in June & July & took the total to 155 species. I was confident I would see Common Sandpipers for the Year List. They are scarce in the winter & erratic in the Spring. However, they do hang around more in the Autumn between late July & early Sep & Old Harry, Brands Bay & South Haven are all likely sites.

Rabbit: Another treat in the Summer around that patch is the appearance of a new generation of Rabbits, some of which are approachable with care when it is quiet. South Haven (31 July 15)

Grayling: They seem to have had a good Autumn on the Studland heaths Brands Bay (18 July 15)