TOH Big Year 2021

Episode 23 - A sad story - 03-03

Yesterday afternoon Paul van Eik reported a Red Pharalope in a ditch near Harlingen. I chose not to go directly, but to go the next morning so I had time to search in nearby area's for other birds, in particular in the hope to find an American Wigeon. Upon arriving I didn't see the pharalope right away. I met another birder who was walking along the ditch. He told me he also couldn't find the bird. I started to search a little further away until I saw the pharalope had been reported again. I rushed to the site and found the bird sitting silently in the water, occasionally moving its head, but not much else. As time moved on the bird was closing its eyes for longer and longer times. I reported my findings in the TOH app group and directly got a call from Andries asking if it was possible to take the bird out of the ditch and bring it to the animal care shelter where the works. The bird was on the other side of the ditch so I had to find a way to get onto the adjacent field. I looked at the time and saw I had too little time before a digital work meeting was about to start. I told Andries I would keep an eye on the bird and as soon as I had time I would pick the bird out of the ditch and bring it to the shelter. I told Andries I wasn't sure the bird would even live that long. Then after about ten minutes the bird let his wing hang and closed it eyes. I watch it for a couple of minutes but it became clear to me the bird had probably died. I can't remember ever having seen a bird actually die. I have seen lots of dead birds, but not actually see one die. A sad sight. The day before on the pictures nothing seemed wrong and now this.

Episode 24 - Border Patrol - 03-06

Yesterday afternoon a whatsapp message came through with a report of a Iceland Gull near Coevorden. The bird was mostly seen on a sand excavation lake on the German side of the border. But occasionally the bird was see flying overhead above Dutch soil. This meant it would be one of my target birds for march. I already had plans to go to the Dwingelderveld with Willem. I texted Willem to tell him of my plans to see this bird instead. Willem didn't want to join this time. He wanted to sleep in and maybe search for Moor Frogs which turn blue this time of year. This meant I had to go by myself this time. I used google maps for navigation and I arrived at my destination. I could see a part of the lake, but didn't see the Iceland Gull right away. I was also standing on the German side of the lake. I had to figure out how to get on the other side. A road that was visible on google maps wasn't there anymore so I packed my stuff and had to cross a field. When I arrived there I saw a group of gulls flying over and took some photo's to see if the Iceland Gull was between them. When I viewed the photo's at home the bird turned out to be in that group.

Episode 25 - Border Patrol part II - 03-17

The last ten days nothing very exiting happend. Although a nice male Pied Wagtail is always a treat. On the 8th I twitched the Siberian Chiffchaff in Groningen. Before I found it, I found my first Common Chiffchaff of the year. Right after I found the Siberian Chiffchaff. My second of the year and autumn hasn't even started.

Episode 26 - Frustrating Wigeon - 03-20

In episode 22 I wrote that one of my target birds for march would be American Wigeon. I had searched far and wide for the species, but failed to find one myself. On the third of march I visited a watchpoint near Workum. At that day there was a thick fog so I couldn't check the wigeons present that day. On the 20th of march it was Patrick Agterberg who found a American Wigeon between the Wigeons present there. He reported the find trough the TOH app group. I was at my mom's house cleaning the driveway. I quickly finished the job and went there. Sadly the bird was already out of sight. I was hoping the bird would return so I stayed searching for a couple of hours, but failed to find the bird. A little consolation was a Red Kite that was hovering alongside the highway.

On the 23rd I tried again. I searched for hours and hours. I searched at multiple locations. Wigeons were everywhere, but no American Wigeon. Sadly out of the humongous group of Wigeons a large potion was so far away they couldn't be checked. To give an impression I made a video.

Episode 27 - Another Fochtelo Big Day - 03-31

Since Willem did a Big Day in the Fochteloërveen in January plans were made to do one each month. I like Big Days so I joined Willem in February and would also join him in March. About a week ago we decided to do the Big Day on the 31th. The last day of the month would give us the best changes to get some early migrants on the list. As the week moved on the weather forecast got better and better. For the time of the year the temperature would be high and there would be almost no wind. Perfect conditions for early migrants. Willem wanted to do the Big Day by bike and I agreed. We set out a route of about 50km visiting the entire area.

Before I could join Willem I had to try the American Wigeon again. from one location I didn't find any Wigeons and from the original spot I had such backlight I could distinguish the Wigeons. This was going nowhere so I gave up and went to the Fochteloërveen. Willem had started already and had found 70 species already. My list had a good start to with Marsh Tit, Green Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail and Firecrest. While I cycled to Willem I found a lot of common species. Willem was already at the Esmeer. Just before I arrived I hear my first Willow Warbler of the year and my first ever in March. On the same time I heard a Black Woodpecker and Common Cranes. We visited some wetland patches adding species like Little Ringed Plover and Red-necked Grebe to the list, but the most unexpected species was a House Swallow which I heard before we found it flying overhead.

Episode 28 - That was March

At the beginning of March I set a couple of target birds:

• American Wigeon

• Green-winged Teal

• Tengmalm's Owl (hopefully the curfew will end soon)

• Snow Goose

• Glaucous Gull

• Iceland Gull

• Waxwing (although its a very bad winter for the species, so my hopes are for next fall)

• Cattle Egret

• Glossy Ibis

Of these target birds I managed to see Snow Goose, Iceland Gull and Cattle Egret and I saw a Red Pharalope. I took a couple of trips to search for Tengmalm's Owl, but the curfew hold me back. About American Wigeon I wrote enough, but lets hope I get another change in April or May.

My year list now stands at 194 species of which I've documented 168 species. Of the rare birds I miss documentation of Dusky Warbler and Cetti's Warbler.

Now lets compare the rare birds between myself and the lists of Andries and Vincent in 2020 and my own list of 2012.

Episode 29 - Chasing Serins - 04-05

On the morning of the 5th I took a walk in the Onlanden. Suddenly I saw my first Northern Wheatear of the year. I didn't have my camera with me so just for fun I filmed the bird using my phone.

Accidentally I booked the ferry to Ameland for the 12th instead of the 5th. On the 5th Martin Olthof saw a Long-tailed Jaeger flying past the Kustweg. Expectations for the next day grew as a result so the next day I took the 7:15 a.m. ferry from Holwerd to Ameland. After the ferry and the bus I arrived at the beach pavilion near Buren. When checking the sea I noticed how empty it was. Only a few lesser Black-backed Gulls and a couple of distant Common Scoters. After a few minutes of watching it started snowing for some time, but then the weather cleared. Still the sea was empty. I also wanted to see if i could get a video of distant seabirds so I set up my camera and started filming while in the meantime just checking with my scope to see if there was anything special flying. After some more snow had fallen and the weather had cleared again I quickly saw the first auk of the day. I was struck by the features it showed. It was pretty black overall. More like a Razorbill and not like a Guillemot. I also noticed that the bird looked top heavy, having the wings placed more at the back of the bird. Then I noticed the head had a grey color and started to think this could be an Atlantic Puffin. I hoped I would get good views of the bill but this didn't happen. I did noticed the underwings were pretty dark. Because I picked up the bird pretty late I only saw it briefly from the side and then mainly from the back. I watched if I could see white on the flanks, but the flanks were dark. Also a good feature for a Atlantic Puffin in comparison with other auks. Because this was the first auk of the day and it was flying solo I didn't have any reference. Also the bird was pretty far away and was flying really fast. Maybe I had fallen victim to wishful thinking and without any other birder present I couldn't count the bird for the year list. Because the camera was still videoing I had the hope that it would have recorded the bird so I could check the identity again. The screen on the back of the camera is too small to see any details so this had te be done at home. More on that later this episode.

After this first exiting moment of the day I watched for another hour, but then decided no sea birds were to be found so I headed back to the mainland. In the hope of seeing some new year birds I decided to check the Ezumakeeg on my way home. Maybe a Greenshank could be present. The water level is still very had at the Ezumakeeg this time of year so there are only a few spots were you can find the waders. At one of these spots I noticed, although very distant, two interesting plovers. After checking some features I identified the plovers as Kentish Plovers. Not a very rare bird, but pretty scarce and a nice one to find myself and for the year list. I also noticed a small stint foraging nearby which turned out to be my first Little Stint of the year.

Episode 31 - What a Beauty - 04-08

On this ordinary day in the beginning of April I was doing chores in the garden and I missed an alert of a Black Stork in Erm. As I was done I checked my phone and saw a couple of vague reports. There were reports of a Booted Eagle and a Little Swift. The description of the Eagle was wrong for the species (the bird was smaller dan a Common Buzzard). The Little Swift was propably a wrongly reported Common House Martin. In Dutch the two names look a lot like each other (Huisgierzwaluw vs Huiszwaluw). Because of all these reports I forgot about the the Black Stork. Then I decided to take a walk in my local patch the Onlanden. About 15 minutes in my walk I got a text from Willem telling me about the Black Stork Sighting. Thanks again Willem! The report was even accompanied by a photo. I couldn't exclude an escape Abdim's Stork that was seen in Drenthe last year, but decided it was worth the try.

After a trip of about 50 minutes a arrived on site and directly saw a large black bird foraging in the field. I parked my car on the roadside and put on the hazard lights of the car. I grabbed my binoculars and saw the bird was the Black Stork. As it was foraging it came closer and closer and I took loads of photo's.

Episode 32 - 200! - 04-10

For this Saturday I had plans to make a round trip at the Lauwersmeer. I asked Willem and Gijs if they wanted to join. They both wanted join but Gijs needed a good night rest after a busy working week in which he had to get out of bed early every day. So we decided I would pick up Willem at 9:45 a.m. and Gijs at 10:00 a.m. I brought Jannie to her salon at 8 a.m. so I had some time to spare. Before I picked up Willem I decided to check the Black-winged Stilts that have returned for the breeding season at the Zuidlaardermeer. An oncoming birdwatcher told me the Black-winged Stilts were there and it didn't take long for me to find them foraging very close to the road. I enjoyed some 15 minutes with them, taking photo's and videos. A nice 200th species for the year list.

Episode 33 - Mega!....or rubbish? - 04-12

In the afternoon of the 11th a photo was shared of a raptor that was seen at the Marnewaard. It was obviously a dark brown colored bird with a bright yellow bill. Thoughts went directly to Yellow-billed Kite. A species never recorded in Europe. With birds of this extreme rarity its always the question if it just isn't an escape bird. Last year a learned a hard lesson when a swift with white rump was seen at Schiermonnikoog. White-rumped Swift, Little Swift and Pacific Swift were ruled out so we thought the only option would be a hybrid bird or an aberrant Common Swift. This made me desided not to go. Now it turns out the bird is was probably a Horus Swift which I missed. I won't let something like that happen to me again so now the motto is: See the bird first, discuss later. I consulted Jannie and together we decided to first eat our dinner and then try to see the bird.

It was very cold at the dike and the bird was nowhere to be found. Despite de dip I still thought the bird had to be in the area. It was too late for it to migrate any further and it was seen two times with 1,5 our in between.

This meant I had to be there again the next morning. When I arrived I saw one other car and was a little surprised. I had thought that at least a couple of tens of birders would be trying to see the bird. I asked in the Grunn Twitchers app who was searching and it turned out only Martin Olthof and Jacob Bosma were searching. Martin stood in the field and Jacob was scanning the Marnewaard from the migrate watchpoint.

The road, called the Kustweg, that runs between the Marnewaard and the dike is closed during the week. So I parked my car in front of the gate and first put out my laptop to do some work. After about an hour Martin Olthof texted that he found the Kite and that it was flying towards Jacob. It didn't take long before Jacob had eyes on the bird as it flew over the treetops to the east. I was very close but couldn't find the bird. I decided to grab my gear and walk towards Jacob when all of the sudden a brown raptor flew above my head. Thinking this had to be the kite a started taking photo's. After I took a quick look at one of the photo's the first thing I noticed was a grey instead of a yellow bill, but maybe this was do to a lighting effect? Then Jacob called me to inform me a Western Marsh Harrier had just passed me. I the realized I had photographed the wrong bird.

Episode 34 - A pink surprise - 04-14

On the 13th a Greater Flamingo was reported at the Breedbaartpolder. It was an unringed second calendar year bird and since no Greater Flamingo's had been born at the Zwilbrocker venn last year it could very well be a wild bird from southern Europe as last year two Greater Flamingo's that had been ringed at Fuente de Piedra in southern Spain turned up in the Netherlands, proving that wild Greater Flamingo's can turn up in northern Europe. So the next day when I got out of bed I directly went there and luckily the Flamingo was still present. Also my first Common Greenshank of the year was foraging there.

Episode 35 - Preparation - 04-15

Almost every year in may me and my friends are doing a Big Day. In 2016 we managed to take the still standing Big Day record in the Netherlands and in 2017 we took the also still standing record in the TOH. Last year we tried a Big Day only in the province of Friesland. We failed to get the record so this year we give it another go. Last year we lost momentum in the forest, missing a lot of target birds in the morning route. As always the focus is heavily on woodpeckers as they can be very hard to find on a Big Day. We had noticed two locations which looked promising for especially Lesser-spotted Woodpecker and Middle-spotted Woodpecker so Willem and I decided to take a preparation round. We started at the Ketlikerskar and with little effort we found a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker. We also found a Black Woodpecker flying out en in of a hole in the tree.

Episode 36 - Checking rings - 04-16

This winter a drake Blue-winged teal was present at a pond in Groningen. It was ringed on both legs and was very approachable. On the 15th a drake Blue-Winged teal was reported in a wetland area near Scharmer. It was supposedly pretty shy and no rings were noticed. The next day there was another report and again no rings were seen. As april is a good time for rare ducks I had to give it a try. As I expected the bird did turn out to be ringed and it was indeed the same bird as in Groningen this winter.

Episode 37 - Another pink beauty - 04-17

The day started out by giving Jannie a lift to work. I then went on to the Lauwersmeer for some birding. First stop was the Kustweg for some migration counting, but as the wind it still mostly coming from the north there wasn't flying much. I decided to take a long walk in search of my first Wryneck of the year, but failed in doing so. I went on to the Frisian side when a report came through of a Rosy Starling photographed at Lemmer. It was a second calendar year bird moulting into summer plumage. Upon arriving I saw another birder searching for the bird. After searching for some time I got a call from Marchel Stienstra telling me I was at the wrong side of the houses. It took a while for me to figure out where Marchel was and when I found him a had to take a detour around the block before I could finally lay my eyes on the bird which was sitting still in a Holly. After some time it began foraging on some peanut butter for birds that one of the residents had put up in her garden. This gave me a nice opportunity to film the bird. Later on it even got better when the starling flew in a tree near us and started singing which I also managed to record.

Episode 38 - When does the wind turn? - 04-19/04-20

For weeks on end we are dealing with a cold, mostly northern airflow. This isn't good for migration and in particular for rare raptors and pipits I like to see for the year list. On the 19th it finally looked like we got some easterly windflow so I went to the Kustweg as i thought that for the Noordkaap there had to be some southern direction in the wind.

Episode 39 - Chasing Pipits - 04-21

On the evening of the 20th I saw a report of a Red-throated Pipit on the isle of Schiermonnikoog. A bird not to be overlooked as it can be very hard to get on the year list. After consulting Jannie I decided to take the 9:30 a.m. ferry from Lauwersoog. On the ferry I did some work and after arriving on the island I rented a bike and started searching for the pipit. I found a Pink-footed Goose. A new bird for the island list for me. I also find a cute mouse.

Episode 40 - Rarest of the commons - 04-23

On waarneming.nl species are split into four categories: common, scarce, rare and very rare. In each categorie there is of course also a difference in rarity. Some common birds are just more common than other common birds. If we split it up in just two categories: common and rare, the rarest of the common birds would be the Penduline Tit. A species that is declining in the Netherlands and only a few breeding pairs remain. The avoid getting to much attention on these birds waarneming.nl has decided to not upgrade the species rarity to rare, making it the rarest of the common birds. Penduline Tits are well sought after birds and especially nesting sites attract lots of birders and photographers. This can lead to disturbance and possibly a failed breeding result which would be devastating for this declining species. Then there is also the problem of poachers who cut off the nest from te tree because they think its a nice thing to keep at home -_-.

This year looks to be a better year for the species with multiple sightings and multiple breeding attempts. I was lucky to find this one.

Episode 41 - Checking rings part 2 - 04-24

On the 23rd I heard of a Bufflehead in the Bargerveen that was discovered on the 17th. Thom Schroot found it the same day, but failed to see if it was ringed. In the Netherlands a Bufflehead is only accepted if there is proof of it being un ringed. The next day this task was upon me and in good spirits I went that way. I loaded Jannies bike on the bicycle carrier so I didn't have to walk all the way from the parking spot. It took a while for me to find the bird and it was in a difficult spot to check if it was ringed. The bird was in a small fen surrounded by birch. After some searching I found a spot between the trees were I could film the duck, hoping it would start brushing its plumage with its feet. A good way to determine wether a duck has rings or not. After taking video's for a while the Bufflehead suddenly flew out of the fen. I searched all the fens in the area, but failed to re locate it. Disappointed I returned home, only finding three common new year birds.

When checking the footage I took for this blog I noticed I had captured some short footage which show un ringed feet. So I do count the bird for now and have submitted the observation to the rarities committee.

Episode 42 - Birding with friends - 04-25

Last weekend Mirna and Klaas-Jan were supposed to visit us, but their child was sick so they couldn't come. This weekend we gave it another try. We had dinner together and filled the evening with the board game wingspan. A board game based on birds. An hour before the curfew we tried to hear a Eurasian Bittern, which would be a new species for Klaas-Jan. I possibly heard one calling from far away, but nothing certain. We did however hear a Water Rail and a Spotted Crake, also new birds for Klaas-Jan. We went in not to late to get up early. Together we went to the Fochteloërveen. Another target bird was Black Woodpecker. We got treated with a nice show of a pair of Black Woodpeckers who were chasing away Stock Doves. We also heard two new year birds: European Pied Flycatcher and Wood Warbler. Now it was time to see the bird of the area: Common Crane. We found a group of 18 birds far away in a field and two loose birds. Klaas-jan then noticed a couple of Ring Ouzels in the same field!

We were also treated by multiple Ravens and the first Common Swifts of the year. We searched for Eurasian Hobby, but didn't find any. While we were searching for the Hobby we saw a Sparrowhawk chasing a buzzard. As Jannie and I had another visit planned for the afternoon we went home, but detoured through the onlanden to try and find a Western Osprey that is present for a couple of days now. We found it easily. luck was not over yet because we also found a Pied Wagtail and finally heard a Bittern! Mirna even managed to see it walking in the reeds.

Episode 43 - YANK! - 04-27

for the first time this spring, the wind once came from a southeasterly direction. My hopes were high for a good day of migration watching. Upon arriving at the Noordkaap I saw I was not alone as some ten other birders were also present. Later that morning another five joined. Despite the perfect wind conditions there were little to no birds flying across the dike. The wind had blown out of the wrong direction for too long the last couple of days so there weren't enough migrants in the field to even be migrating across the dike. This is very frustrating as these weather conditions of the last weeks definitely will cost me some year birds. When the wind is coming out of a southern to eastern direction we often get to see more rare migrants and rare birds in general. For example: Tawny Pipit and Red-rumped Swallow are very hard to get in de TOH otherwise. And then also birds like Citrin Wagtail, Woodchat Shrike, Iberian Chiffchaff, etcetera appear much more frequent under the right circumstances. But it is what it is. Can't change the weather.

At about 10 a.m. some photo's were shared in a rarities app group which clearly showed a Dark-eyed Junco. It was supposed to be in a garden in Koudum. That would be a great bird for my year list. As migrating birds were still absent at the dike Jeroen and I decided to head to Koudum directly. The precise location wasn't known yet, but we hoped we got more information before we were even in Koudum as it is a trip of 1,5 hours.

Upon arriving in Koudum new information was shared and we got a text the bird was actually been seen in a backyard by other birders who got there before us. We quickly went to the right house and were greeted by very welcoming people. If we put on a face mask we could enter the backyard. Sadly we were just too late as the bird had flown into a bush and was out of sight at the moment we entered the backyard. We were waiting patiently as I suddenly heard it calling. We then saw it being chased by a European Robin. It perched on a fence for a brief moment, just too short for me to take a photo. Jeroen did manage to get a photo. As I really wanted a photo of the bird we decided to stay and wait for it to show up again. About half an hour later it flew back into the garden and perched in a tree. Here I could get my first photo's, but from then on things got a lot better. The junco decided it was time for a snack and flew towards a feeding table just a couple of meters in front of me. After having had its snack it even flew in the tree right above me and started singing a little. I took a lot of photo's of which these are the best ones:

Episode 44 - Finally some migration? - 04-28

Today the wind would still be easterly so I went to the Noordkaap again. There was more migration than yesterday, but still not what I hoped for. Around noon I decided to go to the Eemshaven because raptors were better there yesterday. When I arrived it turned out I had just missed an Ortolan Bunting...never in the right place...

At least I found a Black Kite migrating northeast.

Episode 45 - Eemshaven - 04-30

Today I went to a Pallid Harrier at a disclosed site. It took me a while, but I finally found it!

Episode 46 - That was April

For April I had the following targets:

• American Wigeon!!

• Green-winged Teal

• Glaucous Gull

• Glossy Ibis

• Marsh Sandpiper

• Black-winged Stilt

• Pallid Harrier

• Black Kite

• Red-rumped Swallow

• Richards Pipit

• Tawny Pipit

• Red-throated Pipit

• European Serin

Of these I saw: Marsh Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt, Pallid Harrier, Black Kite, Richards Pipit, Red-throated Pipit and European Serin. I additionally saw a Black Stork, Greater Flamingo and a Rose-coloured Starling. Three nice birds, but not the most exiting for the year list as I would probably get other changes for these birds. But its nice to have them already which can save some valuable time later down the road. The best birds of the mont however were the Dark-eyed Junco and off course the mega Yellow-billed Kite.

April was, on the other hand, a bit of a disappointment. Because of the persistent northerly windflow there wasn't much visible migration. I was lucky with both a Red-throated pipit and Richard's pipit on the ground and a fly by Black Kite, but I had hoped for some more. There were reports of one Red-rumped Swallow seen briefly at the Kustweg and a Tawny Pipit on both the Noordkaap and the Eemshaven. There was even a observation of a fly by Ortolan Bunting at the Eemshaven. But I can only be at one watchpoint at the same time so I would have missed them anyway. It isn't fully out of the question that I will see these birds this year, but chances are getting slimmer.

And because of the persistent northerly winds there weren't much rare birds that probably would have turned up with southerly winds like Iberian Chiffchaff, Woodchat Shrike etcetera. There was a Citrine Wagtail on Vlieland, but it was found to late on the day to take the ferry and the next day it couldn't be re found. Also The American Wigeon didn't gave another appearance. These birds can also turn up later this year so lets hope for a great second half of spring.

So for the comparison: