It certainly is flat but that doesn’t make it dull & uninteresting. 7 keen Western Palearctic listers & their 2 cooks disembarked early one morning from the Harwich to the Hook overnight boat, well rested & ready for ‘the off’. But 5 big blokes squeezed into a smallish car with 1 of them very hirsute & looking like ‘the bin liner’ & the driver not knowing if he had been drinking or not, is a recipe for instant problems. 12 blows into a breathalyser later & last to get away from the dockyard by a considerable distance, the intrepid few escaped the lock-up & chalked up their first rarity within 200yds. The Indian species of House Crow has arrived by boat, (No, not our boat, dum-dum!) & is now resident in small numbers right in the port area & seems to be holding its own very nicely on a diet of chips & bread at the local café. Things had taken a turn for the better already!

We then headed into deepest Holland in search of a reported Bufflehead (the smallest relative of our Goldeneye) but it had returned to its mates at some local wildfowl collection unless, like us, you considered it to be a genuine vagrant from the US of A!? The goose count had started from the moment we were in rural surroundings & they are everywhere & in impressive numbers too. Officially we recorded 10 varieties (I had 12 with 2 dodgy species, all to be revealed later) – go on, try to name them right now! I suppose I have to admit that we dipped on Olive-backed Pipit but it didn’t seem to matter once we’d found our accommodation at Centreparks, Zaandvoort, indulged in liquid refreshment & stuffed ourselves with excellent grub prepared by the cooks. Highly recommended having non-birding cooks – just make sure you’re not late back & pour them copious amounts of wine!

Our only full day was spent on the island of Texel which is a well-known bird haven & it definitely lived up to its reputation. We travelled north through very heavy rain but once there the old current bun was wonderful. Again geese were everywhere in the fields, skeins were flying in & the noise was memorable – except I’ve already forgotten which species makes which noise. Vis mig was in evidence – Wryneck, Ring Ouzel, Waxwing, oodles of Thrushes. Hen Harrier, Ring-necked Parakeet & White Stork all made it onto our list as did 10-pin bowling!

So, did you name Red-breasted, Lesser White-fronted & Taiga Bean Geese amongst the authenticated species with Snow Goose & Richardson’s Canada Goose as those on my list only? Did you recognise the unfortunate GBBGull snack on Peter Beesley’s amazing image? Best you get out there yourself!

Photographs courtesey of Peter Beesley

Part 1

Ferry Meadows CP.

Meet at the visitor centre at 1000 for a cross section of our local birds.

Part 2

Meet at Eldernell car park at 1430 for wildfowl, raptors and owls.

Leader Bob Titman

General birding with a wildfowl bias.

Leader Bob Titman

The talk will be on Yellowstone National Park.

Speaker David Cromack

Experience the spectacle of the flood lit feeding of wild swans and waterfowl from the heated hides. Plus farmland birds and raptors from the areas viewed from the visitor centre. The visit  will include a talk by one of the reserve staff and we can hopefully conclude with tea and ckes in the centres cafe.

Note: there is a fee for none WWT members ( Current group rate £6.10 adult £4.65 con).

Leader to be advised

This will be an early evening walk looking for wildfowl and the spectacle of a gull roost.

? Meet  at the traffic lights at the  junction of Eagle Way/A15

Talk on Package Holiday Birding-birdlife seen around some of our popular package holiday destinations.

Speaker Trevor Williams.

Meet at the visitor centr at 1000.

Leader to be advised.

Paxton with its diverse range of habitats will enable us to see large variety of birds, hopefully this will include a number of the first Summer visitors for the year.

Note: There will be a small charge of £2.50, this will cover a guided tour of the reserve with a local expert together with tea/coffee and biscuits from the reserve centre.

Leaders to be announced later.

Commencing 19.30 p.m. Talk by Chris Andrews, “Birds in Myth and Folklore”