Well... this was the most bizarre birding trip I've ever done.
Although I have indulged in it from time to time throughout my birding career, these days I am not fond of twitching. But in the last few days a rather insane rarity has been hanging around the Dutch coast: nothing short of a Spectacled Eider, a male of almost mature plumage. It has already been dubbed one of the best vagrants ever seen in the Netherlands. Even though it hangs out in the northwest of the country, and I live in the southeast, I've let myself be persuaded by friends to join them on a trip to see the bird.
We left very early and arrived at the Island of Texel long before the break of day. Soon we found ourselves on a dike which should have granted us a good view over the Wadden Sea... if it wasn't for the dense fog that surrounded us. Hoping it would clear in a while, we stayed out there, joined by ever more bird watchers. Soon there were hundreds of them. It was quite bizarre. It was icy cold and the fog was so dense even the small flocks of geese flying over were shrouded in mist. We stood waiting for the fog to clear for an hour, and then another hour, and then a third hour. With feet and hands numbed by the cold, we started to rethink our strategy. Given that the fog was seemingly unlikely to clear for a good while, we entertained the idea of going to a restaurant or cafe to drink coffee and warm up. The argument turned out to be moot however, because before we had made a decision a cry came up from the birder further north.
A few dozen birders with spotting scopes started to run almost as if maddened to the source of the cry. It soon turned out the spectacled eider was seen again. I resisted the temptation to run, and came up to the excited group of birders to see the bird for a few seconds through my friend's scope. I installed my own quickly and saw the eider again for a few brief moments, shrouded in mist, before it flew way. A miserable sighting, but we had seen it at least. We walked south, the direction in which the bird flew, and quickly heard it had been seen there. Whole flocks of birders started to run in the same direction. When I arrived, there were hundreds gathered to get a glimpse of the bird. I set up my scope and peered through, only to have the eider float by rather close this time. A short while later it again swam around close to where I stood, giving great views despite the fog, as it was very close to the shore. Having watched the eider for a long while, we eventually were content.
The rest of the day was used to visit several sites on the island, seeing a lot of birds, including flocks of coastal passerines and two long-tailed ducks as highlights, along with the expected large flocks of geese, ducks, and gulls.
That's the first lifer of the year sorted at least.
Birds
66. Eurasian Curlew, Numenius arquata
67. Eurasian Oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus
68. European Herring Gull, Larus argentatus
69. Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres
70. Black-necked Grebe, Podiceps nigricollis
71. Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula
72. Red-sided Merganser, Mergus serrator
73. Barnacle Goose, Branta leucopsis
74. Brant, Branta bernicla
75. Greater Scaup, Aythya marila
76. Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatarola
77. Common Eider, Somateria mollissima
78. Spectacled Eider, Somateria fisheri
79. Little Egret, Egretta garzetta
80. Sanderling, Calidris alba
81. Shore Lark, Eremophila alpestris
82. Northern Shoveler, Spatula clypeata
83. Common Shelduck, Tadorna tadorna
84. Northern Pintail, Anas acuta
85. Common Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula
86. Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica
87. Common Redshank, Tringa totanus
88. Twite, Linaria flavirostris
89. Common Snipe, Gallinago gallinago
90. Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris
91. European Golden Plover, Pluvialis apricaria
92. Ruff, Calidris pugnax
93. Eurasian Spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia
94. Long-tailed Duck, Clangula hyemalis
