Well, the appointment was also birding so I just went of with Jan and Sjoerd for a friendly birding trip to the famous Oostvaardersplassen between Almere and Lelystad.
A female Hen Harrier was hunting near the Paradijsvogelweg in southern Flevoland, 4 Goosanders were sighted to.
A strange starling was flying among the Common Starling but it unfortunately was just a leucistic one and not a Rose-coloured relative.
Sjoerd didn't ever see Tundra Bean Goose so we stopped along the Ibisweg to check the available White-fronted Goose, there was a large group of White-fronted foraging and there were quite a lot Tundra's among them!
At the Grote praambult we didn't find the pair of White-tailed Eagle's and there was nothing special to see either.
The Kleine praambult was just as his 'big brother'.
A Spoonbill along the Praamweg was quite a surprise because Spoonbills are all but common in the winter in Holland.
From the hide near the Knardijk we saw a Great Grey Shrike at great range.
Close by the hide there are roosting Long-eared Owls, we didn't find them in the first place but a friendly photographer pointed them out for us, they showed extremely well at close range.
^Long-eared OwlsAlong the Houtribdijk we saw 2 Scaups and 1 Chiffchaff.
The light was fading fast so we drove straight to the spot were the Dowitchers was sighted.
It should be foraging along a busy road were 3 possibility's to park the car (what is actually illegal I think).
We did manage to see a lot Little stints and Golden plovers but nothing even close to a Dowitcher.
When we drove on we figured we should go the other way so we turned, then Jan said: 'Should we stop 1 more time?'. Yeah sure why not?
I didn't get out the telescope and we just watch with our binoculars.
Within seconds I picked out a strange little black dot that was flushed by some Shellducks and flew towards us.
I soon realized that this was the Long-billed Dowitcher we were looking for!
I reported it to Sjoerd and Jan and got out of the car to get the telescope.
Faster then a speeding bullet I managed to get the telescope at the correct hight en located the Dowitcher, that was still foraging in the same area.
I took some (very poor) shots and showed Jan the bird through the telescope.
Jan found it extremely billiant that I had located the bird with my binoculars.
I made a little drawing from the bird that I worked out at home.
^Very poor record shots
^Jan (front) and Sjoerd watching the DowitcherAt Andijk (a small village by the IJselmeer) a Black-throated Loon was sighted a few weeks before.
We didn't found the loon but a Horned Grebe was swimming close in shore, also a amazing large group of Goosanders was foraging between the wharves.
^Horned grebeWhen we returned home Sjoerd saw a Little gull flying past the car on the Houtribdijk and we saw stunning groups of Goosander (400-500!).
Yesterday a Red-flanked Bluetail was found near the seaside resort of Zandvoort.
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