Wednesday 22 August
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| The National Park Oosterschelde near Zuidkaap |
Another wonderful day in typical Dutch countryside and this time exploring the bird sites north and south of the
National Park Oosterschelde - basically, the Schelde estuary since recovering after the disastrous floods of 1953, the same floods that decimated the British east coast. Up and down the dikes with the road sometimes on top but mostly behind and protected from the sea. A wonderful experience for those trying to understand the meaning of a "polder." All this visiting polders, I even said to Marieke that we were undertaking a "poldering" only to discover that there is already such a verb as used in the Dutch Parliament when the heated debates get under way!
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| Hundreds of waders driven across the sea dike by the rising tide |
Once in the area we headed off to
Zuidkaap but crossing the dikes as the tide pushed the birds up from the beaches we soon had many sightings of
Black-headed Gull,
Little Egret and
Lapwing to add to the
Crow,
Jackdaw and many
Wood Pigeons already seen. The
Mute Swans were lovely top see but then, approaching
Bruinessi, an
Osprey so close to the car you felt that if we let the window down the raptor might have joined us for a light snack rather than a choice fish! But, as always, the bird appeared on a narrow stretch of road with no stopping place and traffic behind us. No sooner had we turned the corner and the next road produced a quartering
Marsh Harrier. From here on we to see very many
Lapwings and
Carrion Crows along with regular
Grey Herons and
Magpies.
We spent some considerable time looking at the pools on the land side of the sea wall and with the sea racing on towards high tide we were able to witness not just the birds already resting on the small lagoons but the regular arrivals for the sea side of the dike. Lots of
Greylag Geese but also a score or more of
Barnacle Geese along with a handful of
Egyptian Geese. A few
Mute Swans but at least a score of
Spoonbill and a small number of
Little Egret and
Grey Heron. Mainly
Mallards but we also recorded
Shelduck. Not so many
Coots and
Moorhens but loads, hundreds, of
Oystercatchers. A few
Redshank and also
Herring Gull present but then hundreds of
Curlew taking a good, long sleep. Also good to record
Great Black-backed Gull. A
Meadow Pipit put in a brief appearance by way of a change form the
Barn Swallows feeding around us and always the occasional
Cormorant to be seen..
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| Barnacle Geese Barnacla Cariblanca Branta leucopsis |
Plompe Toren and
Burghsluis produced a small number of birds and it was certainly interesting looking at the tower of a previous, long gone church now standing out like some sort of sentinel lighthouse but we did add a
Green Sandpiper. Once on the southern side we stopped for a lovely lunch in
Wissenkerke (I had the starter of mussels and they took some eating so goodness knows how many would have been on the plate if it had been the main course!) and Marieke noticed the feeding
House Martins. This was a village completely lost to the above floods and since returned to its former glory. Then on to the local hide. But no hide any more. Looking out over the water we had a couple of
Common Tern,
Teal, both
Little and
Great Crested Grebe and around us feeding
Barn Swallows. More
Kestrels seen during the day than I have seen for a long time.
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| The delightful site at Colijnsplaat |
We eventually found our last site at
Colijnsplaat and, at first, felt quite disappointed that the whole area seemed now to be a giant reed bed. But closer inspection revealed clear water further along and this really turned up trumps, fortunately not of the Donald variety, including about 30
Ruff and a similar number of
Spoonbills.
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| A large flock of Spoonbill Espatula Comun Platalea leucorodia |
Also present were a few
Gadwall in with the
Teal and
Mallard plus a small number of
Black-tailed Godwit and a handful of
Dunlin. Interesting to suddenly find a small flock of
Canada Geese which were revealed when a score of
Barnacle Geese took to the air but also leaving behind the
Greylag Geese. Then the distinct call of a
Water Rail below us near the water's edge, a bird that was to be quite persistent so almost certainly a juvenile demanding food.
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| Barnacle Geese Barnacla Cariblanca Branta leucopsis and accompanying waders |
A great day with some wonderful scenery and as we started our way back through the dikes to the main road a
Buzzard flew up from the ditch immediately next to the car to become our
44th species of the day. Then, once again, the long drive home and the the thought of packing in readiness for an early departure towards Spain on the morrow.
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| Spoonbill Espatula Comun Platalea leucorodia accompanied by Canada Geese Barnacla canadiense Branta canadensis and waders |
Birds seen:
Greylag Goose, Barnacle Goose, Mute Swan, Egyptian Goose, Shelduck, Gadwall, Mallard, Teal, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Little Egret, Heron, Spoonbill, Osprey, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Kestrel, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Dunlin, Ruff, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Green Sandpiper, Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Common Tern, Wood Pigeon, Rock Dove, Collared Dove, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Meadow Pipit, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Common Starling, House Sparrow.
Check out the accompanying website at http://www.birdingaxarquia.weebly.com for the latest sightings, photographs and additional information
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