flanders in march (1 Viewer)

Hello,
i'm spending a week in Bruges in late March, essentially non-birding, however if i have a reasonable chance of seeing some birds i don't often come across at home in SW England or on my travels I don't want to waste it!
So my question - are there any sites in flanders, accessible by public transport, where the following species can be seen:-

barnacle goose
bean goose (either ssp.)
rough-legged buzzard
long-eared owl
black woodpecker
short-toed treecreeper
shore lark
twite

cheers,
James

bump!!!

James Lowther said:

Hello,
i'm spending a week in Bruges in late March, essentially non-birding, however if i have a reasonable chance of seeing some birds i don't often come across at home in SW England or on my travels I don't want to waste it!
So my question - are there any sites in flanders, accessible by public transport, where the following species can be seen:-

barnacle goose
bean goose (either ssp.)
rough-legged buzzard
long-eared owl
black woodpecker
short-toed treecreeper
shore lark
twite

cheers,
James

Click to expand...

Hi James,
best to check:
http://waarnemingen.be/index.php?lang=en&local=be
The search window is in the upper right corner.
You can also do a search using the tour planner:
http://waarnemingen.be/planner.php
Just put the arrow on the map and indicate the range. Birds can be filtered based on rarity...

In any way, this is a good year for Rough-legged Buzzard. The geese should not be a problem in the fields north-west of Bruges, Short-eared Owl has some roosts near Bruges. Twite is most reliable at 'het zwin' (Knokke), which is also your best best for Horned Lark (which is quite rare at the belgian coast). Treecreeper and Woodpecker (rare) have to be searched for in forests, preferably those south of the city.

I have no info about public transport, but you would need your own car to search for all those birds in one day.

good luck!

hi,

the treecreeper should be easy in the forest near Brugge and probably in park too! Black woodpecker is probably hard to find...

There is three area accessible by public transport :

-Uitkerkse Polder ( http://www.uitkerkse-polder.be/tekst_engelsnieuw.html ) accessible by train, station Blankenberge (10 minutes from Brugge!). you should see the bernacle goose there and bluethroat arrive late march! Tundra Bean goose is scarce there...

-the Zwin is accessible by train (station Knokke also 10 minutes from Brugge) and then a bus that stop at the entry of the nature reserve. It's the best place for twite and shore lark (very rare this winter) but late march is maybe a bit late?

-Fonteintjes (the dunes between Blankenberge and Zeebrugge) accessible by train (Blankenberge) and then by tram. There is a spot to watch visible migration there. If the wind is from south to east it can be very good : http://trektellen.nl/trektelling.asp?telpost=74&land=2&site=0&datum=20110212&

Rough-legged buzzard is a rare bird here but Uitkerkse Polder and the Zwin are good place!

good luck

FD