Birding in Zeeland (NL) this morning. (1 Viewer)

Leo Tukker said:

This morning I went birding in Zeeland, because I read that a Broad-billed Sandpiper was seen there over the last few days. The bird was seen in a place called " 't Stinkgat " near Oud-Vossemeer.

After a while another birder found the Broad-billed Sandpiper and it showed very well for a long time. It was a juvenile bird and a lifer for me.

I also made a circular walk around the polder.

Other birds I saw were : Little Egret, Eurasian Spoonbill, Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Common Shelduck, Mallard, Northern Goshawk, Oystercatcher, Avocet, Great Ringed Plover, Northern Lapwing, Dunlin, Little Stint, Temminck's Stint, Ruff, Eurasian Curlew, Whimbrel (another lifer), Common Redshank, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Barn Swallow, Pied Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail (M. flavissima), Marsh Warbler, Magpie and Carrion Crow.

A very rewarding morning.

Regards,

Leo Tukker

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JustinJansen said:

Very unlikely are the Pied Wagtail and Flavissima Yellow here and also rare is the Marsh Warbler (why not Reed Warbler?).

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Leo Tukker said:

I saw the wagtails very well with my telescope on the seaside of the dyke around the polder. I took the English bird names out of the Lars Johnson guide. In other birdguides the Pied Wagtail is also called White Wagtail.

I think I made a mistake about the Yellow Wagtail. I studied some pictures and it must have been female Yellow Wagtail (flava flava). I changed it in my original blog.
The marsh warbler was sitting about 1 mtr. away from me in the scrub near the hide of 't Stinkgat. I heard the bird calling very well and it didn't sound like a Reed Warbler.

Regards,

Leo

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JustinJansen said:

No! In the Netherlands Pied (yarrellii) and White Wagtail (alba) are two different species, the bird you saw is most likely a White Wagtail (extreme detailed observation e.g. rump, and moult pattern could identify now alba from yarrellii).

Sound is not the key to identify Marsh and Reed Warbler(did you take a sonogram?), a details look at the bill-length and primary pattern and primary projection gives a very huge clue what species it is. Most birds are however very hard to identify in the field, even in hand they give problems.

Regards,

Justin

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Leo Tukker said:

I saw definitely a White Wagtail. The ANWB Vogelgids van Europa gives the right name.

Around the hide at 't Stinkgat there is only scrub and no reeds, so Marsh Warbler (Bosrietzanger) is in my opinion not so strange. It's a quite common bird in our parts.

Regards,

Leo

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JustinJansen said:

Leo, if you read carefully, I hint you that the identification of Marsh and Reed Warbler is extremely difficult. It is not excluding what is common as breeding bird, all breeders are gone of both species (although some birds remain still to be found in the area, however Marsh Warbler is more rare now then Reed Warbler), so birds are passing through eg. also these birds at the Stinkgat (visited the area two days ago) are migratory. At best most birds, if you not study the earlier mentioned bill-lenght, tertial pattern and primary projection leave them as Reed/Marsh Warbler (not specify them on species level), a very common practice.

Migratory birds can be everywhere, including the new species for you, two days ago the very common Whimbrel. You can find them in all kinds of habitat, where they are not breeding, same applied for migrating songbirds (eg. Acrocephalus).

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Leo Tukker said:

Thanks Justin for your remarks. It helps me to be more critical. I tried to edit my first thread, but for some reason it won't work. I shall try to change it later and leave it as Reed/Marsh Warbler. By the way I think it's kind of funny that two Dutch guys are writing in English to one another.

Regards,

Leo

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Leo Tukker said:

Thanks Justin for your remarks. It helps me to be more critical. I tried to edit my first thread, but for some reason it won't work. I shall try to change it later and leave it as Reed/Marsh Warbler. By the way I think it's kind of funny that two Dutch guys are writing in English to one another.

Regards,

Leo

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