| There
are many interesting places to go birding close to where I live.
Probably the best-known of all is Texel, the westernmost
of the Frisian Islands. With a length of c 23 km and a variety of
landscapes – ranging from dunes, forests, farmland, saltmarsh
and
tidal flats – the island has a lot to offer. Here is a
selection of rare species I have seen over the years: Ross’s
Goose Anser rossii, King
Eider Somateria spectabilis,
Ring-necked Duck Aythya collaris, Blue-winged Teal Spatula discors, Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax, Eurasian Stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus, American
Golden Plover Pluvialis dominica, Caspian
Plover Anarhynchus asiaticus (Morel
& Ebels 2010), Greater
Sand Plover A leschenaultii, Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris,
Red-necked Stint C ruficollis,
White-rumped Sandpiper C fuscicollis,
Buff-breasted Sandpiper C subruficollis, Black
Guillemot Cepphus grylle, Bonaparte’s Gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia (Ebels
& Hovinga 2012), Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus (Witte
& Ebels 2002), Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus, Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus,
Red-tailed Shrike Lanius phoenicuroides (van der
Laan & CDNA 2008), Lesser Grey Shrike L minor, Steppe
Grey Shrike L
lahtora pallidirostris
(Ebels 2013), Woodchat Shrike L senator, Greenish Warbler Phylloscopus trochiloides, Western
Bonelli’s Warbler P bonelli, Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum,
Red-flanked
Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus, Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maurus, Desert
Wheatear Oenanthe deserti, Eastern Black-eared Wheatear O melanoleuca, Pied
Wheatear O pleschanka (van Beusekom et
al 2000), Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis (Gaxiola & Wassink
1998), Arctic Redpoll Acanthis hornemanni, Parrot Crossbill Loxia pytyopsittacus and Pine Bunting Emberiza leucocephalos. In short:
Texel truly is a proper birding hotspot. If you have the opportunity, do
not hesitate and get on that ferry! |
