I finished my exams on the 1st September, like I spent the last 2,5 weeks studying (missing a greenish warbler and 2 good seawatching days) and like they were eastern winds for the next few days I decided to go to Zeebrugge from the 2nd to 6th september!
On the 1st September, Johan Buckens found his a greenish warbler (for the second time this year!) at the Fishers Cross Park in Zeebrugge. I hadn't much hopes that it'll still be there the next day because unfortunately the sky was clear that night...http://observations.be/waarneming/view/49778249
I arrived in Zeebrugge on the 2nd september and I found Johan in the bushes on the beach of Zeebrugge where a wryneck was showing well. He told me that he searched for the greenish warbler one hour earlier this morning without finding it...but there were still somes hopes : the park is big and the bird was very elusive. I spent 2h30 in the park but saw nothing that looked like a greenish warbler...In the afternoon, I birder in several park in Zeebrugge and the Sashul in Heist where I saw 3 wrynecks...In the evening another birder found the greenish warbler but it was unfortunately too late and the sky was still clear...
Highlight of 1st day :
- 1 marsh harrier seen from the train
- 1 common cuckoo arrived from the sea and stopped for a few minutes in the fishers cross park
- 4 wryneck
- 5 northern wheatear
- 1 reed warbler
- 13 pied flycatcher
- 9 common redstart
On the 3rd september, I went to the Fishers Cross Park early and when I arrived the first bird I saw was a phyllo with a well marked supercilium that looked really like a GREENISH WARBLER but it took me 30 more minutes to see it again and confirm the identification; just seeing the wingbar 1 second! 1st lifer! Then I received a text telling me Kenny Hessel has found a barred warbler in the Sashul. The place was difficult to see and I didn't saw it...
Highlight of 2nd day :
- 1 hobby
- 3 wryneck
- 6 northern wheatear
- 1 GREENISH WARBLER
- 5 reed warbler
- 1 cetti's warbler seen (when searching for the barred)
- 13 pied flycatcher
- 8 common redstart
- 1 common crossbill in the fishers cross park
On the 4th september, I started the day with Michael Haurez at the bushes on the beach of Zeebrugge. We first found a poor dead common redstart that flew again a window and then we saw a big warbler flying from the harbour to the very little shrubs behind the big bush. On the first little bush, we saw a wryneck and the warbler was on the 2nd…It was a BARRED WARBLER! 2nd lifer (the last 3 years have been very poor for barred...) and self-found! Then we went at the Fishers Cross Park were we heard the greenish warbler calling just when we arrived but it's still very difficult to have good view. We also tried the barred warbler at the Sashul but didn't saw it
Highlight of 3rd day :
- 50+4 spoonbill flying south!
- 1 marsh harrier
- 1 peregrine falcon
- 4 wryneck
- 15 northern wheatear
- 4 winchat
- The greenish warbler Vincent Legrand's pics
- 1 BARRED WARBLER Johan Buckens's pics
- 1 reed warbler
- 2 spotted flycatcher
- 14 pied flycatcher
- 11 common redstart
On the 5th september, I was with Michael Haurez, Jean Wauters and Christine Leroux. We started with the bushes on the beach of Zeebrugge but saw nothing interesting then we moved to the Sashul in Heist which was clearly the best spots the last days. There were lots of sylvia warblers and we found another BARRED WARBLER perched on the top of a bush! We saw greenish warbler again a few second but it was even more elusive today and a lot of birder dipped that day... In the Afternoon I went at the beach of Zeebrugge where a (new?) barred warbler was seen earlier. I saw the bird only 2-3 seconds and unfortunately for the French birders that arrived a bit later the warbler never showed again that day...
Highlight of the 4th day :
- 1 great egret flying NE over the front harbour
- 15 grey heron in one group flying SW
- 1 peregrine falcon
- 9 northern wheatear
- 2 winchat
- The greenish warbler
- 2 BARRED WARBLER
- 2 reed warbler
- 1 sedge warbler
- 2 spotted flycatcher
- 6 pied flycatcher
- 5 common redstart
barred warbler, Sashul, Heist, 5th september 10 © François Doyen
we were not alone searching for the barred warbler at the beach of Zeebrugge
Peregrine falcon, Beach of Zeebrugge, 5th sepember 10 © François Doyen
On the 6th september, my last day in Zeebrugge, I went to less birded place and thus saw less birds...but I had a strange sigthing in the park of Heist : there was a short-toed treecreeper in a seabuckthorn shrub in front of the big Park (where I saw 4 or 5 other but they probably breed there). The greenish and the 2 barred warbler where still there but I didn't tried to see them.
Highlight of the 5th day :
- 1 grey heron flying over the beach
- 1 western marsh harrier from the train
- 1 honey buzzard and 2 buzzard from the train
- 1 peregrine falcon
- 1 wryneck
- only 1 northern wheatear despite having done good places for them
- 1 winchat
- 1 stonechat
- 1 spotted flycatcher
- 7 pied flycatcher
- 2 common redtstart
- 1 short-toed treecreeper in a little seabuckthorn shrubs in front of the park of Heist
Spotted flycatcher, Bay of Heist, 6h september 10 © François Doyen
Northern Wheatear, Bay of Heist, 6h september 10 © François Doyen
No comments:
Post a Comment