Yesterday, my planned day out with my Dutch birding friends turned into a day of twitching around Rotterdam. Only one of our three targets showed, but it was the most important one as it was a lifer - Oriental Turtle Dove. Unfortunately, a Magpie saw it at about the same time we did and chased it off almost immediately so we didn't get prolonged views, but enough to tell what it was.
After that, we tried walking around the Ackerdijkse Plassen in the wind, where a Great White Egret feeding opposite two Black Swans provided an interesting contrast. An immature Peregrine zipped passed us in the blink of an eye and two huddled up White Storks seemed to be enjoying the conditions about as much as we were. Before we gave up altogether, though, I took a few pictures of this nice, mixed group of ducks (Wigeon, Gadwall and one female Tufted) and was really pleased with this one as it almost looks like it could be a watercolour by Sir Peter Scott.
