I went back to the polders earlier this week for one last look at the flocks of geese before they start heading north again. As you can see, there were plenty of White-fronts around but the Barnacles were the most numerous, with a conservative estimate of 1300 to 1500 individuals. Try as I might to spot a Red-breasted Goose among them, all I could find was a hybrid Cackling x Barnacle, although I did eventually locate just two Pink-footed Geese in a group of White-fronts. There were quite a few Grey Partridges calling, an early Marsh Harrier, and a Spotted Redshank.
Yesterday, Brussels had an exceptional day for rare birds. I first managed to twitch an immature Iceland Gull which was found along the canal, arriving just ten minutes before it disappeared! It was too far away for me to take its picture but another observer did manage to get some nice shots earlier on; see http://bru.waarnemingen.be/waarneming/view/97816840. After that, I went back to Roodklooster/Rouge-Cloître where a Bittern seems to have taken up winter residence and has been teasing me by remaining hidden in the reeds on every visit I've made there so far this year. This time, I waited till nightfall and finally got great views of it as it clambered up onto its roosting perch just as the last light was fading.
