The BIG 300!

Well, it has taken me the best part of twenty years to get there but, today, I finally saw my 300th species in Belgium!  Since the Wallcreeper way back at the start of January, I've not even come close to adding anything new despite trying for both Tengmalm's Owl and Grey-headed Woodpecker.  Any potentially new species which turned up either did so when I was away, working, or were in places I simply couldn't get to.  Today, I wasn't planning on going birding as I had loads of stuff I really needed to do in Brussels but, lo-and-behold, a group of Whiskered Terns turned up at Het Vinne yesterday.  This is one of my favourite nature reserves but a pain to get to as the hourly bus leaves just ten minutes before the train arrives, entailing a horrible 50-minute wait in Sint Truiden.  I had a flash of inspiration, however, and hired a bike at the station for just €10, so I was already at the reserve by the time I would normally be getting on the bus, with the added bonus of a singing Lesser Whitethroat along the way.  Once there, though, all I could see was Black-headed Gulls flying around and my heart sank as I realised they had probably left.  It took at least fifteen minutes before I managed to spot a tern flying around way over the other end of the reserve.  It looked dark but was just too far to identify so a sprint around the lake ensued, more to avoid the impending stormcloud which was blackening the horizon than due to my eagerness to get closer to the terns.  Having arrived at the far hide, it didn't take long before two beautiful, summer-plumaged Whiskered Terns appeared low over the marsh and they even did a courtesy fly-by in front of the hide for me.  The excitement didn't stop there, however, as I then noticed a couple of male Garganey, and a medium-sized bird flying past in woodpecker-fashion as it battled against the wind turned out to be a male Golden Oriole, followed just a few minutes later by a Cuckoo.  What a wonderful few hours, despite the rain showers; the chores can wait!