The last new species I added to my lifelist was the Paddyfield Warbler I twitched in Zeebrugge way back in October of last year. At the time, it was my 450th species in Europe but I have since lost one and fallen back to 449 as the two seemingly wild Snow Geese I have seen in Europe were both deemed to be escapes. On Tuesday, though, I decided to give the Stilt Sandpiper near Amsterdam a try. This was a lifer and had already been present for six days so I took the train to Amsterdam and hired a bike. Almost two hours later, I finally arrived at the reserve and immediately recognised the distant bird thanks to its distinctive silhouette, with its comical-looking, drooping bill. I got some nice scope looks at the bird, which was at an advanced stage of moult from summer to winter plumage, but it remained too far for pictures. There were quite a few other waders present, including Green Sandpiper, Greenshank and several Wood Sandpipers, as well as this adult Spoonbill being relentlessly harassed by its constantly begging offspring.
Tuesday was the seventh and last day of the Stilt Sandpiper's stay as it has not been seen since. I was very pleased, therefore, that I decided not to wait until the weekend, even if I could no longer feel my legs after the 50km or so of cycling; the first time I'd ridden a bike in four years!
