Sunday 5 January 2020

Where's wally?

The Wallcreeper which was found five years ago is back!  Or at least it was.  I went today to try and see it but it was not to be found, and indeed hasn't been observed since yesterday lunchtime, with a rather ominous Peregrine sitting atop its rock instead.  Still, a Dipper and three adult Caspian Gulls along the Meuse were nice consolation year ticks, as was a male Firecrest I found feeding in my local park this morning.  The Wallcreeper was only my second twitch of the weekend, however, since an adult male Dusky Thrush was found in north-eastern Belgium late on New Year's Day!  It has received hundred of admirers since and, yesterday, I joined the crowds to get my first lifer of the year and 315th species in Belgium.  It stayed around 100m away in a fenced enclosure so there was no question of me getting any picture of it but the professionals with the huge lenses did manage a decent shot or two.  What a gorgeous thrush; the yellowish wash to the face and throat contrasting with the white belly was something I wasn't expecting since it's not shown well in any of my field guides.  Who would have thought I'd be starting off 2020, the year of the Bullfinch as chosen by Vogelbescherming Vlaanderen, the Flemish bird-protection association, with a lifer?