It has been horribly grey and wet since I last wrote so I've not done much birding and have only added another 6 species to my 2021 year list, which now stands at 112. A long walk criss-crossing Kalmthout Heath failed to produce the overwintering Great Grey Shrike, which seems to have relocated elsewhere, but did give me my first Water Pipits in Belgium since 2014. I also visited my old patch of Mechels Broek, on the outskirts of Mechelen, for a winter-plumaged Red-necked Grebe. This is the closest site to Brussels with a good range of habitats and, consequently, a nice variety of species, but I've not been there very often the past few years, as some bad management and lots of disturbance seem to have reduced its attraction to birds. There were lots around, though, as you can see, with good numbers of Wigeon, Teal, Lapwing, Barnacle Goose and White-fronted Goose, an irregular species this far inland. Finally, an unsucessful twitch to the male Baikal Teal in the Dijle valley did provide my first Willow Tits of the year. Willow Tit seems to be extinct in Brussels so the area south of Leuven is probably our closest reliable spot for them.
