January - Bittern (West Flanders); a visiting birder wanted to see Bittern so I took him to the best place I know, hoping we might get to see one. Our first view was of a distant bird sitting in a waterlogged field but, later on, it or another appeared right in front of the hide and started blowing bubbles in the water to attract fish. Crazy, prolonged views of this unusual behaviour ensued so my visitor was thrilled.
February - Black Woodpecker (Brussels); Black Woodpecker is always difficult to see in Brussels so I was happy to locate a female by her calls. She was perched on a treetrunk and, while I was watching her, a Green Woodpecker, climbed up the same tree and stopped just below her!
March - Common Crane (Brussels); with prolonged westerlies pushing Cranes over Brussels and several near misses, I finally managed to spot a migrating group of around 70 from my balcony.
April - HERMIT WARBLER (Eugene, OR); the main target of my US trip, I finally saw one amongst a crazy fall of 100+ warblers on my last morning in Oregon before flying home.
May - Savi's Warbler (Uitkerkse Polders); one seen singing while guiding was the first I have seen in Belgium, having only heard it before.
June - CORSICAN NUTHATCH (Corsica); a morning with a local birdguide was successful in finding all three of my target species during a short, last-minute getaway.
July - Raven (Namur and Antwerp); a noisy family at close range during a butterfly trip in Namur, with another 1 or 2 heard over Kalmthout Heath, where it is considerably rarer.
August - Hen Harrier (Brussels); autumn migration got underway early with a 2nd-year male passing over my balcony together with a female Marsh Harrier.
September - Siberian Stonechat (Ostend); a twitch to the immature showing extremely well at the coast and my first in Belgium.
October - Rose-coloured Starling (Texel); another twitch to the nice, pink adult which spent several months in a Den Burg garden.
November - Tawny Owl (Brussels); one heard twice from my living room was very unexpected since they have never been recorded in my neighbouring park (and I have listened for them many times). Presumably a young bird dispersing from the nearby forest, it was not heard again.
December - Red-necked Grebe (Amsterdam); always nice to see, this overwintering bird was easy to find in the suburbs of Amsterdam.
I thus ended the year with a total of 409 species, 221 of which were in Europe and 163 in Belgium.
I got 12 lifers during the year (9 in the US and 3 in Corsica), with Ross's Goose and Siberian Stonechat being my only Belgian ticks. The Ross's Geese were not only new for me but for all Belgian birders, being the first proven-wild birds accepted to the Belgian list. My balcony list increased by three species (Common Crane, Hen Harrier and the heard-only Tawny Owl) to 80 species, which is pretty impressive for the centre of Brussels.
Whilst the Hermit Warbler and Corsican Nuthatch were the main targets of their respective trips, I think my bird of the year has to be the adult Rose-coloured Starling I went all the way to Texel to twitch since I had only ever seen a drab juvenile some 26 years previously!
Whilst the Hermit Warbler and Corsican Nuthatch were the main targets of their respective trips, I think my bird of the year has to be the adult Rose-coloured Starling I went all the way to Texel to twitch since I had only ever seen a drab juvenile some 26 years previously!
