Geese in the mist

This week, I finally managed to return to Texel for yet another international twitch, this time for the 1st-winter Black-faced Bunting that has been there since mid-December.  Since the bird has been showing best in the mornings, I booked an overnight stay, but I still had a few hours of daylight left once I arrived and so headed straight there from the ferry.  After a two-month stay, there was nobody else around but the friendly owner of the garden told me where it is usually seen and said I was welcome to walk around his property.  After almost an hour I had more or less given up and was just about to leave when a couple from The Hague arrived, so I decided to have one more look with them and found it within 10 minutes of their arrival!  We got an excellent, close-up view but it disappeared again before we could take any pictures.  The plan was to go back again the next morning but I awoke to heavy mist and, since already I'd seen it so well, I decided to do a bicycle tour of the southern half of the island instead.  This was very atmospheric, with the calls of invisible geese and singing Skylarks echoing all around.  It took several hours for the mist to finally clear but, by the time I boarded the ferry back to the mainland, I'd seen/heard at least 71 species, including a family party of 4 Bewick's Swans, Spoonbill, Ruff, a male Hen Harrier and a hunting Merlin.

2025 review - butterflies et al

I did a bit better finding new butterflies during 2025, starting with Reverdin's Blue at a German nature reserve close to Basel.  From there, I took the train down to Barcelona for a few days, seeing Iberian Scarce Swallowtail and photographing both False Ilex Hairstreak and Spanish Gatekeeper.  My favourite spot in Berlin again turned up trumps with a repeat sighting of Large Chequered Skipper, first seen there in 2024, as well as my lifer Chestnut Heath.  Despite returning to Modane for the fourth time, my July visit there still provided another 5 lifers - Alpine Blue, Mountain Fritillary, Grison's Fritillary, Silky Ringlet and Dewy Ringlet, meaning I have now photographed over 100 species in the area!  I then got a Woodland Grayling in Fontainebleau Forest, before trying some Pyrenean butterflying near Luchon, succesfully finding three more ringlets - the local form of Yellow-spotted, a single Water, and the endemic Pyrenees Brassy.  My 15th and final new species of the year was this Astaut's Blue, the southern equivalent of Common Blue, in the Algarve.  With all this butterflying around Europe, I didn't find any new ones in Belgium, although a trip to a butterfly reserve in the province of Luxembourg did get me my lifer Dainty Damselfly.  Finally, I didn't realise it at the time, but documenting the seals in Ostend harbour, I managed to get a picture of two species together - Grey Seal and Harbour Seal.