A week ago, I was planning to do a full day's birding at the coast to bump up my year list and, as always, checked the local sightings to see what was around. I also checked the Dutch website and, boom, a 1st-winter Ross's Gull had been found in Vlissingen harbour and stayed there all afternoon! Ross's Gull is one of those near-mythical creatures of the high Arctic which very rarely turn up anywhere else. There have been just 17 previous records in The Netherlands (none at all in Belgium), the last of which was in 2011, and on the rare occasions they do turn up, they don't usually stay for long. Nevertheless, the following morning I made a three-hour journey by train, bus and finally ferry to Vlissingen in the hope it would still be there. It was, and still is as I write this a week later.
What a beauty! So, after starting 2017 with Siberian Accentor, 2018 has also started off with a lifer from an international, although considerably shorter, twitch. During the ferry crossing, I also got to see Red-breasted Merganser, ten Pale-bellied Brent Geese and a brief view of a Guillemot, all of which are scarce in Belgium. Spurred on by this success, I made a second attempt at the Red-flanked Bluetail, which is still in the province of Liège, a couple of days later and finally got to see it well, having previously glimpsed just one individual at a twitch in Holland eleven years ago.
