My 2020 year list is plodding along nicely, the latest addition (#95) being a Lesser Black-backed Gull in Hyde Park during a quick day trip to London.
Last week, I made my first trip of the year to the coast to add some of the species we don't get in Brussels. There were lots of White-fronted and Barnacle Geese around but a large flock of at least 140 Pink-footed Geese was a nice surprise as it's been several years since I saw any at all in Belgium. With the milder winters, it seems most Pink-feet now stay in Denmark and don't bother coming this far south so we no longer get the big numbers we used to. Another surprise was a lone, male Red-breasted Merganser in Ostend since this is a very scarce bird in Belgium and one I would normally have to twitch to add to my year list. A male Stonechat was more or less expected, however, since a few usually overwinter along the coast.
In my local park, there are now three species of parakeet - the ubiquitous and noisy Ring-necks, as many as 18 of the much more discrete Alexandrine Parakeets feeding on a fruiting tree alongside Redwings, Song Thrush and lots of Blackbirds, plus a couple of Monk Parakeets which seem to be refurbishing an old Magpie nest. There can't be many other places in Europe where you can see three different parakeets at once!
