Private birding tour report Lauwersmeer May 8th 2019

Report of the Private birding excursion on May 8th.

This wednesday, from 9.00-17.00 hours, a birding excursion around the Lauwersmeer was planned. Two women from the U.S.A. would like to see and photograph the Dutch bird species in this beautiful area. Although the weather predictions were with a substantual amount of rain, it turned out to be an almost dry day, 8 °C and wind force 5.

Lots of Barnacle Geese and different types of ducks

We started at the information centre, with a short walk in the surrouding of the center. A male Common Redstart showed his colours and a Grasshopper Warbler sang nicely like a sewing machine. Also a Wheatear was seen while some other birds were singing. Then we went in the direction of the Jaap Deensgat by my car, while we stopped a few times on the way. We saw the first wade birds and geese (lots of Barnacle Geese), and heard a Skylark singing above us. Near the Jaap Deensgat, we saw a Spoonbill, Pied Avocets, different types of ducks and Little Plovers, with their yellow eye-ring. And among the Lesser Black-backed Gulls and the Black-headed Gulls we found a Giant Tern by using the scope.

The birds of the woods and the harbor

We drove North, and stopped in a wooded area for a coffee break with cake. There we heard a Wood Warbler, a Common Chiffchaff and a Robin and we saw een Chaffinch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

After this short break, we went to the harbor, with another few short stops on the way for the Common Pochard, the Black Redstart and the Linnets. Because of the high tide, the Turnstones were all sitting on a pier, among the Herring Gulls. In the meanwhile, a Common Tern was looking for food in the water. Then we drove to the next place, to take a look at the dike. Of course, we also saw the nests of the Cormorants in the white (!) trees.

Red Knots and Black-tailed Godwits

On the left side of the dike, in the Bantpolder, we saw another Spoonbill, looking for food. On the seaside, we saw lots of Red Knots, standing together on a mudflat that was not submerged. After this refreshing moment at the dike, we drove on and we saw a few Black-tailed Godwits standing in the field. Of course we stopped for a moment to take a better look at these beauties. Then it was time for lunch and a sanitary stop in a restaurant. When we parked the car, we saw a Great Crested Grebe, carrying two youngsters on her back. Of course, some photo’s had to be taken!

The American women liked to try something typical Dutch for lunch, so they ordered croquette sandwich (in Dutch: kroket), and they liked it 😉

Garnagy, Ruff and Pintail at the Frisian side

After lunch, it was time for the Frisian part of the Lauwersmeer. We saw lots of ducks again, including Garnagy, Northern Shovelers, Teals and Pintail. There was also an nice amount of Ruffs and a few Wood Sandpipers. Above the field, a Common Kestrel was hunting and in the fields, a group of twelve European Roe Deer could be seen.

Rooks, a Nightingale and a White-tailed Eagle!

We went on, and took a short stop on a farmers road to look for the Mew Gulls. We discovered a Moorhen nearby and heard a Lesser Whitetroath. The next stop was near the colony of Rooks. This bird species was another lifer for the women, and they liked seeing the birds on the nests. In the meanwhile, a Nightingale was singing, but we couldn’t find it between the leaves.

We drove to the last stop, where we made a walk to a watch tower. A group of Konik-horses was standing in the field, accompanied by a Blue-headed Wagtail. During our walk, we saw some Stonechats and we heard a Savi’s Warbler. From the bird watch tower we finally discovered the White-tailed Eagle. We had been hoping te see him the whole day, so we were very happy when we saw him sitting in a tree. After a few minutes, he flew away and disappeared out of sight. In the meanwhile, a male Western Marsh Harrier was flying right in front of us, looking for food in the reed.

We walked back to the car and drove back to the visitor center. We had a very nice day together, with a lot of birds, that they didn’t see or hear before.

Observed species of birds

1  Barnacle Goose – Branta leucopsis
2  Greylag Goose – Anser Anser
3  Mute Swan – Cygnus olor
4  Common Shelduck – Tadorna tadorna
5  Garnagy – Spatula querquedula
6  Shoveler – Spatula clypeata
7  Gadwall – Mareca strepera
8  Eurasian Wigeon – Mareca penelope
9  Mallard – Anas platyrhynchos
10  Pintail – Anas acuta
11  Teal – Anas crecca
12  Common Pochard – Aythya ferina 
13  Tufted duck – Aythya fuligula
14  Great crested grebe – Podiceps cristatus
15  White stork – Ciconia Ciconia
16  Spoonbill – Platalea leucorodia
17  Grey Heron – Ardea cinerea
18  Great Egret – Ardea alba
19  Cormorant – Phalacrocorax carbo
20  Western Marsh Harrier – Circus aeruginosus
21  White-tailed Eagle – Haliaeetus albicilla
22  Water Rail – Rallus aquaticus
23  Moorhen – Gallinula chloropus
24  Coot – Fulica atra
25  Oystercatcher – Haematopus ostralegus
26  Pied Avocet – Recurvirostra avosetta
27  Lapwing – Vanellus vanellus
28  Little Ringed Plover – Charadrius dubius
29  Black-tailed Godwit – Limosa Limosa
30  Turnstone – Arenaria interpres
31  Red Knot – Calidris canutus
32  Ruff – Calidris pugnax
33  Dunlin – Calidris alpina
34  Common Redshank – Tringa totanus
35  Wood Sandpiper – Tringa glareola
36  Black-headed Gull – Chroicocephalus ridibundus
37  Mew Gull – Larus canus
38  Herring Gull – Larus argentatus
39  Lesser Black-backed Gull – Larus fuscus
40  Caspian Tern – Hydroprogne caspia
41  Common Tern – Sterna hirundo
42  Wood Pigeon – Columba palumbus
43  Cuckoo – Cuculus canorus
44  Common Swift – Apus Apus
45  Great Spotted Woodpecker – Dendrocopos major
46  Kestrel – Falco tinnunculus
47  Jackdaw – Coloeus monedula
48  Rook – Corvus frugilegus
49  Carrion Crow – Corvus corone
50  Blue Tit – Cyanistes caeruleus
51  Great Tit – Parus major
52  Skylark – Alauda arvensis
53  Sand Martin – Riparia Riparia
54  Barn swallow – Hirundo rustica
55  House Martin – Delichon urbicumand
56  Wood Warbler – Phylloscopus sibilatrix
57  Willow Warbler – Phylloscopus trochilus
58  Common Chiffchaff – Phylloscopus collybita
59  Sedge Warbler – Acrocephalus schoenobaenus 
60  Eurasian Reed Warbler – Acrocephalus scirpaceus
61  Grasshopper Warbler – Locustella naevia
62  Savi’s Warbler – Locustella luscinioides
63  Blackcap – Sylvia atricapilla
64  Lesser Whitethroat – Sylvia curruca
65  Common Whitethroat – Sylvia communis
66  Wren – Troglodytes Troglodytes
67  Starling – Sturnus vulgaris
68  Blackbird – Turdus merula
69  Robin – Erithacus rubecula
70  Nightingale – Luscinia megarhynchos
71  Black Redstart – Phoenicurus ochruros
72  Common Redstart – Phoenicurus phoenicurus
73  Stonechat – Saxicola rubicola
74  Wheatear – Oenanthe oenanthe
75  House Sparrow – Passer domesticus
76  Blue-headed Wagtail – Motacilla flava
77  White Wagtail – Motacilla alba
78  Meadow Pipit – Anthus pratensis
79  Chaffinch – Fringilla coelebs
80  Greenfinch – Chloris chloris
81  Linnet – Linaria cannabina
82  Goldfinch – Carduelis Carduelis
83  Reed Bunting – Emberiza schoeniclus

Other observed species:

European Hare – Lepus europaeus
European Roe Deer – Capreolus Capreolus