VisMig Highlights December 2018
A nice flock of Sanderlings. (Ok, I admit, this photo was technically taken on the 30th of November, but I did not want to post a blog without a single photo.)
Most of the month December conditions were mediocre. Unfortunately the winter started slow with very little movements of Guillemots and gulls, so there was no reason to count regularly. The first proper day was the 25th, when 19 Velvet Scoters resulted in a new record count and a Great Northern Diver was a nice second highlight. On the 29th I could enjoy in-flight views of almost all Dutch Grebe species, when I saw 400 Great Crested, 1 Red-necked, 2 Black-eared and 1 Slavonian Grebe flying south. Additionally, a European Shag was foraging close to the beach and my first for the region. On the 31st we had quite a nice species diversity with a Great Skua, loads of gulls and Northern Gannets flying back and forth. Not a lot of real migration, but definitely a joy to count.
Fellow counter Rob Berkelder has written an excellent report about another remarkable autumn season for De Vulkaan, which covers also the period I was still in Georgia. If you know Dutch, it is definitely worth a read!