Some heavily cropped pics of the leucistic Zitting Cisticola I saw in the late morning at the 'halve maan' in Ostend.

Yesterday morning a 1cy Black-winged Kite was found a few km from my door. Although it was not seen in the afternoon, I still decided to give it a go in the early evening. Luckily it was still present and quite busy eating its prey. Not more than a scarcity these days, but still...

Ik wou er toch ook eens één gezien hebben. Toch wel een zeer mooie rups. En groot! Net iets korter dan mijn wijsvinger. Wolfsmelkpijlstaart, Baai van Heist.

Full video of the Soft-plumaged Petrel off Porthgwarra via this link on Mike Mckee’s site. (Rated 18). michaelmckee.co.uk/videos/SPP_P...

Recordshot of the skulking and flighty female Eastern/Western Subalpine warbler I found yesterday evening (June 17th) in the outer harbour of Zeebrugge. Not Moltoni's, coz it made a few teck calls. More record shots here: ebird.org/checklist/S2...

Amazingly I had a 2cy ♀ Smew today on a small pond in a meadow in June in Bredene!!!! It is a rare bird at the Flemish coast even during the winter!!!

Today I came across at least one Blyth's Reed Warbler in the outer port of Zeebrugge. Possibly 2 together, but the other one was less obliging, and for now out of sight uncertain.

Birding friends of mine were surprised by this fly-over Ferruginous Hawk yesterday at raptor watchpoint Chartreuse in Bruges. Also ST Eagle, Osprey, 2+1 HBs, 1 Hobby and 2 Black Kites.

The 4th Lesser Kestrel for Belgium—an adult male (!)—is currently feasting on crickets on an airfield managed by the administration and @natuurpunt.bsky.social, kindly opened to birders for the occasion. The 1st twitchable, a few days after our 1st twitchable Blue-cheeked Bee-eater. #BirdingBelgium

The 2nd Blue-cheeked Bee-eater for Belgium put on a show last Sunday, but left early in the afternoon. It was the 1st twitchable for the country, as the previous one was a flyover. Symens & Ducastel discuss the 2017 record, its ssp. id and wider European context: www.natuurpunt.be/sites/defaul...

A decent week of wader migration (mainly ringed plovers) was topped of yesterday eve by this scarce Glossy Ibis at the Zwaanhoek in Oudenburg. Also, in May, I encountered at least 43 Temminck's Stints so far, including a personal record breaking group of 15 individuals!

The Iberian Chiffchaff was still present for its third day.

I had a group of 5 purple sandpipers in Oostende this morning. One was in complete or at least near complete summer plumage. A rare sight in Belgium. I was a first for me.

In the late afternoon on my way to the shop I decided to quickly take a look in the local park of my hometown. Good idea as I came across this singing male Iberian Chiffchaff! ebird.org/checklist/S2...

Birding paper! In the last Dutch Birding issue, we published a detailed paper on the ID of Great Egret taxa in non-breeding plumage. We analyzed photos of hundreds of individuals to find key criteria distinguishing the four taxa. A short illustrated summary can be found in this thread. #birding

Is there any more news on this one? If so, I missed it. If 1 DNA analysis erases years of build-up field ID criteria, the least you can do is replicate it, right? Is a replication in proces?

Not a bad day! Decent passage of purple herons, a short-toed owl and an osprey. But best bird of the day, for me, this crane flying over 't Pompje in Oudenburg at 19h26.

A 2cy Caspian Gull on the beach this afternoon.

Spectacular report coming through this evening of a Wallcreeper HEARD singing yesterday, but not seen! waarnemingen.be/observation/...

While the sea was still riddled with RT divers, I also connected with two 2w/3cy Caspian Gulls during my stroll on the beach of Bredene this morning. Pretty much ignored the first one, but overcame my laziness and took out my camera for the second one.

This morning there were hundreds of Red-throated Divers close-in at sea before Bredene with individuals/small groups up to ten foraging just behind the surf. At one moment there was a massive displacement northwards yielding a loose flock/stream of...I stopped counting at 150.

Adult Herring x Lesser Black-backed Gull (hybrid) At least I think it is this hybrid combination. It associates with LLBG's and has the small size and build of a LBBG, but is lighter-mantled and has pinkish legs with yellowish wash. #wpgulls #gulls

Only a handfull of mew gulls present on the beach of Bredene, but still an adult Russian Common Gull ssp. heinei was among them. #wpgulls #gulls

I was pretty pleased with this female Smew at the NR of the Zwaanhoek in Oudenburg. Although an annual winter guest in relatively small numbers inland, it is rather rare at the Flemish coast. It is nothing less than a mega at the Zwaanhoek where it was last seen and reported on wnm in December 1973!

I am anticipating that the second record of American Woodcock for the WP will be found this way. The only WP record to date is of a bird shot by a hunter in France in October 2006. www.wetlands.org/wp-content/u...

Likely 6cy Caspian x Herring Gull from the mixed colony in East Germany in Ostend on january 14th. Unknown parentage. A score of ≥ 13 for 7 of the 9 traits possible to assess, while a score of 9 is the upper limit to safely id an adult Caspian Gull according to Gibbins et al. 2011. See also ALT.

In the dunestrip in front of the military base in Lombardsijde I had up to 5, possibly 6 crested larks today. At least 2 pairs, and possibly a third pair. Personally it has been a while that I have seen so many crested larks in one place, certainly North of the Yser estuary!

One of my favourite bird species...the Framefiller Gull.

Is it rude to stick your tongues out at someone?

Today, short of a white-winger, I was keen to reconnect with this 3w Casp also present yesterday. Being the statistically rarest age class I have not seen too many of those. However, failed to make some decent open wing shots! Also a pic of a flyby 4w/subadult. And for good measure a med gull.

Also this afternoon this rather scruffy 1cy ♀ seemed to be struggling in the surf. It being uncharacteristically close to the shoreline probably also signaled it was in poor condition.

The sea had left a Christmas feast of seafood on the beach of my home town this afternoon. With at least 8 Caspian Gulls of all age classes present. Constant drizzle withheld me of taking my camera out, but simply could not resist this brutish 1cy which had argentatus writtten all over it.

Around noon I seawatched for two hours yielding a close flyby Leach's Storm Petrel with a Velvet Scoter passing in the background after the first 5 min., but then nothing for the remainder of the time. In the afternoon I saw this colourful and vocal Fischer's Lovebird. ebird.org/checklist/S2...

Switched on my winter mode with some gulling on the beach this afternoon. Not a bad yield. 4 (sub)adult and 2 first winter Caspian Gulls of which two were colour-ringed (one for each age class).

After last year's Dusky Warbler, another rarish phyllosc seems set to overwinter in the Sashul, Zeebrugge. This time a YBW, which contrary to the solitary Dusky, seeks the company of a mixed flock of crests and tits. ebird.org/checklist/S2...

I might have seen a Woodcock today.