The group
Fernand Kubina, Marcel Schirmann, Dominique and Etienne Landragin, Francois, Martine and Segolene Thommes, Julien Botinelli, Gregory Haas, Robert Lecaille and Odile Mella, Gilbert Blaising, Guillaume Schmitt, Yannick Le Scouarnec, Brunot Voguet, Vincent Thary, Vincent Palomares and Amelie Bouchot.
Accommodation
As usual, in the Youth Hostel in Grouw which was pretty noisy that year because of a team of young Dutch hockey players.
The Trip
At the end of December 1997, we went directly to Flevoland, at the Praamweg hide to see aurochs "re-created" from the genes of existing bulls, Red Deer and tarpans. After that, we followed the usual route in the north of the Netherlands, along the Friesland islands and back to Flevoland. We covered 1982 km of Dutch roads alltogether.
Most important birds observed
- We saw quite a good number of waders that year. In Holverd: 100 Eurasian Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus), 30 Red Knot (Calidris canutus), 200 Dunlin (Calidris alpina).In Den Oever: 750 Eurasian Golden Plovers (Pluvialis apricaria), 800 Dunlin, 800 Common Redshanks (Tringa totanus), a Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica), 4 Pied Avocets (Recurvirostra avosetta). In Lauwersoog: 3 Purple Sandpipers (Calidris maritima).
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The Geese were pretty numerous too. In the Leeuwarden area, there were up to 10, 000 of them, most of which were Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) and Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis). In Holverd, we saw 100 Brent Geese (Branta bernicla), in Anjum 5000 Greater White-fronted Geese, 5000 Barnacle Geese, and we were thrilled to see a Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens), in the dark phase as well as a Red-breasted Goose (Branta ruficollis). To cap it all, there was also a Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) in Lauwersoog.
- Compared with the previous years there were far more Hooded Crows (Corvus cornix) than usual: as many as 80 in Lauwersoog for instance. There were also many more Common Gulls (Larus canus), spread out allo over the areas we visited.
- Besides all these birds, from the Praamweg hide we were able to see a Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) and 200 Smews (Mergus albellus). In Holverd, a Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) and 20 Twites (Carduelis flavirostris). In Lauwersoog we spotted 10 Snow Buntings and 2 Velvet Scoters (Melanitta fusca). At the Lauwersmeer, we saw a Rough-legged Buzzard. In Zurich, 800 Greater Scaup (Aythya marila). In Den Oever, 13 Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina) and a Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus). In Den Helder, a Little Gull (Larus minutus) in Anjum, 20 Twites, 6 or 7 Bearded Tits (Panurus biarmicus). In Urk, in the south of the country, 2000 Greater Scaup. In Lelystadt, Flevoland , there was another Rough-legged Buzzard and a White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) just as we were leaving the country.
