Sorry Stuart: when I see “Rhine Delta” I think of Austria! (we call it "
the Delta")
I think the cold snap in January has emptied the Netherlands... very little in the way of rarities at the moment. Well, our returning Bufflehead is still south of Rotterdam (
http://waarneming.nl/waarneming/view/41724991) and of course House Crows are easy in Hoek van Holland.
There are a few Red-breasted Geese around (Wolphaartsdijk, Tholen). Lesser White-fronted Goose is pretty much absent from its usual haunts in the southwest – the largest groups are further north. The usual geese are still around.
The
Brouwersdam is usually good for birds, e.g. Purple Sandpiper, Long-tailed Duck and Great Northern Diver are present on the seaside. You'll always find birders at the obvious sluice on the southern side of the dam, but the northern part of the dam is often somewhat overlooked, but still nice. Not too far from here, the "nature development" areas of the
Prunje have Spoonbill, Smew and usual wintering birds. The old-fashioned fields just east of
Scharendijke are Dark-bellied Brent-Goose territory, but the other forms (rare in the Netherlands) may occur here too (recently Pale-bellieds were in the Prunje and nearby in the
Koudekerksche Inlaag). This whole area can do with some exploring – I tend to give it too little time!
The huge
Slikken van Flakkee have the usual Rough-legged Buzzard, but you'll need luck and not to be afraid to try some narrow dyke roads.
A nice spot (and rarely visited) spot to end the day is the
Dijkwater, where there is (used to be?) a Med Gull roost on the
Grevelingen lake.
The
Middelplaten in the
Veerse Meer (just north of Wolphaartsdijk) are usually full of Golden Plovers: American and Pacific are remote possibilities for the diehard birder.
You can find many of these locations here:
http://waarneming.nl/area_lijst.php
Send me a pm if you want an update or more info!
