At 6 a.m. I (Hans Overduin) picked up Bogi, from Iceland, at his hotel in downtown Den Haag. As Bogi
wanted to photograph raptors, we quickly made our way to a nearby forest, where after a short
search we found a female sparrowhawk. Due to the early hour there was not much light, but
we were still able to make some nice pictures.
After that, we moved to a water tower situated in the dunes, where we got nice views of a
peregrine falcon. Our next stop was a tawny owl site, but unfortunately the owl did not show
itself. Instead, we spent some time in the forest and were able to photograph a great crested
grebe with chicks on its back.
A second visit to the owl location also proved fruitless, so we decided to try our luck at
another spot. There we found not one, but two owls sitting in the cavity. Having already seen
most of the raptors on the target list, we decided to check out the dunes. Despite some light
rain, we saw bluethroat, common whitethroat, and woodlark, among many other birds. A male
common linnet also showed itself nicely in the rain.
When the rain cleared, we headed for an open area with water and reedbeds, where we
managed to get flight shots of common kestrel, avocet, northern lapwing, and common
redshank. The latter’s chicks also showed themselves at close range.
To see if we could add more species, we visited another wetland. Before heavy showers
started pouring down, we were able to see a common cuckoo, and Bogi got nice shots of a
little grebe “running” across the water surface.
On our way back to the hotel we made one final stop, where we added a cooperative yellow
wagtail and a grey heron carrying a mouse to the list. Eleven hours after pick-up, Bogi
returned to his hotel with loaded memory cards.
