An Arctic Wanderer

We were told where to visit for a Baikal Teal on the mainland which we failed to see, but we bumped into 2 lady birders who were very knowledgable and told us about 2 local birds we could twitch either a group of Lesser White-fronted Geese (probably the Dutch re-introductions) or an adult Glaucous Gull, deciding to go plastic- free, we opted for the latter Arctic wanderer and within 20 minutes we drew up in a port, 36-A Noorderkage, Beverwijk, Noord Holland, finally the sun was shining, Rob parked up by an enormous ship, docked in port. It was free of any restrictions normally associated with ports in the UK, no security, no 7 foot high fences and what was especially pleasing no security guards ready to pounce on you as soon as you had stopped your car and barely put a foot to the ground, treating you like suspected terrorists, (AKA Hamilton Dock now) and we were able to come and go as we pleased which was truly wonderful. Other birders we met here said the bird had just flown. I spotted a bird stood up on the skylight of a roof just next to us but I literally only see its head and its massive yellow bill, I was convinced it was the Glaucous and was proved right when the magnificent adult winter Glaucous Gull took to flight and alighted on a nearby light. Where it stood for sometime before eventually flying down for some bread having a brief snack before flying around again and perching on the roof of a nearby building, it then flew again and returned to its favoured light. It was nice to see the 2 lady birders draw up and we were able to put them onto the bird they had so kindly given us detailed direction when we at the previous Baikal Teal site. Finally at the Port site, we saw a Great- crested Grebe swimming close by past the ship in the river. Other birds seen in Holland and Texel were often big groups of Coot by the side of the road, Moorhen, the odd Grey Heron, 2 Great- white Egrets, Little Egret, 2 Ring- necked Parakeets, additionally on Texel, small group of Fieldfare and the odd group of Redwing were additionally seen, Blackbirds, a Spoonbill, flocks of Wigeon, small clusters of Tufted Duck dotted about, a small flock of 22 Avocet. My especial thanks to Rob H who organised the trip and did all the driving.