Bruxelles et Paris: Part Deux!
Europe!
Tuesday 16 January 2024
36 °F
Writing this as I’m waiting to board my connecting flight back in the states…I had a fantastic trip with my dad and friends to Europe! I decided to book this trip not for banner birding destinations or anything, but because my dad was on his tour to Europe and my friends Evan and Scott were staying in Paris at the same time. So, I spent four nights in Brussels with dad, two nights in Paris with dad, and then when he left to Essen Germany with the CSO, I stayed in Paris for two more nights with friends. It was a lovely trip!
I managed to get out birding one more time while in Brussels — I took the IC train out past Ghent while my dad was in rehearsal in search of would-be lifer Mediterranean and Caspian Gulls. On my walk to the reservoir where they are frequently reported, I had a good number of COMMON CHAFFINCHES, as expected:
And beautiful EUROPEAN ROBINS:
EGYPTIAN GEESE with EURASIAN COOTS and a GADWALL:
EURASIAN MAGPIE with a CANADA GOOSE:
COMMON SHELDUCK:
Flyover feral domestic-type farm geese, kind of a weird sight:
Soon enough, I found the roosting flock of gulls which was comprised mainly of BLACK-HEADED along with a few LESSER BLACK-BACKED, as pictured here:
MUTE SWAN with MALLARDS:
This annoying boat kept on flushing the gulls, seemingly on purpose!
Soon enough, I located a definitive CASPIAN GULL: A large, Herring-type Gull with a tall, long neck posture. I even was able to faintly make out its red eyering at one point! Lifer!
Eventually, I got way too cold and had to stop scanning because it felt like my fingers were ready to fall off, even with gloves on! So one life bird is not bad for a twitch these days, awesome to get these Caspian Gulls! (I ended the outing with five!). Bird-of-the-day for that day.
The rest of the time in Brussels was great!
Along the drive down to Paris, I spotted several ROOKS at the rest area, a bird I hadn’t seen since 2014 in Chartres, France!!! Amazing.
EURASIAN MAGPIE:
No birding was done in Paris but I had a wonderful time with dad, friends, eating, and sightseeing.
It was a fabulous trip overall! I gained eleven (!) life birds in Belgium which was an awesome way to start the new year.
Coming up: expect a bit of radio silence from me due to an insane upcoming musical schedule (including singing at a young artist program called Opera on the James in Virginia), and then expect a flurry of posts in MARCH — I am headed to PANAMA with my friends Kim and Susie!!! Stay tuned!!!
Happy birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1186 Species (11 life birds on this trip)
