Beached bird surveys, december 1988 – february 1989 (NSO)

Seabirds washed ashore in exceptionally large numbers in December. Very large numbers of Guillemots washed ashore in December and January on the Dutch coast (see for details page 22-25 in this issue). From Nov-Apr an estimated 6,500 Guillemots beached in our country, and many hundreds were received into rehabilitation centres. Exceptional was the capture of an adult specimen of Uria aalge hyperborea in Zeeland. Razorbills were slightly more numerous than usual in December, but numbers declined again in Jan and Feb. A ringed specimen, found in Dec near Camperduin (Noord-Holland), came from Grimsey, North Iceland.