Seawatching, May – July 1992

The only almost continuously manned post was Hondsbossche Zeewering (Hbz). Egmond aan Zee (Egm) was only manned in May, while from Ameland in the Wadden Sea a lot of hours were received from June and July. Some additional hours were counted at Den Helder, Noordwijk, Maasvlakte and Westkapelle. The most obvious migrants in May were waders and terns. However daily totals of wader species like Knot, Grey Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit never reached very high figures. Best day was 7 May with 2030 Bar-tailed Godwits and 274 Grey Plovers (Egm). Terns peaked during the first half of May. The highest figure was reached on the 10th at Hbz when an incredible number of 18000 ”Commic Terns” was counted as well as 221 Black Terns and 492 Little Terns. Sandwich Terns were less common with 19 June being the best day when 940 (foraging) birds passed Westkapelle. Numbers of Common Scoter were decreasing during May but during June some hundreds could be seen almost daily at Ameland and 2200 individuals were seen on 22 June at Hbz. Moult migration of Shelduck started at the end of June and culminated on 7 July at Hbz (1224 individuals). The summer months are not the best time to see pelagic seabirds. However Gannets were seen with remarkable frequency in the first half of June (Hbz and Ameland) and in the first half of July (Hbz and Noordwijk) when most birds were foraging. Fulmars were also noticed quite frequently but never more than 10 in a day. A few Manx Shearwaters were seen (mostly during July) and on 9 May the first May-record of the Sooty Shearwater for the Netherlands could be established at Hbz. Almost daily observations of Balearic Shearwaters during the last week of July caused excitement at Hbz but probably involved just two different birds. Arctic Skuas were seen in small numbers and during the whole period 5 Pomarine Skuas were noticed.