Het voorkomen van de Kleine Alk Alle alle in Nederland

The occurrence of Little Auks in the Netherlands is described. Sources of information were published records (literature search, 1938-95), numbers of skins brought into the main natural history museums in the Netherlands, and seawatching data (1972-95). ’Larger than usual' numbers of Little Auks were reported in 23 winters since 1839 (fig. 1 and table I). Seawatching data revealed that Little Auks were rare in the 1970s and early 1980s. Between 1987 and 1991, more substantial numbers were recorded each winter (>100 per annum), with an influx of at least 4000 individuals in 1990/91. Numbers were again low in the early 1990s, but a second influx occurred in November 1995 (fig. 2). During this last influx, Little Auks appeared twice in substantial numbers along the Dutch coast. The first peak in early November followed shortly after influxes in Denmark and Germany and was mainly restricted to the northern coasts (Wadden Sea area). On 3 November, Little Auks had moved on to the mainland coast and Belgium. Numbers dropped when weather conditions improved between 4 and 13 November. Under the influence of westerly gales another influx occurred along the entire Dutch coast between 14 and 19 November (figure 3).