Bohemian waxwing

On my list of birds I have been wanting to see for a very long time: the bohemian waxwing. Until today I haven’t specifically been to areas they have been sighted in, but at one point you really have to, as the chance of stumbling over them in the wild is pretty slim. That’s why this morning I set my alarm at 4am and took the 5:43 train to Leeuwarden. Around 9:30, I was at the Startbaan in Havelte. I was very fortunate to stumble over the bird quite early on, as it only showed itself to us once during this day. Around 10:30 I logged my observation, but unfortunately that was the last time this day that the bird has been sighted. At least until 4:30pm, when I was really getting cold and decided to go back home. If only I would’ve taken one later train this morning, all my effort and coldness would have been for nothing…

Unfortunately the bird stayed in the shadows deep in trees, which makes it very hard to take photos, but that shouldn’t spoil the fun: I have finally seen it. Wow. What an amazing bird!

I’ll let the photos do the talking…