On Thursday 25 October 2019 during the third weekend in 2019 of Deception Tours Mark de Vries and Thomas vd Es were birding the dunes west of Ankerplaats, Vlieland. At around 11:30 am they found a thrush which they immediately identified as a Dusky Thrush Turdus eunomus. They send pictures all around the WhatsApp network and put it on the Dutch Birding alert system. C 100 birders present on the island gathered to see the bird and from 14:00 birders arrived from the mainland and from neighbouring Texel NH. The bird was well seen, though it kept itself from view for longer periods. The next days it was still present in a small bush with the last berries and with some patience it could be seen quite well.
I visited the bird on Saturday 26 October together with nine other birders from the mainland. We hired a water taxi and the crossing at 7:00 am in the morning in the dark was quite an event, with wind forces of 7-8 bft and strong currents, it was quite like the tv series the Deadliest Catch! We could not find the bird immediatley, but when enforcement from the mainland arrived (c 50 birders extra) at around 12:00 the bird was found again by Bert-Jan Luijendijk and from then on we could see it in its favourite bush. For me it was really a new species, though I had seen the bird of 2016, that was a quite unsatisfactory sighting. The birds was still present on 28 October, but attention was now focussed on the White-throated Sparrow, found on the Maasvlakte ZH on 27 October.
Because of the blackish spots on the underparts and the moult border in the greater wing coverts, the bird was identified as a first-calender year male.
It was accepted as the fourth record for the Netherlands, with previous records on 20 November 1899 near Dokkum Fr, 20 February 1955 in Kampen Ovl and the notorious 2016 record on 8-9 November 2016 at Beijum Gr.
