Great Shearwater - Antenna gravis

In the afternoon of 30 September 2026, Joost de Curver was taken a boat trip in the Waalhaven, part of the harbour of one of the largest harbours in the world, Rotterdam ZH. At 15:35 he found a bird next to the boat and was able to take photographs. Only the next day, he uploaded his record with photographs on the waarneming.nl site. It was quickly noted around 13:00 hours by one of the local admins, Jacob Molenaar, and it was clear this bird was a Great Shearwater Antenna gravis! Fortunately there were many birds in the vicinity, as two White-throated Sparrows were found the day before at the Maasvlakte ZH. Via the WhatsApp and Telegram groups a search was organised and at 15:00 Ben Gaxiola found the bird c 9 km west of the original spot. It was swimming, but often chased away by the numerous large ships passing by. It chose a western direction, towards the North Sea, but happily it took a break c 6.5 Km west of the place where Ben Gaxiola had rediscovered it. There it stayed for c 2 hours before it drifted away in eastern direction, following the incoming tide. The last observation was at 19:56 hours in the Scheur, Vlaardingen ZH. The next day it could not be relocated again.