Black-headed Wagtail - Motacilla (flava) feldegg

On Friday 11 May 2018 Jurriën van Deijk, Jacob Lotz (the same two that found the Siberian Accentor in 2016), Anthonie Stip and Eveline van der Jagt where preparing their big day to be hold on Saturday 12 May. At Lentevreugd they discovered at c 15:20 hours a lone wagtail with a black cap in a cattle pond. They immediately thought it could very well be a Black-headed Wagtail, so they warned the Dutch Bird Alert system, uploaded a picture and tried to make sound recordings. The bird called like a good Black-headed Wagtail and a sonogram showed it was definitely a Black-headed Wagtail! The bird stayed till dark and was seen by dozens of birdwatchers. For me it was another new species as I missed the first bird in 2016 when I was on a trip to Borneo. The bird was also present on 12 May, but at 6:00 AM it flew off in southeastern direction.


11 May 2018, Lentevreugd, Wassenaar ZH; © Jan van der Laan.

11 May 2018, Lentevreugd, Wassenaar ZH; © Jan van der Laan.

11 May 2018, Lentevreugd, Wassenaar ZH; © Jan van der Laan.

11 May 2018, Lentevreugd, Wassenaar ZH; © RedjeRed.


It was accepted as the second record for the Netherlands. The first was on Texel NH from 30 April till 4 May 2016.

Go to the main-index, the 2018-index or the next new species, the Calandra Lark.