On 20 April 2018 around 7:30 hours Ruud van Dongen was doing a survey on the Weerter- en Budelerbergen near Budel NB when he heard a Emberiza cirlus singing. As he was very experienced with Yellowhammers E. citrinella he had no doubt, but when he was trying to take photographs, he noticed he forgot to put the memory card from his computer back into the camera. Fortunately Willem Steenge was nearby and he could take some record shots. The Dutch Bird Alert was warned and the first birders arrived quite quickly. The bird proved to be very elusive and was mostly heard and sight records were almost only flyby's.
Around noon the bird was singing for minutes in a row and some photographs could be taken in flight (I was there too). In the afternoon around 15:30 things were gettng more complicated when a look-alike bird was seen for a short time. In the evening the bird was finally seen for longer periods and better photographs could be obtained. The following days the bird was mostly seen and heard in mornings and late afternoons and was last seen on 10 July 2018.
Song; 22 April 2018, Weerter- en Budelerbergen, Budel NB; © Arnoud B van den Berg.
It was accepted as the seventh record for the Netherlands with previous records in December 1883, April 1901, May 1992, April 1994, March 1995 and May 2011 (see Dutch Avifauna for more details).
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