My buttocks are hurting, and I am exhausted after cycling for four hours. Of course, everyone recommends building up strength after the winter break and slowly ramping up the cycling. These people obviously are not doing a Big Year Rotterdam. I don’t have time to ramp up or I will miss the wintering birds. Besides, why is my derrière hurting? It’s the most trained part of my anatomy: I sit on it all day long!
The truly massive port of Rotterdam lies between me in the city centre, and the Tweede Maasvlakte – a reclaimed piece of industrial land jutting 10 kilometres into the North Sea, towards England. The area features the highest point in the province (a toxic sludge dump), beaches, deep seawater ports and a lot of open terrain. It’s rough and sometimes smelly, but I like this area a lot. I have seen seals and porpoises, lots of waders and enormous gull colonies. I used to go fishing here too. However, I have never cycled to the Maasvlakte. My sore bum explains that omission. Exceedingly well.
The day before had been a lovely bicycle tour to De Tempel, an antique stately home with surrounding gardens. There are a lot of very large trees, including the oldest oak tree in Rotterdam. The estate belongs to Natuurmonumenten (“monuments of nature”) – one of the senior nature NGOs in the country.
I was out for wintering specials, and I managed to spot two of them: Fieldfare and Firecrest. An unexpected couple of Stock Dove completed the Big Year harvest, but the afternoon count ran into the 30-ies. I see (and hear!) Firecrest in Portugal whenever I take the dog out for a walk, but I had never seen one in the Netherlands. Seeing two of them in Rotterdam was very gratifying.
As said, the next day I found myself on the Maasvlakte. First conclusion: the area is too big for the cycling birder. I was trying to find Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owl, since both had been reported near a specific port. When I arrived, it was obviously a clear case of “too much habitat” and while I scanned as much of the terrain as I could, I dipped on these two species. Cycling to a better vantage point would have been possible on a long summer day, but not in winter. Instead, I paid a visit to the nearby toxic sludge dump. When the area was developed, some farsighted civil servant had pencilled in a bird reserve. A viewing screen, named after the queen, provides sheltered views. I checked whether the queen is a birder by sending the question to the Rijksvoorlichtingdienst, the government department in charge of all things royal. They promised an answer in two days, came back after three and rather obtusely gave me a non-answer. I guess we will never know whether the queen is a birder unless she writes a comment (please do, ma’am). Anyway, it was from the royal hide, at the foot of a colossal mountain of heavy metals and polycyclic hydrocarbons that I observed hundreds of Common Pochards, accompanied by Smew, Tufted Duck, Northern Shoveler, Common Shelduck, Gadwall, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Mute Swan and Common Linnets. A Great White Egret and some friendly Oystercatchers completed the list. The sheer abundance led me to my second conclusion: if you do find a good spot for birding on the Maasvlakte, there will both very special birds and large numbers to enjoy.
My final conclusion must be to rethink my strategy for the remainder of the Big Year Rotterdam. Is it worthwhile to spend so much time cycling in an area that will deliver only a handful of contributions to the year’s list? Look at that drake Smew before you answer the question. A few black strokes on a white canvas, like a sublime Japanese sketch… aesthetics over rationalism, I will be back.
Big Year Rotterdam, 15 February 2025, 73 species, 127 to go.
Keep pedaling, Peter. A drake Smew is always a delight to see.