Whether it's between breeding and wintering area, or just roaming across the continents,
birds travel a lot. The rarest birds turn up in places they were never expected.
Holland is strategically located on the west side of Europe,
which results in quite a lot of birds from Asia and
North America lost during migration. The sharp eye of birders across
the country filter out these rarities, where after they are
visited by so called 'twitchers', birders who chase rare birds in a specific area.

Twitching is one of my hobbies, and the goal is to see as
many species of birds in the Netherlands. Successfully twitching a
rarity I have never seen before in the country results in +1.
The number of bird species I have seen in the Netherlands is 341.

Latest additions:
Yellow-billed Loon - Grevelingen (ZH) 15-feb '13
European Shag - Maasvlakte (ZH) 13-jan '13
Steppe Grey Shrike - Texel (NH) 30-okt '12
Olive-backed Pipit - Vlieland (FR) 21-okt '12
Baird's Sandpiper - Den Haag (ZH) 30-aug '12

This gallery contains pictures of the rarities I’ve twitched
in the Netherlands. After observing a rarity it's more important to
have a record shot than a price-winning picture, so in some cases the picture
quality might be a little disappointing...