Hoek van Holland is the place to look for House Crows (Huiskraai), a species that has had lots of media attention over the last couple of weeks. Even though there’s only some odd 25 of them in Holland, they are reckoned to be ‘exotic and invasive’ and are therefore death listed. The Court will rule within two months and decide whether or not these lovely birds will be taken prisoner and/or shot. Pro’s and con’s, rescue teams and lots of public action to keep them safe and sound – hopefully it helps. Anyway, there is also one bird that is considered to be the subspecies “zugmayeri” and which can be determined by a much lighter collar. Today I decided to go and see if I could find it and frame it. On my way there, I visited a place, where Remco recently made wonderful shots of European Goldfinches (Putter) last december. When I parked the car, they were present and gave me some 2 minutes shooting time before disappearing, chased away by two young and barking dogs. I waited for some 60 minutes, but then decided to move on, since I had work lying on my desk at home. While waiting for them I managed to shoot some Canada Geese (Grote Canadese Gans) and a Northern Goshawk (Havik) that flew by. So not completely waisted time after all. Upon arriving in Hoek van Holland, I found some ‘normal’ House Crows (Huiskraai) and finally with the help of Ed I also had a glimpse of the infamous sub-bird ‘zugmayeri’. Literally 2 seconds after taking the first and only shot if flew of and we couldn’t find it anymore for a better shot. Well, I saw it and framed it (albeit a terrible shot) – so my mission was completed 🙂 .