It started Friday, October 25th at 14.35 pm with a call from Harm Blom. He told me that he had a Pallid Swift above De Staatsbossen near the parking at pole 21. What !? Within seconds I was with Marc Plomp on my way to De Koog. Quickly I sent a message via whatsapp and called Harm to inquire whether the bird was still present. He told me that the bird was slowly disappeared in southwestern direction. We decided to take the Randweg towards Jan Ayeslag. Maybe we could pick up the bird. Meanwhile, several birders were doing a search. At Jan Ayeslag we saw nothing . After searching a while at some other places we decided to go back to the place where the bird was last seen. By now it was already 17.15 pm. After a few minutes I saw briefly a swallow above the treetops out. That had to be him . Again a moment later the bird was flying low above camping Kogerstrand. The bird was nicely seen by several dozen observers till dark foraging over the site and the adjacent forest.

Vale Gierzwaluw / Pallid Swift Apus pallidis, camping Kogerstrand, De Koog, Texel, 25-10-2013 

In addition to these new mega for Texel there was also seen a Red-breasted Flycatcher that day in the Tuintjes. Unfortunately, the Pallid Swift was not seen the next day in De Koog. However a swift sp. flew a short time around at the Lighthouse. Also were seen here four Barn Swallows and a House Martin. Again a female type Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was found not far from the spot where the last time a bird was seen. At the Roggesloot (De Cocksdorp) a first winter Red-backed Shrike was observed. Sunday 27 October, a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was seen in the Staatsbossen near the Tureluursweg. In this part of the Staatsbossen keep themselves at least two birds.

Kleine Bonte Specht / Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos minor, vrouwtje / female, Staatsbossen, De Koog, Texel, 26-10-2013