OUWENEEL GL (1993) Red-throated Divers Gavia stellata in the Brouwershavense Got. LIMOSA 66 (4): 164-166.

A maximum of 100 Red-throated Divers spent the winter of 1992/93 in the southern part of the Brouwershavense Gat, Delta area, SW-Netherlands. The species started to winter here regularly in 1988. At first, peak numbers occurred between]anuary and March, but in the last few years birds are present from December through early April, whereas numbers increased over the years (Tab. I). The birds moult to summer plumage before departing. The Brouwershavense Gat carne into existence as a sheltered, marine bay when a dike was constructed to close the Grevelingen estuary from the sea in 1971 (Fig. I). In 1978, a sluice was constructed in the dike, giving fish the opportunity to migrate between the stagnant, marine Lake Grevelingen and the Brouwershavense Gat. The Brouwershavense Gat may be attractive for Red-throated Divers because of its sheltered position, relatively transparant water and the presense of the sluice Red-throated Diver Gavia stellata

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