Seven days a week you can go for a spectacular day, weekend or midweek bird watching tour in the Netherlands with NatuurBeleven, based just south of Amsterdam.

LAYOVER AT SCHIPHOL?

We pick you up upon arrival, show you some of the best birding sites of Europe (only 30. minutes from Schiphol airport) and bring you back for your next flight.
Two suggestionsDunes: a great place to hike. Woods, marshes and open fields give you a great variety of birds. In spring you will see many European warblers (what about Golden Oriole?!), Woodpeckers and other birds.Flevopolder: Waders, ducks, geese, marshlandwarblers (Bluethroat in spring, Bearded reedling yoarround) Raptors (White-tailed eagle).

HAVE A FEW DAYS?

Day 1. Oostvaardersplassen/Flevopolder or Zeeland

Day 2. Hoge Veluwe or Salland

Day 3. Dunes or Texel or Friesland Send an message for further information!

Your Car: minibus 8 seats.

You can use our books, checklists, bins and telescope (Swarovski AT 80 High Definition!)

Coffee, fresh-drinks, tea and lunch included.

Your Guide: Mark Kuiper (1958).

Suggestions:
1. TEXEL; Sea, Strand, Dunes, Polders, the Dutch Shallows

DUCKS, GEESE, WADERS, PASSERINES, RAPTORS…

Texel is the most complete of the series of Frisian Islands which stretches from the west of Holland into Denmark. It gives the visitor an opportunity to experience all different aspects of the Dutch landscape in a single day.

No other place yields such a complete experience of the unique mix of culture and nature which resulted from the endless fight between water and sand, between man and sea.

On the western beaches the gulfs of the North Sea roll over the sand, sometimes even flooding completely the most spectacular part of the island: the desolate Sluftervalley.

In the east the calm sea of the Shallows touches the grass of the old dike with its grazing sheep. Every six hours the sea vanishes, leaving a sheet of mud raving with a million birds, as far as the eye can see…

The island is in all seasons one of the best places to watch birds in Europe. Not only is Texel famous among Dutch bird-watchers as the best place to find rarities, it is also perfect to see as many as 80 or even over a hundred different ‘normal’ species in one day.

2. VELUWE/KRÖLLER-MÖLLER MUSEUM

Woods, Heath and the best of Van Gogh

A unique tour which combines the best of Europe’s nature with the best of its culture: large woods, heath and in the midst of the wilderness one of the most outstanding museums of Holland. Hiking and biking in a beautiful landscape will give you in Summer species like Wryneck, Red-backed Shrike, Honey-buzzard and Golden Oriole.

You will see the best of European painting and sculpture of the 19th and 20th century, among which the worlds second largest collection of Van Goghs.

3. FLEVOPOLDER; Europes Bird Paradise

Paradoxically no place in Europe gives you such an overwhelming experience of wilderness as do the marshes in the polders at the very heart of the Netherlands.

In the late sixties Zuid Flevoland fell dry, yielding thousands of acres fertile land. In the north-eastern corner of the polder however something unexpected happened: in a few years time a unique eco-system developed which gave room for thousands of wild birds (Blue-throat, Spoonbill, Marsh- Hen- and Montagu’s Harrier, Avocet, White-tailed Eagle) and over a thousand big mammals like Deer, Konik (wild horse) and wild cow. A hundred different species of bird is not exceptional in spring!

These are some suggestions for nice bird-trips, but there are many other opportunities: Friesland, Zeeland, Lauwersmeer… Send an email and I try to help you planning your trip!


Contact:

Tel... (31) (0)20-472077
Fax:... (31) (0)20-472078

Write to:
Oostermeerkade 6
1184 TV Amstelveen

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