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The Netherlands - Texel & the North
Tour Code: NLD02A 5-day birding holiday visiting the rarity hotspot of Texel and the national parks of Friesland and Flevoland.
£1,450
£1,295
Highlights
Travel to this tour by train
Travelling by train reduces the carbon cost of travel by up to 90%
Tour Itinerary and Reports
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Summary
Although the Netherlands has the highest population density in Europe, the government has set aside a large part of the country for use as nature reserves. These protected areas consist mainly of polders, mudflats, marshes, reedbeds and sand dunes and are home to a large number of wintering birds. An excellent network of roads and motorways make it possible to explore many of these exciting birding sites within a few days and during this tour we will spend our time in the northernmost provinces of Friesland and Flevoland, including a special trip to Texel – a winter and migrant hotspot. It will be an incredible week of winter birding on the continent, where we could see over 130 species in just five days!
- Visit to Texel, a rarity hotspot
- Tens of thousands of wintering geese
- Barnacle, White-fronted, Tundra Bean, Brent with the chance of Snow and Red-breasted
- Wintering wildfowl with good numbers of Smew, Scaup and Long-tailed Duck
- Raptors may include Rough-legged Buzzard, Hen Harrier and White-tailed Eagle
- Chance of Black, Middle Spotted and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in the forests
We begin our tour with a morning flight to Amsterdam and a visit to the nearby Zuid-Kennemerland National Park. During winter, its combination of open lakes, dunes, and thickets provides sanctuary to a dynamic mix of scrubland birds and raptors, particularly Goshawk and Hen Harrier, making it a prime destination for birdwatchers seeking seasonal sightings. It is also home to a herd of European Bison and can be one of the best places in Europe to see this species, occasionally at spectacularly close quarters.
The following day we will travel to Texel, an island just off the mainland which is renowned for being a rarity hotspot. Here we have a good chance of seeing Twite, Shore Lark and occasionally Lapland Bunting, as well as a whole host of resident and wintering birds including grebes, divers and seaduck which often surround the island. We will also be keeping a close eye on sighting reports and hopefully find something very unusual – a repeat of the Spectacled Eider (Jan 2025)?!
Our next two days cover the province of Friesland, visiting three national parks: Lauwersmeer, Weerribben-Wieden and Drents-Friese Wold. Lauwersmeer is a true winter-watching haven with over 100,000 geese wintering here alone. It’s also excellent for ducks and other waterbirds, both of which attract vast numbers of raptors including White-tailed Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Merlin and the nationally rare Rough-legged Buzzard – one of the last places this species is frequently seen in the Netherlands. Weeribben-Wieden is also rich in wetland habitats, but more focused around canal and reedbed, making it excellent for Goosander, Smew, and possibly elusive Bittern, along with Water Rail, Western Marsh Harrier, and Eurasian Spoonbill. In stark comparison, Drent-Friese Wold is a large heathland and forest complex, home to Great Grey Shrike, Crested Tit and the much sought after Black Woodpecker – we will target all three.
For our last day we head into Flevoland, and to the famous marshland reserve of Oostvaardersplassen. Renowned as a bold experiment in rewilding, it uses large herbivores such as Konik horses, Heck cattle, and Red Deer to maintain an open complex of habitats which mimic pre-agricultural European ecosystems. We will spend our time exploring this enormous reserve from all possible angles and targeting species which we have either yet to see or potentially want to see more of! As one of the best places to see large congregations of White-tailed Eagle, you know you’re in for a spectacular day. From here we make our way back to Amsterdam Airport and join our early evening flight back to London.
Outline Itinerary
What's Included?
- Flights
- Accommodation:
We stay for one night in Den Helder in a comfortable hotel on the water’s edge, and for the following three nights we stay in a lovely hotel in the middle of De Alde Feanen National Park, overlooking one of the many waterways, with excellent birding to be had in its surroundings and even from the rooms themselves!
- Food:
All meals are included in the tour cost starting with dinner on Day 1 and ending with lunch on Day 5.
Dates & Prices
2026
Tour Leader: Matt Collis
Born and raised in his beloved Devon, Matt is an ecologist and naturalist with a special interest in birds and protected UK mammals including Hazel Dormice and Otter. He studied Zoology at the University of Reading and completed a Masters in Ecology before going on to a career as an ecological consultant based in Bristol, a role which saw him counting Red-breasted Geese in Bulgaria and Egyptian Vultures in Azerbaijan. He later worked for Avon Wildlife Trust establishing the 'My Wild City' project whose vision of nature-rich cities involved converting nature-devoid spaces into wildlife havens. Matt is now a full time freelance ecologist and wildlife educator, running wildlife identification training courses across the southern counties for the British Trust for Ornithology, RSPB and the Wildlife Trust. He also leads guided nature walks in his home county of Devon and completes protected species surveys for various infrastructure projects. When not working he enjoys spending time on his bike training for triathlons and has a particular passion/obsession for all things Swifts - you have been warned!
Tour Leader: Matt Collis
Born and raised in his beloved Devon, Matt is an ecologist and naturalist with a special interest in birds and protected UK mammals including Hazel Dormice and Otter. He studied Zoology at the University of Reading and completed a Masters in Ecology before going on to a career as an ecological consultant based in Bristol, a role which saw him counting Red-breasted Geese in Bulgaria and Egyptian Vultures in Azerbaijan. He later worked for Avon Wildlife Trust establishing the 'My Wild City' project whose vision of nature-rich cities involved converting nature-devoid spaces into wildlife havens. Matt is now a full time freelance ecologist and wildlife educator, running wildlife identification training courses across the southern counties for the British Trust for Ornithology, RSPB and the Wildlife Trust. He also leads guided nature walks in his home county of Devon and completes protected species surveys for various infrastructure projects. When not working he enjoys spending time on his bike training for triathlons and has a particular passion/obsession for all things Swifts - you have been warned!
2027
Prefer to Travel in a Private Group?
For any interested natural history club or society, we can arrange for a private departure of this tour.
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Tour Reports
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