Birding in Holland
Holland has an active birding community and plenty of spectacular birding areas for the visiting birdwatcher. One of the best things about birding in the Netherlands is the abundance of bird hides! While the United States doesn't have a lot of bird hides or blinds, Europe has embraced them and Holland has a lot! Nearly every location set aside for birds is equipped with at least one hide, and many if not all natural parks also have comfortable bird hides for wildlife observation.
With an overabundance of water, the Netherlands is a great place to look for shorebirds and seabirds. The flat country is also full of meadows, fields and wetlands, providing great habitats for all kinds of birds.
Here are some of my tips for birders planning on visiting the Netherlands.
With an overabundance of water, the Netherlands is a great place to look for shorebirds and seabirds. The flat country is also full of meadows, fields and wetlands, providing great habitats for all kinds of birds.
Here are some of my tips for birders planning on visiting the Netherlands.
Where to go birding in the Netherlands
A lot of visitors to the Netherlands arrive in Amsterdam - either at the airport or sea port. Tussen Starrevaart en Spookverlaat is a website by Adri de Groot, which includes photos of birds seen in several different locations in an area south of Amsterdam, around Leiden. The site includes a map of the area where he takes most of his beautiful bird pictures. A portion of the site is available in English.Dutch birders can record their (rare) bird sightings on the site Waarneming.nl. On the main page the recent rare sightings are listed, to give you an idea of where to go birding (or twitching!). The bird names can be shown in English and individual sightings may include detailed information about the sighting and location, including maps and directions.
Another great resource for finding places to go birding in the Netherlands is Vogelkijkhut.nl, a database of the bird hides in the country. The site is in Dutch but the search (Zoek) page is easy to navigate. Clicking on the name of bird hide brings up details including GPS coordinates, recent sightings (linked to Waarneming.nl), and accessibility information. The site works pretty well via Dutch-English translation services like Babelfish (tip: the word Search is translated as Missing).
More helpful Netherlands birding resources
- FlevoBirdwatching
- FlevoBirdwatching offers custom, private birding tours in the Netherlands. Full-day or half-day tours are offered to locations including the Oostvaardersplassen, Texel and the Veluwe. The site also features a handy NL bird list and calendar of bird sightings in the Oosvaardersplassen.
- Dutch Birding Association
- Info and news about birding in the Netherlands. The site is a mixture of Dutch and English.
- Birding in the Netherlands
- A personal website with frequent updates. Tips for visiting birders include:
* Main birding areas in the Netherlands
* Speciality birds of the Netherlands
* Birding sites - Birdingpal.org Netherlands
- Check out this list from Birdingpal, where visiting birders can find local birders for a day of birding.
- Fat Birder's Netherlands page
- Fat Birder is one of the best birding sites on the web. This page has tons of info and links to relevant NL birding sites and tips.
- Birders in the Netherlands - Who's who?
- This fun, active Facebook group is for posting photos of birders in the Netherlands. No Dutch bird here, but rather - Dutch birders! This might be a fun place to find a Dutch birding friend. And it's a good way to brush up on your Netherlands birders. You'll know who's who when you follow this group!
Recent rare bird sightings in the Netherlands
These are the most recent rare bird sightings that have been reported on Waarneming.nl. Along with the scientific name, the common names are mentioned in Dutch. If you click on a bird, you can visit the site and see the English name.
Birding Guide Books for your trip to the Netherlands
A good bird guide for your destination is essential for a successful birding trip. Most general guides for the UK & Europe include all that you need for your birding trip to the Netherlands.
Dutch Birding Blogs
Don't worry, they're in English!
Follow these English-language blogs by Dutch birders in the Netherlands to get a feel for the birding there.
- Bird Away the Boredom
- An active birder and volunteer with waarneming.nl and observado.nl with a not-so-active blog.
- BIRDING DIARY OF MARTIJN BOT
- Follow the birding exploits of Martijn Bot as he birds around Lauwersmeer, Eemshaven and Ameland. He's got a thing for seabirds, and you will too after following his blog!
- Faab's Sightings
- The birding adventures of a young birder and bird bander (ringer) living in Apeldoorn.
- gwenz wildlife weblog
- A mostly photo-blog from a nature-lover living in the Netherlands and traveling around the world.
Netherlands birding links
- Birdpix
- Beautiful photos of birds, mostly taken in the Netherlands by Dutch birders. Click on English in the top menu for easy navigation.
- Vogelbescherming
- Vogelbescherming is the Dutch partner of BirdLife International. Website in Dutch.
- Printable Bird Checklists
- Print out a list of the birds you can find in the Netherlands.
- Waarneming
- Mentioned above, this is a comprehensive site where Dutch birders can record their (rare) bird sightings. A great database of information for anyone birding in Holland. Available in English.
Vogelfestival
The Netherlands' annual Bird Fair
Each year in August, various bird- and birding-advocacy groups in the Netherlands used to hold a Bird Fair, called the Vogelfestival. The fair was organized by the Dutch State Forestry, SOVON and Vogelbescherming Nederland, the Dutch partner of BirdLife International. It was a major event for bird and birding enthusiasts and was modeled on the British Birdfair. The annual Dutch event grew to include over 100 exhibitors and was attended by more than 15,000 visitors. The fair was held at the Oostvaardersplassen, an important nature reserve.The date of the next Vogelfestival is unknown; the most recent event, in 2008, took place on 23 and 24 August.
Read this blog report of the Vogelfestival in 2007.
Guides to the Netherlands
Guides of the non-bird type, that is!
Prepare for the non-birding (what!??!?!?!) portion of your travels with a Netherlands travel guide. Unfortunately, the bird guides don't list hotels, help with social situations (ha!) or offer travel dictionaries.
Have you been birding in the Netherlands? Tell me about it!
Link to your trip report or give your Netherlands birding tips.
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spirituality Feb 1, 2009 @ 12:32 pm | delete
- Interesting lens. Perhaps you want to join the Netherlands Headquarters group on squidoo?
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by servopuff
I've been interested in birding for the last few years. I lived in the Netherlands for almost ten years and I enjoyed looking for different birds thro... more »
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