Netherlands May 2023. (Long post, many photos)
Jul 13, 2023 10:59:29 GMT -8
oldfulica, Chris, and 5 more like this
Post by Ben on Jul 13, 2023 10:59:29 GMT -8
I recently returned from an extended trip to the Netherlands (2.5 weeks), then Israel (3 weeks), and then back to the Netherlands (.5 week). The main purpose of the time in the Netherlands was visiting family and in Israel I was taking my last class to finish up my undergrad--so birding was limited to say the least. That said, got a few good days in here and there... Jon joined me for the first 9 days in the Netherlands, so most birding was prioritized to that time.
Upon arrival in Amsterdam we targeted Rose-ringed, Alexandrine, and Monk Parakeet at Vondel Park, an urban park near downtown. Here we were successful on the first two and missed the less common Monk. Here I also got my lifer Long-tailed Tit, one that Jon had seen on a previous trip to the NL.
Alexandrine Parakeet at Vondelpark by Benjamin Pap
Rose-ringed Parakeet at Vondelpark by Benjamin Pap
On May 1 we went out and spent a couple hours of the morning at a Nature Reserve relatively close by (Natuurgebied Harderbroek) where we tallied 50 species including 4 lifers: Garganey, Savi’s Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, and Common Nightingale
Cetti's Warbler at Harderbroek by Benjamin Pap
Savi's Warbler at Harderbroek by Benjamin Pap
Greater Whitethroat at Harderbroek by Benjamin Pap
In the evening my uncle’s mom asked if we had ever seen a draaihals Specht (Eurasian Wryneck) because her neighbour had seen one at their place a few days ago… We went over and sure enough, after an hour of meandering around Jon spotted it
Eurasian Wryneck at 140 Putterweg, Ermelo, Gelderland, NL (52.289, 5.624) by Benjamin Pap
Eurasian Wryneck at 140 Putterweg, Ermelo, Gelderland, NL (52.289, 5.624) by Benjamin Pap
And a (real) Robin posed nicely as well
European Robin at 140 Putterweg, Ermelo, Gelderland, NL (52.289, 5.624) by Benjamin Pap
European Robin at 140 Putterweg, Ermelo, Gelderland, NL (52.289, 5.624) by Benjamin Pap
The following day our grandparents took us on a “whisper boat”(?) tour through De Wieden where we tallied 58.
Barnacle Goose at Blokzijl, Overijssel, NL (52,694, 6,016) by Benjamin Pap
Great Crested Grebe at Blokzijl, Overijssel, NL (52,694, 6,016) by Benjamin Pap
The biggest outing we went on was a day trip to Texel (apparently pronounced “Tessel” even though that’s not how it should be pronounced, even in Dutch. We had a great debate about this). In total we had 89 species including 8 lifers for me. At one spot there a Lesser Yellowlegs had been seen the day before. It was amusing to see the crowds of Dutch birders gathering for a bird that had relatively low interest for us
Ring-necked Pheasant at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Northern Wheatear at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Common Ringed Plover at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Common Eider at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Purple Sandpiper at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Purple Sandpiper at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Purple Sandpiper at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Ruddy Turnstone at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Common Eider at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
(These Dotterel were real tricky to get . Almost gave up after meeting some birders leaving the site saying they hadn’t found them, but then were convinced to walk down a little tractor path by a non-birding friend—and sure enough, there they were)
Eurasian Dotterel at Texel--Eierland by Benjamin Pap
On the weekend we had a Family Weekend with our extended family. Made a few walks around the area which weren’t overly birdy but did score our lifer Yellowhammers (the photos of which were quite poor and never got uploaded).
On Jon’s last full day, we targeted a few lifers and were quite successful, getting both Little Owl and Lesser White-fronted Goose
Lesser White-fronted Goose at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
Little Owl at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
And some other decent pics from that morning:
Common Redshank at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
Black-tailed Godwit at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
Black-tailed Godwit at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
Common Chiffchaff at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
Northern Lapwing at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
And our only half-decent Garganey pic:
Garganey at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
After Jon’s departure I didn’t bird a whole lot with the exception of a day in the Biesbosch, which was massively disappointing. I had several targets that I missed—and then towards the end of the day met a birder and chatted with him for a bit and he had seen most of what I was looking for—big sad me…
There’s definitely details that I’ve left out, forgotten, or was too lazy to include. For the rest of the photos and exact numbers and such you’re welcome to view the eBird trip report: ebird.org/tripreport/127009
Should also say that even though the all the pics say that they're "by Benjamin Pap" a fair amount of them are Jon's, I just didn't bother much trying to separate them, oops... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Upon arrival in Amsterdam we targeted Rose-ringed, Alexandrine, and Monk Parakeet at Vondel Park, an urban park near downtown. Here we were successful on the first two and missed the less common Monk. Here I also got my lifer Long-tailed Tit, one that Jon had seen on a previous trip to the NL.
Alexandrine Parakeet at Vondelpark by Benjamin Pap
Rose-ringed Parakeet at Vondelpark by Benjamin Pap
On May 1 we went out and spent a couple hours of the morning at a Nature Reserve relatively close by (Natuurgebied Harderbroek) where we tallied 50 species including 4 lifers: Garganey, Savi’s Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, and Common Nightingale
Cetti's Warbler at Harderbroek by Benjamin Pap
Savi's Warbler at Harderbroek by Benjamin Pap
Greater Whitethroat at Harderbroek by Benjamin Pap
In the evening my uncle’s mom asked if we had ever seen a draaihals Specht (Eurasian Wryneck) because her neighbour had seen one at their place a few days ago… We went over and sure enough, after an hour of meandering around Jon spotted it
Eurasian Wryneck at 140 Putterweg, Ermelo, Gelderland, NL (52.289, 5.624) by Benjamin Pap
Eurasian Wryneck at 140 Putterweg, Ermelo, Gelderland, NL (52.289, 5.624) by Benjamin Pap
And a (real) Robin posed nicely as well
European Robin at 140 Putterweg, Ermelo, Gelderland, NL (52.289, 5.624) by Benjamin Pap
European Robin at 140 Putterweg, Ermelo, Gelderland, NL (52.289, 5.624) by Benjamin Pap
The following day our grandparents took us on a “whisper boat”(?) tour through De Wieden where we tallied 58.
Barnacle Goose at Blokzijl, Overijssel, NL (52,694, 6,016) by Benjamin Pap
Great Crested Grebe at Blokzijl, Overijssel, NL (52,694, 6,016) by Benjamin Pap
The biggest outing we went on was a day trip to Texel (apparently pronounced “Tessel” even though that’s not how it should be pronounced, even in Dutch. We had a great debate about this). In total we had 89 species including 8 lifers for me. At one spot there a Lesser Yellowlegs had been seen the day before. It was amusing to see the crowds of Dutch birders gathering for a bird that had relatively low interest for us
Ring-necked Pheasant at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Northern Wheatear at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Common Ringed Plover at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Common Eider at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Purple Sandpiper at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Purple Sandpiper at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Purple Sandpiper at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Ruddy Turnstone at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
Common Eider at Texel--Vuurtoren Eierland (Lighthouse) by Benjamin Pap
(These Dotterel were real tricky to get . Almost gave up after meeting some birders leaving the site saying they hadn’t found them, but then were convinced to walk down a little tractor path by a non-birding friend—and sure enough, there they were)
Eurasian Dotterel at Texel--Eierland by Benjamin Pap
On the weekend we had a Family Weekend with our extended family. Made a few walks around the area which weren’t overly birdy but did score our lifer Yellowhammers (the photos of which were quite poor and never got uploaded).
On Jon’s last full day, we targeted a few lifers and were quite successful, getting both Little Owl and Lesser White-fronted Goose
Lesser White-fronted Goose at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
Little Owl at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
And some other decent pics from that morning:
Common Redshank at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
Black-tailed Godwit at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
Black-tailed Godwit at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
Common Chiffchaff at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
Northern Lapwing at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
And our only half-decent Garganey pic:
Garganey at Arkemheense Polder by Benjamin Pap
After Jon’s departure I didn’t bird a whole lot with the exception of a day in the Biesbosch, which was massively disappointing. I had several targets that I missed—and then towards the end of the day met a birder and chatted with him for a bit and he had seen most of what I was looking for—big sad me…
There’s definitely details that I’ve left out, forgotten, or was too lazy to include. For the rest of the photos and exact numbers and such you’re welcome to view the eBird trip report: ebird.org/tripreport/127009
Should also say that even though the all the pics say that they're "by Benjamin Pap" a fair amount of them are Jon's, I just didn't bother much trying to separate them, oops... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
