Great White Egret
With excellent transport links to the UK and short travelling times, The Netherlands is an ideal destination for a short winter break. With large areas of the land lying at sea level and reclaimed for agricultural purposes, it provides suitable habitat for some huge concentrations of birds. The nutrient rich polders are home to many thousands of Greater White-fronted and Barnacle Geese, Northern Lapwing, European Golden Plover and Eurasian Curlew, while Red-breasted, Snow, Lesser Canada and Lesser White-fronted Geese are regular winter visitors in very small numbers, though an element of luck is certainly required to encounter any of them. Smaller numbers of Ruff, Ruddy Turnstone, Common Snipe and Dunlin can also be expected, while inevitably large numbers of raptors will also be present. Common Buzzard and Common Kestrel are ubiquitous throughout and we can also expect to encounter Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Northern Goshawk, Marsh and Hen Harriers, Peregrine and Merlin. Rough-legged Buzzard and White-tailed Eagle however may take a little more searching for. Snow Bunting, Brambling, Willow and Marsh Tit, Common Redpoll, Water Pipit, winter thrushes and in some years Bohemian Waxwing provide passerine interest. In addition, the many bodies of open water harbour uncountable numbers of wildfowl such as Eurasian Wigeon, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck and Common Pochard. The delightful Smew, Greater Scaup, Common Goldeneye and Goosander are present in smaller numbers, while Great White Egrets stalk the reed fringed shallows and the trumpeting of small herds of Whooper and Bewick’s Swans provide a wonderful atmospheric soundtrack to the marshes. Woodlands may hold Black Woodpecker, Hawfinch, Crested Tit, Firecrest, Eurasian Woodcock and Short-toed Treecreeper among others, while good fortune may provide us with the opportunity to see roosting Longeared Owls. We should also encounter Europe’s only Indian House Crows in the port at Hoek van Holland. The terrain is exceptionally easy and there is virtually no walking involved as many of the best sites are roadside, though of course it is likely to be cold and tracks could be muddy. Your tour leaders will be Neil Donaghy and Ashley Saunders and you can expect to see approximately 100 species.
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