Following a new tour introduced in 2026 we are pleased to offer this fantastic winter birding trip to the near-continent again for 2027. To simplify travel arrangements we have chosen to fly with KLM to Amsterdam, meaning local airport options from pretty much anywhere in the UK (Norwich, London, Bristol, Newcastle, Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester) to our rendezvous point at Schipol. From there we make the relatively short drive up to Texel, the most famous birding destination in the country, and home to a vast array on wintering wildfowl as well as the celebrity eider. Our journey around the country then see’s us cross the Ijsselmeer via a 20-mile causeway to Friesland, the most goose-rich part of the Netherlands where vast open polders host huge flocks of Greater White-fronted and Barnacle Geese, Lapwing and other winter birds amidst a landscape dotted with small villages and windmills. We will seek roosting Long-eared Owls, quartering raptors, and maybe visiting Great Grey Shrike, Rough-legged Buzzard and Waxwing while keeping our ear to the ground for any other rarities (we saw Black-faced Bunting, Pygmy Cormorant, Kentish Plover and Bufflehead in 2026!). Finally we make a stopover in Veluwe, staying in the forest where Middle Spotted and Black Woodpecker, Crested Tit and Short-toed Treecreeper reside, before returning back to Amsterdam.
Your tour leaders will be Ashley Saunders & Nick Parsons and you can expect to see around 100 species.
DAY ONE
We take an early morning flight from UK to Amsterdam with KLM and after collecting our hire vehicle we drive north to the ferry port of Den Helder. Along the route we will see our first big flocks of Greater White-fronted and Barnacle Geese, with a good chance of our first Lesser White-fronted Geese too! The ferry crossing to Texel is short and before we know it we will be birding our way up the eastern side of the island. On the sea are likely to be large numbers of Great Crested Grebes, Common Eider, Red-breasted Merganser and Red-throated Diver plus chances of Black-necked Grebe and other seafowl. The coastal polders will host large flocks of Dark-bellied Brent Geese, and often there is at least one Red-breasted Goose among them, and occasionally Black Brant.
Overnight Texel
DAY TWO
We start off today checking some of the beaches for flocks of Shorelark, Twite and Snow Bunting, while there will be plenty of opportunities to check goose flocks for Lesser White-fronts and other rarities too. The Netherlands still plays host to Bewick’s Swans in winter and numbers of Tundra Bean Geese can be in the hundreds – though on our 2026 tour we saw many thousands! The woodlands of Texel hold Short-toed Treecreeper and Goshawk and all the coastal freshwater areas host large numbers of dabbling ducks. Basically everywhere we look we are going to see lots of birds! The Brent Geese here are particularly high in number and there is still a good chance of a corking adult Black Brant amongst them. Texel is of course the rarity hotspot of the Netherlands and is well-watched meaning scarce birds are often found and we will weave these into our itinerary.
Overnight Texel
DAYS THREE & FOUR
We depart the island via the ferry to Den Helder this morning and then we spend a leisurely day travelling to Friesland, in the North-east of the country. Thankfully this journey is made a whole lot easier by a 20-mile long causeway which traverses the northern edge of the Ijsselmeer, a huge shallow lake which itself hosts massive numbers of Coot and Great Crested Grebe, Pochard, Tufted Duck and Goldeneye. There is also a large flock of Greater Scaup wintering on the sea and we can get good views of them from the causeway. Once we reach the polders of Friesland, we will likely be blown away by the sheer number of species such as Lapwing and Golden Plover, but we also now have chances for one or two of those scarce wintering birds that used to visit the UK regularly, but due to ‘short-stopping’ are now rare – Rough-legged Buzzard, Great Grey Shrike and Smew, for example. There will be lots more goose-watching in this area too as we check through flocks of White-fronted, Brent, Pink-footed and Barnacle Geese which will seemingly carpet every polder as far as the eye can see. There is a very good rare bird network in The Netherlands so during our stay here we will keep up to date with where any Waxwing flocks might be, or roosting Long-eared Owls.
Overnights Friesland
DAY FIVE
We move on again today, heading down to the area around Harderwijk and the famous Oostvadersplassen. This area hosts huge flocks of diving ducks in winter and probably brings our best chance of Smew, plus flocks of Goosanders and just eye-watering numbers of Coot!! There is often a wintering Spoonbill, Jack Snipe and of course White-tailed Eagle knocking about too (we saw over ten in one spot on our 2026 tour). Our main target in this part of the country though is to tackle the beautiful forests of Veluwe, and in fact we will be staying in the heart of the area so with easy access to some good spots. Black Woodpecker is present but never easy to find in winter, and we will likely also find Crested Tit, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Short-toed Treecreeper and Firecrest. We will need a lot of time to check as many spots as possible, in order to connect with all these species.
Overnight Veluwe
DAY SIX
We will have some more time for birding this morning, either returning to the forest or if we did well there yesterday, we can do some more birding around Harderwijk. Pygmy Cormorant and Bufflehead were both in this area last winter and Black-winged Kite is also an ever-increasing visitor. Depending on the time of the flight we then head back up to Amsterdam ready for the short flight back to the UK.
WHAT’S INLCUDED
Five nights accommodation, all meals, guidance, transport, and international flights.
NOT INCLUDED
Drinks, travel to/from the airport and any overnight stay that may be required, and any items of a personal nature
