The Netherlands - Texel & the North

We begin our tour with a morning flight to Amsterdam and a visit to a nearby reserve, which could be 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 next two days we will spend on 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, Snow Bunting 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)?!  

The following day we will visit Lauwersmeer National Park, 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, Hen Harrier, Merlin and the nationally rare Rough-legged Buzzard – one of the last places this species is frequently seen in the Netherlands.

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.