Oostvaardenplassen Visit, Netherlands. (1 Viewer)

Afternoon All
Visiting Amsterdam by ship in a few weeks. I have read about the large reserve at Oostvaardenplassen and intend to pay a full day visit. I can get to Almere by train from Amsterdam but I am wondering how to get around once in Almere given the size of the area to be covered. Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome. Or any other sites that are within easy reach of Amsterdam I may have overlooked.

Steve Copsey said:

Afternoon All
Visiting Amsterdam by ship in a few weeks. I have read about the large reserve at Oostvaardenplassen and intend to pay a full day visit. I can get to Almere by train from Amsterdam but I am wondering how to get around once in Almere given the size of the area to be covered. Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome. Or any other sites that are within easy reach of Amsterdam I may have overlooked.

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Steve
I've not lived in the Netherlands long but from what I understand Oostvaarderplassen is probably difficult by public transport so hiring a car might be a better bet, assuming that's an option. Hopefully others with better knowledge than I have will be able to provide more accurate information.

David

Forget about buses... You can rent a bike at the Almere-Centraal train station (tel: +31 (0)36-5341331). This will cost €6,50 for a typically Dutch bike (the "back-pedalling braking mechanism" may be novel), and a €50 deposit is required. Quite a bit of cycling is involved from Almere-Centraal (I am saying this as a trained cyclist!), which can be nasty when there is a lot of wind (or rain). There are very few places where you can find shelter and even less to get a well-deserved cup of coffee.

By far the most interesting part of the Oostvaardersplassen tends to be the Praamweg, where you can overlook the area from a viaduct or a mound. White-tailed Eagle is always there, but usually horrendously distant (but the local Rough-legged Buzzard is reliable). You will see Foxes, dozens of Great White Egrets, many geese and large grazers.
On the north side of the Oostvaardersplassen there are a few trails (the rest of the area is inaccessible), but I am not convinced they are worth your while in winter (although you may get a bit closer to the eagles and increase your chances of seeing Bearded Tit).
Little is seen from the Oostvaardersdijk on the western side nowadays, but you should see Smew and possibly Scaup (on the large lake to the west!). If by car, there are not many areas to stop on the west side. The more interesting sites for wildfowl are to the west of Almere, or along the long dyke Enkhuizen-Lelystad.
The southern bit (Kotterweg/Jan van den Boschpad) can be nice at times – another chance of White-tailed Eagle there.
You can look at http://waarneming.nl/gebied/view/5650 (you may have to set the language to English) to get an idea what to expect.

You can go Dutch way with a bike. But given unreliable weather, distance, carrying a scope etc. the better idea might be to rent a car and drive ca 1,5 h to Oostvaardersplassen. This allows you to visit not only the west end, but also Lepelaarsplassen and the east end of the reserve (the centre is off limits).

By all means check the site http://waarneming.nl given by Xenospiza. It gives updated information about birds seen in Netherlands, searchable by rarities, location and map (option excursion planner). You may also find some other sites around Amsterdam more interesting (eg. Petten or Ijmuiden).

I think the Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen combined with IJmuiden (although this will take some puzzling for the train & bus connections) are a nice option in winter.

Unfortunately, access to the "Zuidpier" in IJmuiden (a long breakwater into the North Sea – if you arrive by ship you should pass it!) may be impossible during the week (it is officially restricted all the time, because it is very dangerous at winds of force 5 or more).

Having been to IJmuiden a number of times with work, I confess that I didn't realise it's supposed to be a birding hotspot. I can confirm it's not the easiest place to get to by public transport; I've usually ended up getting a train to Haarlem and a bus from there. The fast ferry from Amsterdam central is also an option. It's quite good fun, but unfortunately it's still a bit of a hike from the ferry jetty to the harbour end of IJmuiden.

Many Thanks for the replies. I will give the area a go although I appreciate it may not be the easiest to get around. I will be arriving by ship so I will keep a good eye open on the way in. A bike will be fine but very much weather dependant. I also read some of the other post in the forum on the subject so I have a decent idea of what to expect. Worse case scenario I am sure I will find a nice warm bar in the area.

It is well worth the visit, but as mentioned everything is a long way away so a scope is essential.
There are not many amenities but you can get a hot drink in the visitor centre.

Mark

Hi all

Reading this thread with interest as I will be in Amsterdam for a couple of days next week and have a day free for biriding. Monitoring Dutch Birding for rare bird info, but as I have neither scope nor car, I was thinking I'd be better concentrating on attempting to track down Black Woodpecker. Anyone got any sites/advice? Much obliged, James

James

Black Woodpecker is mainly confined to the central and (south-) eastern parts of the country. The odd wanderer might turn up in the province of Noord Holland (where Amsterdam is located) but you would have to be very lucky!

One alternative would be to take a train from Amsterdam Centraal to the west coast (somewhere like Castricum) and have a look around some of the dunes. There was a Gyr reported in this type of habitat yesterday!

Hopefully those with more experience of the Netherlands will come along with better suggestions.

David

Cheers so much for the info David. I must have been mistaken re Black Woodpecker sites being near Amsterdam. I assume it's the same for Middle-spotted. Saves me picking a wood and hoping for the best!

I think I'll take your advice and head for the coast. I was going to twitch specifics like the White-headed duck, but as the days are short I'd rather spend more time out in the field so somewhere near Amsterdam would be wise, and hopefully I can turn up something for myself. Looks like there's some good birds about. And 'Splendid Dunes - Swan Lake' - great site name too.

You might want to keep an eye on this site:
http://waarneming.nl/index.php?lang=en&local=nl

Click on "Sightings" at the top of the page then, on the drop-down menu, "Birds". You can narrow the list of sightings by clicking on "Noord Holland" on the drop-down menu in the "Province" box at top right. This will give today's sightings from the Province.

Good luck

David

Hi
Last November, we caught a train from Amsterdam to Hilversum (quite a short journey and walked out to the Gooi Nature Reserve where we had excellent views of Black Woodpecker (and Gt Grey Shrike). An easy trip to do from Amsterdam.
Tony

Thanks very much for the info Tony, thanks again David. Tempted to try for the Eagle Owl at Heilloo too.

I'll have to persuade my wife and daughter to spend three days shopping and leave me to it... or that Black Woodpeckers are cool. Which you all know they are.