One day in Amsterdam (1 Viewer)

Hello

I'm going to be in Amsterdam next week for five days.
I'll probably be able to manage only one days birding as I'm with my wife.

If you could recommend one site to visit within easy reach of the city, which would it be?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated .

Cheers

Karl

Migration season so I would head up to the Wadden Sea area for millions of waders. Easiest access from Amsterdam would be the island of Texel, 1.5h on the train and 30 min on the ferry (good for gulls & terns). In addition to the waders on the mudflats and wetlands there's a long list of regular fare, all of which are pretty abundant and easy to see. Finally, Texel is one of the premier rarity hotspots in nl. Just to give you an idea, last weekend saw King Eider, Asian Golden Plover, Wryneck, Red-backed Shrike, Barrd Warbler, Siberian Stonechat, Richard's, Tawny and Red-throated Pipit.

N

If you and your wife are comfortable riding a bicycle, I would also opt for the Texel option (renting a bike there is super easy: you come from the boat and you get on the bike) and take the wife with you. It's very enjoyable to cycle on Texel, and birds are everywhere on the island.

You can check the site waarneming.nl for the current observations.

If you have a car, better than Texel might be going to mainland Waddensee: starting just before high tide from Balgzand (basically mudflats facing Texel), Hyppolytushoef, west river mouth at Der Oever, then go to freshwater place Noorderdijkweg - Dijkgatsweide for more variety, and proceed along the coast to the east to Friesland, as far as you can catch the tide before birds disperse. Place after place full of shorebirds, Spoonbills etc. Check them on waarneming.nl.

Thanks to all three of you. I went up to texal for most of Thursday.
Really rewarding birding. Its whetted my appetite for Dutch birding.
A longer trip is close at hand!