Layover in Amsterdam (1 Viewer)

[jc122463]

Hi all,
This may seem like an absurd question, but I have a five hour layover in Amsterdam in mid-May and again in early June. As I've never passed through the Amsterdam airport before, I'm wondering if it's even feasible to get out and go birding. Are there any spots close to the airport? I've birded extensively in Africa so not all the European species (migratory birds) would be new, but I thought there might be a chance of picking up some lifers in the short time I have available?

Does this sound anywhere near feasible? Any suggestions on where to go with only 5 hours between flights? Thanks for any advice!

Cheers,
Benji

 

[PeterBird]

It would involve renting a car, driving out and being back in time for the next flight. I don't know how feasible it would be. There is an area near Zevenhoven (a small village about half an hour's drive from the airport) called "de Groene Jonker", where you might expect to see reed birds like Reed Warbler, Bluethroat, Reed Bunting, several waders like Godwits, Lapwings, Ruff, Redshank, Ringed Plover, perhaps also Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper. Also Black Tern, Common Tern, Little Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Marsh Harrier, Yellow and White Wagtail and several Duck species. It is certainly a rewarding area to walk around for an hour or so. If you do decide to give it a try, I could give you the exact location. Hope this helps....
Regards
Peter

 

[jc122463]

Thanks for the info Peter. I figured it would probably involve renting a car. Half an hour away doesn't seem too bad, but I'll have to give it some more thought to decide if it's worth the extra hassle.

Cheers,
Benji

 

[Xenospiza]

If you have a list of potential lifers I could suggest some locations (I used to live only 15 miles or so from Schiphol). A 5-hour layover wouldn't give you much more than two hours birding I guess... The area near the Groene Jonker is scenic and very Dutch, but probably best for summer migrants that you may have seen. You won't have any chance of European woodland birds though. If you are more in favour of these, you could go to the North Sea coast, where good stands of trees in the dunes west of Haarlem could grant a few ticks. With two layovers, you could even do both!

 

[jurek]

In 5 hours, you can get from Schiphol almost anywhere in Netherlands and back.

Visit very active http://waarneming.nl , where 100's of Dutch put their records daily. Pick species you want to see and see maps of observations. There is also a function "plan the observation" which shows other species present in the radius of 1-10km from each spot. This will plan your trip best.

Only forests and farmland are a bit less popular than lakes and coast, so a gap of several days doesn't mean that the place is empty.

 

[Xenospiza]

Don't exaggerate the small size of the Netherlands Jurek!
In a 5 hour layover, you lose at least 1.5 hours by getting out of and back into Schiphol (you don't want to miss that flight!): leaves 3.5 hours. You don't really want to drive the motorways (and possibly get stuck in one of the very common traffic jams) — so you shouldn't go further than 30 minutes away: leaves 2.5 hours for birding!