Introduction.

This was not a trip looking for Europe's dodgy species (well there are still a few that I encountered along the way) but a trip in two parts, one specifically looking for some of the Netherlands rarest mammals and the other to really take a look at some of the species of birds by visiting some general reserves and just finding stuff along the way.

Thursday 28th April

After getting the 2am ferry across the channel it was a quick drive to Drijdyck near Antwerp for an hour or so's sleep before birding the reserve in search for the baikal teal that had been present for the last couple of days. The weather was windy and raining and the distance to the water was large so not ideal for this type of thing. A good selection of birds was present in the hour or so it took to find the Baikal teal, swimming as far from any access point as possible. After some dodgy digiscoped shots it was off to find a cup of tea and warm up. I was soon in the South east of the Netherlands where I met the 'Hamster expert' and we took a look round the managed farmland for signs of Hamsters. This was quite successful and we identified 15 active burrows where we placed traps to catch some hamsters that evening. This took all afternoon before all the traps were in place, we then headed to a local restaurant before the trap checking. The food was excellent and well priced and came with chips magic! Next was a photo shoot with a capture from the previous session who was waiting for micro chipping with any captured this evening. Unfortunately we could not get him out of his holding cage as they are very hard to hold and easily escape so all the photos are through he cage bars. We started our check of the traps and bingo we had a European hamster, a few empty ones and then several full ones. I total we caught 7 hamsters, 6 female and 1 male. But we did encounter near one of the traps a dead hamster being eaten by a fox and a bank vole dashed by at one stage but nothing else. I did a bit of a drive round the area looking at a few spots recommended to me a wood mouse was spotted on the road and a brief view of a badger the mammal highlights. A barn owl the best nocturnal bird but then again it is limited at that time of night.

Friday 29th April

After struggling to find the site due to lack of sleep I eventually searched for yellow bellied toads that breed here but despite lots of yellow bellied toad tadpoles but I could not find any adults in an extensive search, probably due to the very dry conditions over the last few weeks. I took the drive into Germany to Zwillbroker Venn a nature reserve famous for its breeding flamingo's and they were indeed present at least 25 individuals, of three species. Greater, Caribbean and Chilean displaying and nest biulding. A few Mediterranean gulls were present in the black headed gull colony and a couple of black terns of note but not much else. It was time for an ice cream at the visitor centre and then to Arnhem for food and accommodation before heading to a small village south where there was a nice nature reserve. I birded this for a while, a couple of garganey, stonechat, white stork and a black tern the pick, but the main reason for the visit was to come. I staked out the nearby beaver lodge, and as dusk fell three beavers came out to feed and play. The light or rather lack of it made photography very difficult, but some night vision equipment was used to film them a little. I headed back to the car via a couple of pools where I had a tip off were Natterjack toads they were too distant for photos but some marsh frogs were more co-operative as the heavens opened and thunder and lightning as well. I made it back to the car a little damp, but this was going to be ideal for amphibians so I headed to a site nearby I had been given but I could not locate any moor frogs only common toad and marsh frogs. Now wet through I headed to bed and finally got some sleep, but not before a quick police stop and breath test, I was slightly amused as the police seemed to struggle with the driver's seat position.

Saturday 30th April

I had a lie in and a leisurely breakfast before heading north to a reserve called Oostvaardersplassen. This exposed reserve offered no shelter from the wind and it was difficult to use a scope. I birded the sea wall first but nothing of any great note due to the conditions. Then onto the reserve where a few warblers were calling, a nightingale, a few marsh frogs and a rather elusive bluethroat. A couple of red deer were more co-operative and there were large numbers of them in the grassland area of the reserve along with Konik ponies and Heck cattle. A spoonbill was feeding with a large number of barnacle geese who are now resident here all year, but the highlight was the chaos amongst the geese as a juv white tailed eagle came past, truly memorable. By mid afternoon it was time for food and then moving on to the coast. My stop was at the Kraansvlak reserve, I took a wander round the reserve and had a few dragonflies and butterflies one was particularly striking a map sunning itself. But I was again here for another reason, here is a re introduced herd of European Bison, they can only be seen from the watchpoint when the visit the lake to drink as there is no access into that area of the reserve. They only need to drink every couple of days so this was going to be a difficult task. The site was exposed so the wind and beating sun made waiting difficult, I got to grips with all the local birds a whitethroat holding territory, and a willow warbler trying to hold the same area. They both showed well, the three nightingales however did not and were only glimpsed flying between bushes as they did musical battle. After a couple of hours the konik ponies came to drink but no bison. Only a few people visited the site so I had it to myself pretty much all the time, which was rather pleasant. I wandered back to the car, a red squirrel crossed the path, I took the long route back to the car by taking a wrong turn, but it was a good one as two fallow deer were feeding in the garden of a house, but there was no real clear view of them for a photo. Back at the car I had to try to pay for the parking just the same as here, put the ticket in the machine and pay the amount requested - simple, this one only took cards no problem I had a couple but neither of them worked in the machine and I was the last car there, I might have to stay the night here (I did but more of that later), I pressed a few buttons and a voice spoke to me and the helpful lady was able to let me out of the car park for no charge, I headed to the nearby beach resort to find some food and accommodation, food was easy and I tried some of the local specialities and very good they were too, particularly with chips. But there was some problem with my plan, a place that had loads of good value accommodation and it would be easy to find somewhere had a massive festival on and the only room left was E100 a night. So it was back to the car park, outside the barrier where I joined a camper van for the night.

Sunday 1st May

I found another spot to park this morning outisde the car park and headed back to the Bison lookout, a couple of red squirrels were squabbling on the way. At the view point I disturbed a roe deer and although he returned I never got a clear shot. People traffic was much higher than the previous day and I almost never seemed to have the place to myself. A goshawk showed nicely and a birder confirmed their presence exactly where I had seen it. The same birder gave me some spoonbill info but more of that later. There was a lull of people visiting during the time the European bison herd (11 animals) appeared to drink and I had them to myself for 30 mins before a couple of people arrived followed by the konik ponies but they kept well out of the way of the bison. The bison were present for an hour before heading off, and that was my cue to do the same 9 hours at the same area was enough! Following up on the spoonbill information I drove to the petrol station and there was a colony of spoonbills in the bushes behind, so I indulged in some ice cream while watching parents feeding some youngsters. With plenty of time on my hands I headed to the Hook of Holland for those house crows. Two were feeding outside the Netherlands best chipshop (they also sell ice cream - what a great idea) so I bought some chips and ice cream and enjoyed the crows and the sun for a while. I drove to Arnhem for the night to my hotel.

Monday 2nd May

After some breakfast I headed the short distance to a site where a greater sandplover had been for the last two days but it had flown off the previous night and was nowhere to be seen but there was plenty at the site. A couple of avocets and a temminck's stint amongst the commoner plovers and sandpipers. I visited a few birding site around the Arnhem area there was nothing exceptional but some nice views of swallows and fallow deer with some nice photo opportunities. I tried for Muskrats at one site I had but there were several traps there so I assume there are not many at that site any more. I headed west and ended up at Woerden for some food and then on to visit the lake where the black swans live. I easily found a pair with 3 cygnets. It was then off to Nieuwkoopse Plassen to meet with a group trapping the root vole, a relict population exists in the Netherlands. After a cup of tea we got into the boat (not what I was expecting) and headed out into the marsh. We checked 60 traps which had been set that morning and caught 5 common shrews, it was a strange experience travelling back in the dark through the marsh on a boat, only using natural light to navigate by.

Tuesday 3rd May

After a quick breakfast we headed back to the traps, but only caught 7 common shrews and no voles a shame, but the bird life was good. We had a tour round the area seeing several purple herons, a female garganey with 6 males chasing her and a family of bar headed geese amongst the commoner species. The warm weather was good for dragonflies and several species were out, Norfolk hawkers were particularly plentiful and a nice selection of damselflies. It was mid afternoon and time to leave the gang at Nieuwkoopse Plassen, so after stopping for a late lunch I spent the rest of the day doing some general birding and visited a couple of shops to get the wife something before meeting up with a group at an industrial estate. We went inside the building and were shown and told about the building and its importance to bats. There are cameras in the walls and chip readers (to record individual micro chipped bats) and scales at the exits to the building to monitor the bats weight. 3% of the Netherlands pond bat population reside here (a maternal roost) and are part of a long term study. As darkness fell we went outside to watch the bats emerge and I lost count at about 150 but almost 300 are present. We also had a serotine go by which was a nice addition and it was a great way to finish the trip and I drove back to Dunkirk to battle with the ferry delays before getting home later than expected at about 10am, quick wash and brush up and off work.

Summary

An excellent trip in which I only missed the root vole and muskrat out of the possible species, Beech marten was also a possibility in the south of the country. I had plenty of help from the Dutch Mammal society and wish to thank them but also the Dutch birders who I met along the way who were very helpful, friendly and all spoke English. The near continent has a nice range of wildlife which we don't get in the UK and is well worth a visit.

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