Hi
Just returned from a casual birding week and thought I'd pass these on
http://www.mariahoeve-logies.nl/
is a great self-catering place to stay on the edge of a polder, managed by wildlife friendly dairy farmers, just a few minutes walk and you are into seeing ( in May anyway ) Bluethroat, Savis's, Spoonbill, Black-tailed Godwit, Buzzard, Hobby, numerous other duck and wader species ... bicycles and a motor boat to hire for further exploration. Only 30 minutes drive from Schipol and 20 minutes or so or less from Gouda, The Hague, Leiden, Delft, Utrecht, etc for some cultural stuff. ( Check suitability of the cottages, we had one with an almost vertical spiral staircase, Ok for us just but could be problematical for kids or the elderly, also check bedrooms are seperated, in ours you had to go through one to get to the other ). Lovely people and you can go and watch the cows being milked etc
And only 20 minutes across rural country to this place, http://www.natuurmonumenten.nl/content/groene-jonker-0 , a new development of wetlands from farmland, and chocker with marsh and water birds, ( Black Tern, Bluethroat, Bittern, Savis, Cettis, Black-necked Grebe, and loads of geese and ducks ). Could turn up anything and well worth a visit if you are staying nearby or passing on a birding trip. No hides as yet but will surely come.
Nearby but closed at the moment is Nieuwkoop, again great for water birds but because of the closure I didnt get there.
Just returned from a casual birding week and thought I'd pass these on
http://www.mariahoeve-logies.nl/
is a great self-catering place to stay on the edge of a polder, managed by wildlife friendly dairy farmers, just a few minutes walk and you are into seeing ( in May anyway ) Bluethroat, Savis's, Spoonbill, Black-tailed Godwit, Buzzard, Hobby, numerous other duck and wader species ... bicycles and a motor boat to hire for further exploration. Only 30 minutes drive from Schipol and 20 minutes or so or less from Gouda, The Hague, Leiden, Delft, Utrecht, etc for some cultural stuff. ( Check suitability of the cottages, we had one with an almost vertical spiral staircase, Ok for us just but could be problematical for kids or the elderly, also check bedrooms are seperated, in ours you had to go through one to get to the other ). Lovely people and you can go and watch the cows being milked etc
And only 20 minutes across rural country to this place, http://www.natuurmonumenten.nl/content/groene-jonker-0 , a new development of wetlands from farmland, and chocker with marsh and water birds, ( Black Tern, Bluethroat, Bittern, Savis, Cettis, Black-necked Grebe, and loads of geese and ducks ). Could turn up anything and well worth a visit if you are staying nearby or passing on a birding trip. No hides as yet but will surely come.
Nearby but closed at the moment is Nieuwkoop, again great for water birds but because of the closure I didnt get there.
