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Visiting Hellevoetsluis 14th May (1 Viewer)

GlynH

Well-known member
Hi
I will be staying at the Cita Romana complex just outside Hellevoetsluis for a week, Can anyone advise me on where to visit birding and what i can expect to see. Also are there any permits required as i understand there are lots of nature reserves in the area. Anywhere within a 60 to 90 minute drive is ok.
Thanks in advance
Glyn
 
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Hi
I will be staying at the Cita Romana complex just outside Hellevoetsluis for a week, Can anyone advise me on where to visit birding and what i can expect to see. Also are there any permits required as i understand there are lots of nature reserves in the area. Anywhere within a 60 to 90 minute drive is ok.
Thanks in advance
Glyn


60 to 90 minutes? That's half the country! ;)

There are plenty of decent options out there, but the general area is mostly industrial and urban. The National Park the Biesbosch area is very nice:
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=1229&m=0

The island of Tiengemeten (owned by Natuurmonumenten) is close and very nice as well:
http://birdboredom.blogspot.com/2008/06/tiengemeten-kinderdijk-and-some-other.html
 
Thanks you for the reply Micha. i see your in the USA i would have thought some one from Holland would have had some information too, maybe this site is not too popular in europe. Thanks again
Glyn
 
Thanks you for the reply Micha. i see your in the USA i would have thought some one from Holland would have had some information too, maybe this site is not too popular in europe. Thanks again
Glyn


I moved here six years ago but lived there (most of) the first 26 years of my life. However, most of my birding was done within biking distance of where my parents lived in the south of the country and later in around Deventer (more than an hour east of Hellevoetsluis). Anyway, hope you enjoy your time there.

As for Dutch birders frequenting this site, yes it might not be the most popular. You should try birdpix.nl. Lots of local birders there. (Maybe someone can point you to the short-eared owls that appear to be present about 30 mins south of where you'll be).
 
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You could visit the Quackjeswater, which is a nature reserve very close to Hellevoetsluis and just across the road from the park where you are staying! Breeding Spoonbill and Little Egret in some of the most unspoilt dunes in the Netherlands (as long as you look away from the port of Rotterdam nearby). Black-necked Grebe breeds in the area too. This is one of the few areas where you need to be a member of a Dutch organisation for the protection of nature to visit, but there are day cards available and you could probably get away with being foreign (it's not locked or anything). I've never been asked for my membership card there!
A really nice areas near Hellevoetsluis is the Prunjepolder between Haamstede and Zierikzee: many, many waders and often other good stuff. The (former) islands in the Southwest of the netherlands all have good areas, but it's hard to pinpoint them without a map! The small harbour of Battenoord can be good for Kentish Plover and Little Tern. It may be a bit late in the year for the Brouwersdam (just south of Hellevoetsluis) to be attractive to birders, but the seaside sluice on the south part of the dam (reachable by a feeder road) usually attracts birders.
If you're so inclined, the only European House Crows are easy to find near the station of Hoek van Holland, but probably Purple Herons and Savi's Warblers are more interesting: Kinderdijk (rightfully a tourist attraction) has them, as has the non-touristy environment of the Zouweboezem (already quite a drive).
It's a bit too far from good forest, but the forest south of Breda is probably within reach. It really occurs in any good wood near that town, but you have to be lucky, of course. Mastbos, Hondsdonk and Putven (near Chaam) are all areas where I've had high rates of success.
Make sure to ask anyone with bins if they know something good is around: most Dutch birders should be able to help you!
 
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