Pete Moore & I had had a good night's sleep & a decent breakfast at the Fletcher Hotel in De Koog on Texel on Day two of the Dutch Spectacled Eider twitch. There was time for a bit of Birding before we left the island. Plan A was to have a look to see if the Spectacled Eider was showing well. Pete had a look over the seawall, before quickly returning to confirm that it was even colder in the stronger on-shore wind, than on the previous day and none of the observers seemed to be watching it. There seemed to be little point in spending the limited time we had, to try relocating it.
An old style Dutch windmill
Plan B was to have a more leisurely drive back to the ferry and to catch the 10:00 ferry off the island. That would give us a bit more time on the mainland than if we had caught the next ferry an hour later. After a few stops to check Geese flocks and for a few tourist photos, we arrived a few minutes early at the ferry.
A large Brent Goose flock: There are about twenty-five Barnacle Geese and a few Greylag Geese in this flock
Two White-fronted Geese with a Greylag Goose
Many of the Dutch houses were photogenic
Even the more normal houses look good
Fort De Schans: This Fort has a Napoleonic look about it. It was commissioned by William of Orange had around 1574, to protect Texel and the channel past it from the Spaniards. It was later strengthened by Bonaparte in 1811, when it presumably took on the Napoleonic look. These days, the road is the same level as the top of the fort and the seawall towers above it
This was one of several buoys I saw, which were good at reflecting the maritime past
Cormorant: We had our eyes set on a more-interesting cousin
Within a few minutes, we were boarding the Texel ferry and thirty minutes later, we were in Den Helder.
The road from the ferry: This shows how low the land is compared to seawall
A replica of the Prins Willem in Den Helder: The original 17th Century Dutch East India Company ship made her maiden voyage to the Dutch East Indies in 1651. She sank near Madagascar in 1662 on a subsequent voyage. This replica was built in 1985, but it was badly destroyed by fire in 2009. After some rebuilding, the restoration was abandoned due to the cost
We were quickly through Den Helder and on the road to Lelystad. However, we took a quick detour to a channel near the village of Anna Paulowna to look for a flock of Smew.
Smew: Male. Initially, there were just three males & a couple of females present
Smew: Males are also called White Nuns, as their head pattern reminded Birders of a nun's white wimple
Smew: Females are often called Redheads by Birders (for obvious reasons)
Smew: The females have a lot of white in the inner wing
Smew: Another female showing off her wing pattern
Smew: Two males with a female
Smew: Males: After a few minutes, the males started displaying
Smew: Once the males started displaying, additional males and a female arrived, until there were seven males and three females
Smew: This female responded with a bit of head bobbing
Smew: In the end there were three females in the group
Smew: Males. It was good to see these males as the last male Smew I saw in Dorset was in 2012
Smew: The males have a good head shape when seen face on
Smew: More responses from one of the females
Smew: The males were sometimes distracted with moving each other on, rather than displaying to the females
Smew: The highlight of the display was this almost vertical stretch
Smew: A final stretch from these two males. We were conscious that time was rolling on & we needed to get going, if Pete was to get into Amsterdam at the time he had promised to meet the family
It was a thirty minute drive to reach Enkhuizen, after leaving the Smew site. This is the start of a twenty-one mile raised causeway which crosses between the Ijsselmeer on the left and the Markermeer on the right of the road. Some parts of the causeway are just a raised road, but other parts are protected by a seawall. It's an outstanding piece of large-scale construction.
Part of the raised causeway between Enkhuizen and Lelystad: Going the long way around would force you through Amsterdam and easily add another hour to the journey
Finally, we arrived at the Nature Park on the edge of Lelystad. I will cover this in the next Blog Post.
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