Wildlife travel: What animals can I see in The Netherlands?

Its landscape may be flat, but its wildlife certainly isn't. Visit this land of windmills and water to encounter spoonbills in sand dunes and wild ponies in wetlands.

Choose your welcome gift when you subscribe to BBC Wildlife magazine!

Illustration by Dawn Cooper

1. Red-breasted goose, Lauwersmeer National Park

Close-up of a Red-breasted Goose (Branta ruficollis).
Close-up of a Red-breasted Goose (Branta ruficollis).

Red-breasted goose in Lauwersmeer NP © Ger Bosma/Getty

Spectacular numbers of barnacle and white-fronted geese overwinter here, along with rarities such as the red-breasted goose. Montague’s harriers and golden orioles both breed in the park too.

2. Sand lizard, Hulshorsterzand, Veluwe

Sand20lizard20David20Courtenay20Getty_623-93c1bee

Sand lizard in Hulshorsterzand, Veluwe © David Courtenay/Getty

This area of the Veluwe is the most important location for inland sand drifts in Europe and is a great place to encounter sand lizards.

3. Bluethroat, De Groote Peel National Park

A stunning Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) in the grass searching for food.
A stunning Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) in the grass searching for food.

Bluethroat in De Groote Peel NP © Standbridge/Getty

This unmistakeable, robin-sized songbird breeds throughout much of the Netherlands, but the wetlands of De Groote Peel are an excellent place to start.

4. Black woodpecker, Grenspark de Zoom-Kalmthoutse Heide National Park

Finland
Finland

Black woodpecker in Grenspark de Zoom-Kalmthoutse Heide NP © Javier Fernandez Sanchez/Getty

A mosaic of habitats make up this cross-border (with Belgium) national park, including pasture and dunes. The coniferous woods surrounding the central heathland area are home to this striking woodpecker.

5. Konik pony, Oostvaardersplassen

Konik Pony-Norfolk Broads National Park-Norfolk-England- Breed originated in ancient lowland farm areas in Poland- Konik means small horse in Polish-Direct descendant of the wild European forest horse or Tarpan that once roamed across Europe and is now extinct-Used widely in Europe to manage wetlands by keeping land open and improve habitat for certain wildlife -Graze on weeds-reeds-rushes and other plants-Conservation grazing projects use these ponies to improve habitat for bitterns-corn crakes-spoonbills and other species
Konik Pony-Norfolk Broads National Park-Norfolk-England- Breed originated in ancient lowland farm areas in Poland- Konik means small horse in Polish-Direct descendant of the wild European forest horse or Tarpan that once roamed across Europe and is now extinct-Used widely in Europe to manage wetlands by keeping land open and improve habitat for certain wildlife -Graze on weeds-reeds-rushes and other plants-Conservation grazing projects use these ponies to improve habitat for bitterns-corn crakes-spoonbills and other species

Conic pony in Oostvaardersplassen © John Cancalosi/Getty

‘Rewilded’ hotspot Oostvaardersplassen is 50km2 of wetland, grassland and woodland and home to a range of birds and mammals. Not strictly wild horses, but the semi-feral konik ponies are the nearest we can get today to the extinct European tarpan.

6. Spoonbill, Texel

Eurasian Spoonbill / Common Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) foraging in shallow water, Texel, the Netherlands. (Photo by: Arterra/UIG via Getty Images)
Common Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) foraging in shallow water. (Photo by: Arterra/UIG via Getty Images)

Spoonbill in Texel © Arterra Getty

Part of a chain of islands in the Wadden Sea, Texel is a birding hotspot. The dunes around Mokbaai are home to the Netherlands’ largest colony of spoonbills.

This website is owned and published by Our Media Ltd. www.ourmedia.co.uk
© Our Media 2024