Nieuwkoopse plassen

Yesterday I went to the Nieuwkoopse Plassen. I was originally planning to go to the Groene Jonker, another nature reserve; however, public transport failed me. The Groene Jonker is said to be a very beautiful piece of nature with a great variety of birds, but it’s quite difficult to access by public transport. You can only get close on weekdays, and then a bus comes by only once an hour. Unfortunately, my train was delayed, which caused me to miss a transfer, so I decided to go somewhere else to reduce my arrival time.

The Nieuwkoopse Plassen are surrounded by a lot of farmland. Although I’m used to the Netherlands, it’s sometimes quite striking to be reminded of how flat Holland can be. I’m not sure if the area used to be a polder, but it was incredibly flat.

The first birds I noticed were boerenzwaluwen (barn swallows). I found them very pretty. They have a beautiful combination of blue, red, and white, but they are very hard to photograph. They look like they were built for speed and maneuverability, and these traits are immediately visible. I tried to get some photos of them, but I wasn’t too happy with the results, so I don’t want to share them. Does anyone have tips for photographing these quick little guys? They’re hyperactive, and I didn’t see a single one sit still. I’d love to get a good photo of them someday.

My best shot of the Boerenzwaluw (barn swallow)

The next bird I saw was a buizerd (buzzard). I didn’t immediately recognize it as a buizerd—I just saw a large bird of prey sitting on a pole. I was on my bicycle and spotted it through some bushes. I cycled a bit further to get a better view, and when I finally saw it clearly, I knew this could be a beautiful shot. I quickly tried to grab my camera, but as soon as the bird made eye contact, it flew away… It was a shame, because I could already see the potential of that photograph.

The Buizerd (buzzard) who did not want to sit still for the photo.

I noticed a lot of buizerd(buzzard) in this area. Although they are very common, they are still quite cool to me. In addition, they are not the easiest to recognize, so every time I see one I am hyped because might be another bird of prey. Although they are always a mixture of brown and white, their patterns very a lot.

I did not see a lot of activity of birds in the area. I wonder if that was because the water that was around was accessible by boats. I did get some nice shots of some ordinary birds a saw around. I am very happy with the shot of the adult “Meerkoet” and her kid. I also thought the shot of the ducks was very funny. It looks like they just had a big fight and were mad at each other. I bet that if you could see through the grass, that you would see them sitting with their wings crossed, just like us humans would cross our arms if we are angry. I also liked the colours of the roof with the “witte kwikstaart”.

At the end of the day I experienced a nice piece of goodwill in combination with a (un)lucky moment??? When I arrived at the nature reserve, I saw two men with a big telescope. I had a chat with them and it was nice to share our enthusiasm for birds. They told me that they were looking for a “purperreiger”. This is a less common heron with, as the name suggests, some purple coloring. In addition, this bird also has an orange/yellow neck with a stripe on its long throat. I was pretty sure that I saw one on the way to the nature reserve, because herons have a typical posture and it was darker, but I was not sure. I told the men that I had come walking and parked my bicycle somewhere and that I was originally planning to go to the “Groene Jonker”. They said the place was beautiful and felt sorry for me that I was not able to reach it easily with public transport. When I walked back to my bicycle at the end of the day, a slow-moving car passed by. It was the same men I saw at the start. They said they saw my bike parked far away and drove back to offer me a ride. This was a really nice gesture from them. It is a nice example that it is always good to be social to people.

Whey they dropped me off I cycled back home to the train station I saw a flying “reiger”. Again, because of the colouring I had a hunch that this was the “purperreiger”. It landed in a ditch inside a farm field. I parked my bike and set my camera with the correct settings for a good photograph. Because it was in the ditch, I could not see it anymore, and because it is a rare sighting I wanted to make sure that I was ready for it. I tried to climb over the fence, but as soon as I put one leg over I saw that the “reiger” had moved and it was clearly visible. It was indeed the “purperreiger”. Luckily, I had my camera ready, so while I was balancing on the fence I made a few shots before it flew away.

So, what do you call this moment? Lucky for me or unlucky for my fellow birdwatchers? I don’t have any way of contacting them anymore, but I hope they managed to find it.

Purperreiger