Wadensee
What and Where is the Waddensee?
The Waddensee is a 500-km stretch of coastline consisting of an intertidal zone that is submerged at high tide. During low tide, the coast of Waddensee is a ten-km-wide mudflat and marshes that attract 1.4 million waterfowl and four million shorebirds.
The Waddensee stretches from Den Helder in the Netherlands to Skallingen in Denmark. This article will be listed under the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark on Birdtripper.
Why Go?
The millions of birds at Weddensee consist of 463,000 Eurasian Oystercatchers, 400,000 Red Knots, 628,000 Dunlin, 192,000 Bar-tailed Godwits, 26,000 Barnacle Geese, 150,000 Common Eiders, 133,000 Brant Geese, 104,000 Nothren Pintails, 19,000 Curlew Sandpipers, 15,000 Sandwich Terns, and 97,000 Eurasian Curlews in the German section alone. The Schleswig-Holstein Waddensee National Park encompasses the shoreline of northern Germany, as well as numerous nearby islands where you can find 150,000 Common Shelducks.
In the Danish sections of the Waddensee, you can see 35,000 Common Scoters, 10,000 Pink-footed Geese, 43,600 European Golden Plovers, and 365,000 Dunlin.
The Netherlands section boasts 15,000 Pied Avocets and 29,000 Grey Plovers (known as the Black-bellied Plover in North America).
A bit inland from the shore are fresh-water marshes where you may encounter Red-necked Grebe, Eurasian Bittern, Spotted Crake, Bearded Reedling, Eurasian Penduline Tit, Hen Harrier, Montagu’s Harrier and Western Marsh Harrier.
During winter, Rough-legged Buzzards and White-tailed Eagles patrol the coast.
On sandy beaches on Fano Island, look for Kentish Plover. The island is also an excellent area for five species of terns.
Another great spot is Texel Island in the Netherlands, where you may encounter Eurasian Spoonbill, Black-tailed Godwit, Short-toed Treecreepers, Hawfinch and Long-eared Owls.
The Texel, Terschelling, Vlieland, Schiermonnikoog, and Ameland islands in the Netherlands offer a ferry service that allows you to travel with a car. Or you can rent a bicycle at the ferry dock.
When to go?
At any time of year, you will find thousands of birds at Waddensee. However, the majority are there during their spring and fall migration.
Guided Tours
The Netherlands https://www.birdingnetherlands.com/birding/locations/wadden-islands
Schleswig-Holstein National Park https://www.vadehavscentret.dk/en/tours-and-activities/
Denmark https://birderguide.dk/
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Photo Credits
Most of the photos on Birdtripper are taken by us.. Occasionally, we use images from other contributors. If you have a nice picture of a bird that fits in one of our articles, feel free to send it to us. Or, if you have visited a birding hotspot that is not covered in Birdtripper, you could write an article for publication here.
Eurasian Oystercatcher by George Wietschorge
Red Knot by Anders Mejlvang
Common Shelduck by Apnear
Dunlin by Wildphoto1