The nature reserve Ilperveld is located just North of the city of Amsterdam and is managed by a local nature conservation organisation called Landschap Noord-Holland. This former peat grassland is criss-crossed with numerous canals and ditches that are the result of peat digging. Narrow and wide waters run through the land, which is only accessible by small boat. Cattle feed on the patches of land.
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The Snipe Project was named after Gallinago gallinago, displaying here while on the lookout. Since the seventies water quality had seriously deteriorated. The Snipe Project was launched halfway through the nineties to restore water quality and to regain the orginal (rare) flora and fauna, as well as to gain experience cleaning similar areas. After ten years, it seems to have succeeded.
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The godwit (Limosa limosa) is still abundant in the province of Northern-Holland, and so also in the Ilperveld reserve. That does not mean that numbers didn't used to be a lot higher half a century ago.
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The Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) has a conspicuous red bill and legs. This one however has dark legs and a black bill, and so probably belongs to the East-asian subspecies longipennis. This subspecies is more greyish than the Common Tern and has a white stipe on its cheek.
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Reed Buntings (Emberiza schoeniclus) are quite abundant in the Ilperveld reserve. While rowing the canals, you can frequently hear the male's call by which he marks his territory.
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This Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) is a juvenile, considering its brownish breast feathers.
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Even more numerous than Reed Buntings are Sedge Warblers (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus). Its call is everywhere, and since he's not shy he's easy to spot too.
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Another Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) seems to have paired and built a nest with a Barnacle Goose near the observatory hide near the visitor's center.
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Additional information
The following links are in Dutch language only:
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