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Noorder IJ-Plas

Amsterdam  >  Netherlands

One of the wildest and least-visited areas in the city of Amsterdam, with a sandy lake, hills covered with brambles, scrub and wild herbs and patches of forest.

Added* by stanvrem
Most recent update 31 december 2020

Description

The Noorder IJ-plas is one of the wildest and quietest places in Amsterdam. There are large areas of scrubland and wild herbs that are alive with the song of Fülemüle, Kerti poszáta, Mezei poszáta, Énekes nádiposzáta, kis poszáta and Kakukk in spring.

The park is one of the few place in Amsterdam with breeding Kenderike. The quiet forest areas are home to Erdei szalonka, while in areas with water Jégmadár is quite common. Regularily scan the skies and pylons for raptors. Karvaly, Egerészölyv, vörös vércse and Héja are most common but there's a good chance of seeing Vándorsólyom.

The sandbanks along the lake sometimes have breeding Bütykös ásólúd, partifecske and Kis lile. The more vegetated parts of the shore are home to Guvat and Berki poszáta .

The lake itself has a wide variety of ducks in winter, as well as gulls including non-adult Sztyeppi sirály and Sárgalábú sirály. A telescope will probably be necessary to identify everything on the lake, but it's only really worth bringing in winter when there is a lot to see. Kis vöcsök is very common on the lake. billegetőcankó can be found both on the shores of the lake and the shores of the IJ canal to the south.

The many shrubs are filled with berries in autumn and attract large flocks of pigeons and thrushes, including fenyőrigó and szőlőrigó. The area has a herd of Scottish highland cattle and you have a chance of spotting Rabbit and Red Fox. Pine Marten have been sighted recently. There is an abundance of butterflies and dragonflies in summer, though only rather common species occur.

Details

Access

The area is hard to reach by car, there appear to be roads on Google maps to the south of the park, but those can only be accessed by buses. By far the easiest way to get there is by bike. There's a bus stop near the northern edge of the park, but it's quite a long walk from there to the most interesting parts in the southeast.

The park itself can really only be walked, a wheelchair or regular bicycle will get stuck in the mud, as there are no paved paths. Much of the Noorder IJ-plas consists of untended scrub and forest with a mountain bike course running through it. You can use the mountain bike course as a walking trail, but you'll have to keep an eye out for mountain bikers and the occasional illegal motocrosser.

Terrain and Habitat

Forest , Lake , Scattered trees and bushes , Reedbeds

Conditions

Wet , Slippery

Circular trail

Yes

Is a telescope useful?

Can be useful

Good birding season

All year round

Best time to visit

Spring migration

Route

Narrow trail

Difficulty walking trail

Easy

Accessible by

Foot

Birdwatching hide / platform

No

Links

View other birding spots in the area that are published on Birdingplaces

Map

Top 5 birds

Other birds you can see here

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