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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 (Κοινό) Αηδόνι, Κηποτσιροβάκος, Θαμνοτσιροβάκος, Βαλτοποταμίδα, Lesser Whitethroat and (Ευρωπαϊκός) Κούκος in spring.
The park is one of the few place in Amsterdam with breeding (Κοινό) Φανέτο. The quiet forest areas are home to (Ευρασιατική) Μπεκάτσα, while in areas with water (Ευρωπαϊκή) Αλκυόνη is quite common. Regularily scan the skies and pylons for raptors. (Κοινό) Ξεφτέρι, (Κοινή) Γερακίνα, Βραχοκιρκίνεζο and Διπλοσάϊνο are most common but there's a good chance of seeing Πετρίτης.
The sandbanks along the lake sometimes have breeding Βαρβάρα, Οχθοχελίδονο and Ποταμοσφυριχτής. The more vegetated parts of the shore are home to (Ευρωπαϊκή) Νεροκοτσέλα and (Ευρωπαϊκό) Ψευταηδόνι .
The lake itself has a wide variety of ducks in winter, as well as gulls including non-adult Ασημόγλαρος της Κασπίας and Ασημόγλαρος της Μεσογείου. 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. (Κοκκινόλαιμο) Νανοβουτηχτάρι is very common on the lake. Ακτίτης 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 Κεδρότσιχλα and Κοκκινότσιχλα. 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.