Meadow-bird chorus: godwits, redshanks and lapwings over the Frisian polders

Black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa; 25,000–29,000 pairs, ~90% of NW Europe's breeders), redshank, lapwing, oystercatcher, ruff, skylark, meadow pipit, snipe drumming. Zuidwest-Friesland (Workumerwaard), Eemland/Arkemheen, Waterland, Lauwersmeer polders, Netherlands.

Best time: 1 Apr – 10 May (April to May). Where: Workumerwaard – Uitkijkpunt Hokje Bakker (end of Slinkeweg), Arkemheen polder (Nijkerk), with the Eemland polders beyond the Eem, Bantpolder / Ezumakeeg, Lauwersmeer (Netherlands). Time of day: Display flights and the full chorus run from the half hour before sunrise to about 09:00.

• You can go on your own
• Free
• Binoculars helpful
• Sound 5/5

Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.

When is the best time?

Peak: 1 Apr – 10 May. April to the first week of May — display flights peak while the grass is still short; godwits return from February

Active from 1 Mar to 15 Jun (March to June) in a typical year.

Time of day

Display flights and the full chorus run from the half hour before sunrise to about 09:00; a second wave from an hour before sunset; snipe drum and godwits call through still, mild nights in late April.

• Dawn display and chorus: 30 min before sunrise → 3 h after sunrise
• Evening flights and snipe: 1 h before sunset → 30 min after last light

What will you hear?

The 'grutto-grutto' yodel of godwits in tumbling display flight, redshanks' ringing calls, lapwings' wheezing aerobatics and wing-thrum, skylarks, snipe drumming and the bleating of hundreds of birds at once — the sound of the Dutch spring polder.

Binoculars?

Binoculars helpful. Birds display 50–300 m out over the meadows; binoculars for ruff leks and godwit chicks; the Workumerwaard viewpoints have a hide/platform.

Where to go

• Workumerwaard – Uitkijkpunt Hokje Bakker (end of Slinkeweg) — It Fryske Gea reserve on the IJsselmeer coast; three viewpoints (It Soal, Hokje Bakker, Bijenkamp); dogs on leads, stay on paths; study area of the University of Groningen since 2004. Map
• Arkemheen polder (Nijkerk), with the Eemland polders beyond the Eem — Open meadow-bird polder reached by public roads and cycle paths; Eemland is named by Vogelbescherming as a godwit stronghold. Map
• Bantpolder / Ezumakeeg, Lauwersmeer — Godwits March–August per the national park; viewable from the parallel road and the Ezumakeeg mound. Map

How to go on your own, and what it costs

Workumerwaard: from Workum follow the road to It Soal beach and the dead-end Slinkeweg to the Hokje Bakker viewpoint; free, paths and viewpoints open (dogs on leads). Arkemheen: cycle or drive the polder roads from Nijkerk; Eemland from Eemnes/Eemdijk. Lauwersmeer: parallel road at the Bantpolder. All free, public roads and paths; keep off the meadows.

Cost: Free.

Field-recording notes

Meadow-bird reserves are flat and exposed: wind and distant tractors are the issue, not people. Many reserves ask visitors to stay on the roads/dikes in the breeding season and farmers' grassland is private — the public road verge is your spot. Dawn in late April with no wind is extraordinary; a stereo pair on the dike at Workumerwaard faces into dozens of displaying pairs. Early mowing from mid May silences fields fast — go before 10 May. Lauwersmeer polders have the added geese chorus.

Sources

• Vogelbescherming Nederland – Grutto (population, timing, strongholds)
• Birdingplaces – Workumerwaard uitkijkpunt Hokje Bakker
• It Fryske Gea – vogelkijkplekken (Workumerwaard viewpoints)
• Nationaal Park Lauwersmeer – Beleef de trekvogels (grutto March–August)

Similar spectacles

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More: all spectacles in the Netherlands · dawn choruses · April · the Netherlands in May