This video from the Netherlands is about the Dutch Wadden Sea and its wildlife in 2014.
This video is about a Dutch ship, sailing on a summer evening to Wadden Sea desert island, or rather sandbar, Engelsmanplaat.
Mies Heerma made the video.
This video is called Wadden Sea Flyway. It says about itself:
4 Feb 2014
BirdLife partner Vogelbescherming Nederland (Netherlands Society for the Protection of Birds) helped produce this video along with many other organisations showing the importance of the Wadden Sea Flyway.
Action taken for flyways – international counts and conferences working for conservation
By Rebecca Langer, Tue, 04/02/2014 – 11:00
Early in January and February events have been taking place to protect the Wadden Sea and migration routes along the East Atlantic.
Starting in January, Vogelbescherming Nederland (BirdLife in the Netherlands) and BirdLife International joined together to count migratory birds in the first comprehensive bird count along the East Atlantic. This transcontinental event brought together local communities, experienced birders and nature lovers of all ages. In total, around 1,500 bird watchers from 30 countries counted millions of waterfowl. This census will help determine where favorite spots for wintering are and where critical sites are located so that protective measures can be taken.
A video was produced in conjunction with the counts which further demonstrates the importance of migration routes and what we can do to make sure they are protected in the future.
On the 4-5 February, political measures for migration birds are being taken at the Trilateral Danish-German-Dutch Government Conference on the Protection of the Wadden Sea in Tønder, Denmark. Cooperation between the governments of these three countries started in 1978, with the aim to protect and manage the Wadden Sea as one shared nature area of international importance.
The Wadden Sea is the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats in the world. It encompasses a multitude of transitional zones between the land, sea and freshwater environment, and is rich in species specially adapted to the demanding environmental conditions. It is considered one of the most important areas for migratory birds in the world, and is connected to a network of other key sites for migratory birds. Its importance is not only in the context of the East Atlantic Flyway but also in the critical role it plays in the conservation of African-Eurasian migratory waterbirds.
During the conference an important milestone will take place with the signing of the flyway vision. Yearly up to 12 million birds pass the Wadden Sea when commuting between breeding in the Arctic and wintering in Africa and up to 6.1 million birds can be present at the same time. Governments and organizations along the whole flyway cooperating on the conservation of migratory birds will sign an agreement to collaborate on protecting the flyway as a common heritage that connects countries and people.
Thanks to these dual efforts, migratory birds will be given the places they need in order to grow, live and breed in a safe haven as well as ensure that their important role in ecosystems across continents is valued and protected from the Arctic Circle down to the most southern reaches of Africa.
A shared vision for the conservation of the East Atlantic Flyway developed at the BirdLife Best Practices Workshop in Dakar, Senegal: here.
This video, in Dutch, is about counting shorebirds in Senegal.
This January, wintering coastal birds are counted, all the way from the Wadden sea in western Europe, to South Africa. People from all (West) European and (West) African countries along these coasts will participate in the counting.
This count will help conservation of these birds, all along their east Atlantic migration flyway.
Photos of some of the bird counters are here.
Wader Quest and the Shorebirds of South Africa: here.
Sunfish on Ameland beach – 01/03/13
A huge ocean sunfish 1.55 meters long and 1.22 meters high! Hikers found the big fish last Tuesday on the beach of Ameland. It is a remarkable find. It does not happen every year that ocean sunfish are seen along our coast, yet this is the fourth individual in a few weeks’ time. In addition, this one was pretty big. Usually people see smaller specimens. The largest one ever in the Netherlands beached also on Ameland. That was in 1889. That animal was 2.73 meters long.
On Texel in December two dead sunfish were found on one day, one on the North Sea beach, the other one along the Wadden Sea. They were two relatively small fish of 60 and 80 centimeter. A few days later a third sunfish washed up on the beach of Domburg in Zeeland. This one was 1.13 meters long.
Yesterday, a squid beached on Ameland as well; photo here.
- Humpback whale beaches on Dutch island (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
- Sunfish invasion continues as third massive marine beast washed up in Norfolk (sott.net)
- Giant sunfish washed up on beach (bbc.co.uk)
- Rare squid and pomfret on Dutch beach (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
- Sperm whale, humpback beaching update (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
- Dutch humpback whale near Texel, update (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
- Beached humpback whale Netherlands, videos (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
- Dutch whales beached because of NATO war games? (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
- Dutch humpback whale in Texel harbour (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)