Marc Guyt, Gert Ottens en Martijn Verdoes( the Dutch Knights) weten van geen ophouden. De veteranen van de Champions of the Flyway zijn er voor de derde maal op rij weer bij in 2019! Dus wederom geen stoffige warme woestijnen met strakblauwe luchten. Nee, waarschijnlijk kou, regen en vooral… tegenwind! Is dit team weer bestand tegen de Texelse elementen?

Team de Peregrines, bestaande uit  Remco Hofland, Kees de Vries, Paul Schrijvershof en Bertus de Lange zijn allen vogel, en natuurliefhebbers.  Tijdens de Texel Big Day 2019 fietsen ze wéér graag 24 uur over Texel. Maar natuurlijk hopen ze ook weer fantastische soorten te ontdekken tijdens deze Texel Big Day!

Het team van de Big Ears, met James Lidster, is er weer bij in 2019!

The Wadden Islands Bird Festival, which raises money for birds on Texel, takes a lot of organisation. The majority of the costs are borne by the Dunes of Texel National Park and the Bird Information Centre. Your contribution will ensure that we can look after our hardworking volunteers, cover accommodation, room hire and advertising costs for the event. Without your kind support the Wadden Islands Bird Festival would not be possible.

In 2018, the Wadden Islands Bird Festival and the Texel Big Day will focus attention on House Martins. Although House Martins still breed in various locations on the island, they are having a difficult time. This is a well-known species that builds its characteristic nests under eaves of houses. Vogelbescherming Nederlandand SOVON have chosen the species as bird of the year 2018, and this is for good reason.

One of the most frequently asked questions in the Bird Information Centre is: Where are the best places to see or photograph certain species on Texel? This information is of course well known, but amongst a limited number of people. We would like to collate this information and make it accessible to visitors to Texel who want to enjoy its birds. This way everybody can plan their visit and maximise their enjoyment. However, the creation of a digital avifauna costs a lot of time and money.

In 2017, a new hide along the road in the reserve area Dorpzicht was constructed, with thanks to the province of North Holland. The idea came from the Bird Information Centre, while the province and Staatsbosbeheer developed the area into a reserve area. The charity Texel Bird Island manages the 6 ha area that lies in front of the hide.

The area of the dunes known as de Tuintjes, just south of the lighthouse, is possible the most popular area for birdwatchers to search for birds. Thanks to various activities organised by the Bird Information Centre (such as nest box painting and the sale of used books), enough money was raised to help Staatsbosbeheer with large-scale habitat management.

Thanks to the money raised through the birdwatching excursions organised the Bird Information Centre, the well-known beaches around the shell islands in the reserve area de Zandkes could be renewed in 2015. These shell beaches have a short life and often need to be replenished every four to five years. The islands in de Zandkes are known for the colony of Little terns that regularly breed there. This species bred again immediately after the beach was renewed.

Thanks to a contribution from the Bird Information Centre and the Lions Club Texel, a natural bank for breeding Sand Martins could be created at the Robbenjager. Sand Martins are a scarce breeding bird on Texel and could greatly benefit from more nesting habitat. We are grateful to the former owner of the Robbenjager (Jaap Groen) for making this possible

Thanks to the money raised through birdwatching excursions organised the Bird Information Centre, it was possible to renew and enlarge the shell beaches in het Wagejot. This was done in consultation with Natuurmonunenten. Firstly, an old, overgrown, shell beach had to be cleared before a thick layer of new shells could be applied on top. This was done in part by volunteers during one of the work weekends organised by Natuurmonumenten.

In 2017, over 7500 Euros was raised during the Wadden Islands Bird Festival and the Texel Big Day. This money will be used by the charity to help beach-nesting species on Texel. This will be done through providing better information at sites closed to the public during the breeding season, contributing towards a new birdwatching hide in Nieuw Buitenheim so that people can admire beach-nesting species without disturbing them, and with two new shell islands in the Wagejot.

Thanks to donations collected during the Wadden Islands Bird Festival in 2016, and thanks to a donation from Jan Boon, a birdwatching screen could be created in the Renvogelveld. This birdwatching screen looks out over the flooded grassland close to the lighthouse. Visitors who walk around the area can now watch the birds without disturbing them.

Following an initiative from the Bird Information Centre, and with the cooperation of the former owner of the Robbenjager (Jaap Groen), a plan was developed to enhance the grassy area between the Robbenjager and the lighthouse for birdwatching. Two existing ditches were excavated into scrapes that ensure that the grassland is wet for much of the winter.

For a long time there has been the need to make an accessible seawatching point on Texel. A point from which observers can look over the sea in a range of conditions while remaining sheltered from the wind. The dunes at Westerslag on the North Sea coast is one of the best locations for this as the seabirds here are close to the coast.