This November 2019 video shows red-crested pochard ducks, a roe deer with a fawn, a red squirrel and mushrooms in Berkheide nature reserve near Katwijk in the Netherlands.
Ducks, roe deer, squirrel and mushrooms
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Tag Archives: Katwijk
Rare lizard orchid re-discovered in the Netherlands
This video is called Wild Orchids – Himantoglossum hircinum (lizard orchid).
Game warden Mark Kras of the coastal sand dunes national park in South Holland province reports today that a rare orchid species has been rediscovered there.
It is the lizard orchid. In 1890, this species disappeared from the area. In 1980, it appeared again. Then, no lizard orchids until 2008. Then, gone again. And now, in 2019, it was found not so far from Katwijk town.
Twelve orchid species grow in this national park. The symbol flower of the park is the pyramid orchid.
Cat scares red fox, video
Bagels, gulls, signpost and kingfisher
As this blog said before, on 17 September 2017 we had arrived in Katwijk on the North Sea, and had walked to the sand dunes south of Katwijk. We sat down on a dune to have bagels for lunch. A herring gull couple arrived.
Suddenly, one of the gulls grabbed half of a bagel and flew away to its mate to share it.
Someone with a small bucket had made sand ‘pies’.
Carrion crows arrived as well, hoping to also get some bits of our bagels or apples. However, they did not come as close as the gulls. Carrion crows are not that much smaller than herring gulls. The one on the photo looks so because of perspective.
We went further inland. A migrating meadow pipit flying.
After a walk in the sand dunes, we went back to Katwijk.
In front of a restaurant was a signpost. It pointed, to the left, to hiring beach houses. To the right, to Texel island 94 kilometer to the north (on the other side, a sign to Rome far to the south). In te direction of the sea, a sign saying ‘wave pool’.
A jackdaw at the restaurant.
As we walked north, in the dunes between Katwijk aan Zee village and the sea, a sculpture.
We arrived back at the inland port. And went aboard the boat back to Leiden.
In Katwijk aan Zee, a grey lag goose swimming in the river.
Between Katwijk aan Zee and Katwijk aan den Rijn, a grey heron on the bank.
A bit further, I heard a kingfisher. Some others on the boat saw it as well.
Just before dusk, we arrived at the bridges of Leiden city.
We passed the windmill De Put, a 20th century reconstruction of a 17th century windmill.
A beautiful end to a beautiful day.
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Painting, birds, sea and buildings in Katwijk
As I blogged before, on 17 September 2017 we arrived at the North Sea in Katwijk town in the Netherlands. As this photo shows, there, on a sand dune, is a reproduction of a painting by artist Jan Toorop (1858–1928). Of Dutch-Indonesian ancestry, he lived some of his life in Katwijk.
This 1890 painting shows a ‘bomschuit‘ type ship on the beach of Katwijk. Fishermen and horses had to drag the ship out of the sea, or back into the sea; as Katwijk has no seaport.
A bit further was more art reminding people of fishing, traditionally the main industry in Katwijk aan Zee village.
A metal sculpture commemorates the over a hundred Katwijk fishermen who died at sea from 1919-2000, mentioning their names and ages.
The poem on the monument says (translated): Went to sea to have daily bread/Not knowing about the ends of their lives/This death did not grant farewells to loved ones/Only the names and memories stayed.
So, after the 1900 theatre play Op Hoop van Zegen by Herman Heijermans, which exposed unscrupulous shipowners and workplace deaths, and increased pressure for improvements, fishing was still a dangerous job. And it still is in this 21st century: in front of the metal monument were four stones commemorating four Katwijk fishermen casualties from 2005, 2006 and 2007.
A lamppost which used to be a ship’s mast.
We arrived at the bird migration counting point, with pictures of various bird species which pass here. Meanwhile, barn swallows flying south on their autumn migration. So did meadow pipits.
A jackdaw and two migrating northern wheatears on the ground close to us. Unfortunately, no people counting birds present.
Sea holly growing. The flowers are gone already.
We continue to the mouth of the Old Rhine river. A carrion crow. A ringed plover on a rock.
Then, we walk south along the beach.
We pass the old Saint Andrew’s church and its tower.
Finally, we are on the part of the beach south of Katwijk, and go inland to the sand dunes. Stay tuned!
To Katwijk on the North Sea by boat
On 17 September 2017, we went by boat to Katwijk town on the North Sea. The sailing started in the inner city of Leiden. The photo shows the part of the river Rhine called Galgewater which serves as a historical harbour for old ships; and behind it, the seventeenth century Dutch renaissance stepped gable building of the Stadstimmerwerf (municipal carpentry business).
A ring-necked parakeet calling.
We passed a bridge with graffiti on it.
Coots are swimming. So does a great crested grebe. Two Egyptian geese on the bank.
An adult great crested grebe with two youngsters.
We pass various buildings on the bank.
Six Egyptian geese on the bank.
As we continue on the Rhine, the left bank is Valkenburg village (now part of Katwijk local authority), the right bank is Oegstgeest local authority.
A herring gull swimming.
A Canada goose on the bank.
We pass Rijnsburg village. A jay flying.
As we sail on, we arrive in the next village: Katwijk aan den Rijn.
On this photo from Katwijk aan den Rijn, nursing home De Wilbert is on the right.
We passed under bridges in Katwijk aan den Rijn, like this one.
We arrived in Katwijk aan Zee village. In the back of this photo is the pumping station regulating the flow of the Rhine into the North Sea.
We approached the end of our journey: the inland port of Katwijk aan Zee.
After we had disembarked, we saw this pond just behind the inland port, with water plants and many small invertebrate animals.
We walked to the North Sea.
And we arrived at a spot where just sand dunes and the beach separated us from the North Sea.
There will be more on Katwijk on this blog; so, stay tuned!
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Gulls and rock pipit video
This autumn 2016 video is about the North Sea beach between Katwijk and Wassenaar in the Netherlands. Including black-headed gulls, herring gulls, an Eurasian rock pipit and other birds.
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Young house sparrows video
This October 2016 video shows house sparrows, including youngsters. Also blue tit and great tit.
The video was recorded in the and dunes south of Katwijk in the Netherlands.
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Refugee children learn astronomy in the Netherlands
This video from the Netherlands says about itself:
Kickstart the Universe: UNAWE crowdfund to send astronomy educational resources around the globe
14 May 2014
Leiden University‘s Universe Awareness educational programme has launched an innovative Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to share the educational toolkit, Universe in a Box, with underprivileged communities around the world.
From Leiden University in the Netherlands:
Refugee children explore cosmos with Universe Awareness
14 October 2016
In September 2016, the educational programme Universe Awareness (UNAWE) implemented a series of educational activities at Basisschool De Verrekijker, a primary school for refugee children in Katwijk, the Netherlands.
In this month-long astronomy project, more than 180 children and their teachers engaged in astronomy educational activities. For instance, participants learned about the planets of our Solar System and created their own spaceships. This astronomy-themed month was concluded on 30 September with a visit from the NOVA Mobile Planetarium and a family day where parents and siblings could see what the students learned and created.
Universe Awareness
Since early 2016, UNAWE has implemented several initiatives with refugee children in the Leiden region. UNAWE aims to inspire young children around the world with astronomy, science and technology, because astronomy embodies a unique combination of scientific and cultural aspects. Learning about our amazing cosmos offers a special perspective on our place in the Universe that encourages a sense of global citizenship and tolerance.
Discovery Club
In the first half of 2016, UNAWE implemented Discovery Club, an after-school Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) programme developed to inspire, educate and entertain children and parents in refugee centres. Discovery Club held weekly sessions with a group of around 30 children. According to Tibisay Sankatsing Nava, Project Manager at UNAWE, there was an enormous willingness to help by volunteers within, as well as outside the Sterrewacht: ‘With the volunteers we managed to provide fun, hands-on science activities for the kids every Saturday. The children needed continuity: their lives had been disrupted and the weekly activities provided both a fun learning opportunity and stability while they were in the emergency center.’
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Wildlife of the Dutch North Sea coast
This summer 2016 video was recorded in and around Katwijk town, near the North Sea in the Netherlands. It shows wildlife; liking mating ladybugs, herring gulls and sea holly.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 