Nature house in Edam

The nature house is a paradise on the Markermeer, next to a nature reserve of the Dutch Forestry Commission in the seventeenth-century town of Edam, about 22 kilometers above Amsterdam. De Meeuwen is located 1.5 km from the city center, on the IJsselmeerdijk. Behind the nature house is the green oasis of Fort Edam, part of the UNESCO protected Defence Line of Amsterdam. Inside this fort is a historical museum (mainly about WW1 for which the fort was built), a nature museum, a radio-telegraphy museum and an impressive underground labyrinth of large dark corridors. Kingfishers nest in the wall of the fort moat each year and on the fort itself tree falcons, long-eared owls, sparrows and many songbirds. The cottage has a large, lushly planted garden. Guests have unlimited access to that garden and can go up to the roof for views of the harbor, the fort and the Markermeer.

Bird species that occur in and around the garden include great spotted woodpecker, greenfinch, garden warbler, chiffchaff, house martin, goldfinch, great tit, blue tit, house martin, tree creeper, dunnock, wood pigeon, kingfisher, chaffinch, reed warbler, tree falcon, fitis, pheasant, robin, wren, blackcap, sparrow hawk and long-eared owl. Butterfly species in the garden: atalanta, day peacock, thistle butterfly, hummingbird butterfly, cabbage white, icarus blue, gamma owl, little fox, red orphan, house moth, lemon butterfly, spotted sandpiper, orange tip, small spring chickadee, darling and chickadee aurelia. Behind The Gulls and Fort Edam are meadows with numerous hares and many species of meadow birds such as lapwings, oystercatchers, shelducks, redshanks and black-tailed godwits, as well as rarer species such as spoonbills, avocets, egrets, shovelers, crake ducks, curlews and even ruffs. I can tell you a lot about the many animals and plants that surround The Gulls, as I have had a passion for nature since childhood.