365 Project, Day 176
Here is my day 176 submission to my 365Project:
This photo, of a lovely Long-eared owl (Asio otus), was taken during my wanderings around Den Helder, Holland today. A couple of the local people were taking these owls for a walk around town today and, from what I could gather from the brief English they spoke to me, it was to raise awareness about birds in the area for a birding event that was coming up.
At last, after many times traveling through Schiphol airport, Amsterdam, I left the airport to actually see part of the Netherlands! Yesterday morning, after a 9.5 hour flight, I arrived in Holland and then took the train an hour north of Amsterdam to the port town of Den Helder where I will be joining the vessel I'll be working on for my next MMO/PAM job. I've heard so much about MMO/PAM work in the North Sea but have never worked there so this will be my opportunity to experience the famed (at least in the MMO world) North Sea ;)
After many hours of traveling and the train ride to Den Helder I was exhausted and crashed shortly after I checked in at the Grand Beatrix Hotel. Of course, with the jet lag and going to sleep so early I was awake well before 5 am this morning and, shortly after eating breakfast, I decided I to head out on a mission. For the next 3 hours I wandered around Den Helder, firstly, to buy a tooth brush (I'd only brought my little travel toothbrush which surely would not do for the ~5 weeks I'd be on the job!), and secondly to see the sites of this beautiful coastal town.
Lucky for me it was a beautiful, sunny and very warm day! I had a wonderful time taking in the scenes of the red lighthouse and shoreline, the farms, the beautiful houses, Fort Kijkduin and the sand dunes.
This photo, of a lovely Long-eared owl (Asio otus), was taken during my wanderings around Den Helder, Holland today. A couple of the local people were taking these owls for a walk around town today and, from what I could gather from the brief English they spoke to me, it was to raise awareness about birds in the area for a birding event that was coming up.
At last, after many times traveling through Schiphol airport, Amsterdam, I left the airport to actually see part of the Netherlands! Yesterday morning, after a 9.5 hour flight, I arrived in Holland and then took the train an hour north of Amsterdam to the port town of Den Helder where I will be joining the vessel I'll be working on for my next MMO/PAM job. I've heard so much about MMO/PAM work in the North Sea but have never worked there so this will be my opportunity to experience the famed (at least in the MMO world) North Sea ;)
After many hours of traveling and the train ride to Den Helder I was exhausted and crashed shortly after I checked in at the Grand Beatrix Hotel. Of course, with the jet lag and going to sleep so early I was awake well before 5 am this morning and, shortly after eating breakfast, I decided I to head out on a mission. For the next 3 hours I wandered around Den Helder, firstly, to buy a tooth brush (I'd only brought my little travel toothbrush which surely would not do for the ~5 weeks I'd be on the job!), and secondly to see the sites of this beautiful coastal town.
Lucky for me it was a beautiful, sunny and very warm day! I had a wonderful time taking in the scenes of the red lighthouse and shoreline, the farms, the beautiful houses, Fort Kijkduin and the sand dunes.
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| Across the road from the Hotel Beatrix with views too the red lighthouse at the beach in Den Helder |
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| Hotel Beatrix on the corner |
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| Church in Den Helder |
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| Den Helder homes with the red lighthouse in the background |
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| Farms in Den Helder |
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| Getting closer to the more densely populated centre |
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| Long-eared owl (Asio otus) |
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| Long-eared owl (Asio otus) |
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| Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) |
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| Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) |
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| Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) |
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| Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) |
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| A vegetable/fruit truck...en route to market perhaps? |
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| The dunes were such an unexpected and interesting landscape |
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| Views of Den Helder from Fort Kijkduin |
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| These Jackdaws (Corvus monedula) are incredibly entertaining and I love the sounds they make too! |
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| Views of the Den Helder coast from the dining room |
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| The dining room at Grand Hotel Beatrix |
