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Numbers of Bewick's Swan's in the Wieringermeer
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Before 1932 Bewick's Swan's were rare in Noord-Holland. In 1932 the Afsluitdijk was built, this 20 kilometer long dike
converted the salt "Zuiderzee" into a fresh inland lake. The only places where you could find large numbers of Bewick's
Swan's were the shores of the IJsselmeer. Up to 1970, Bewick's Swan's ate in the water or on wet grasslands near the big
rivers and shores. But in the seventies, due to increasing water pollution, the Bewick's Swan's started to search for food
on the land. In the late eighties, early nineties the maximum number of Bewick's Swan's in the Wieringermeer started to increase
to more than 1000 individuals. Now the Wieringermeer is one of the largest stop-over places for Bewick's Swan's in the Netherlands!
Together with Texel, the Wieringermeer offers shelter and food to roughly 7.5% of the north-west European population. Last season
there was a record of 2115 Bewick's Swan's in the Wieringermeer. This season (2002-2003) the highest number of Bewick's Swan's
was counted on November 21st, 2002: 1658 individuals.
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