This weekend my Internet connection at the Campus failed. The story below is about Saturday December 4th. Enjoy!
Colours of the wind… or should I call it colours of the sky? Snow and ice are particularly stunning in the pink, purple and orange colours of sunrise and sunset. I checked the weather forecast and I knew that I had to get up early on Saturday to make most of the very small time scale. The forecast stated: sun and clouds in the morning, snowstorms in the afternoon and at night. Warm and safe beneath my blankets, I decided (morning already) to take another nap and get up half an hour later as planned. That was a mistake! The sunrise was radiant, even glowing into my bedroom when I finally got up. I was just in time to take two photographs of the snowy dunes with the bright sunrise blaze on the background. Close to the harbor, I sat on my knees to get the best perspectives.
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| Detail of the snowy dunes with sunrise colours in 't Horntje |
Why am I so fortunate to wander in the dunes of Texel? The dunes of Texel are of vital importance to Europe, protected by law and part of the Natura 2000 network. The dunes form an essential key to migrating birds for resting and breeding. The dunes are also famous thanks to rich vegetation grounds in spring and summer - all kinds of rare wild orchids grow close to the walking paths. You don’t have to wonder why the dunes of Texel create their own essence - even in winter, when no vegetation is blooming and no birds are breeding in the dune area, you can already sense that these dunes claim their own territory in the ecosystem of the Wadden, all by themselves. New dunes are formed and transformed by wind, sand and dune grasses, every day and every year.
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| Sunrise in glowing colours with snowy dunes in 't Horntje |
To experience my first short journey on my own on the isle of Texel, I planned to visit the Mokbaai, a bay in the very South of Texel. Wading birds search for food on the mudflats of the Mokbaai. Migrating birds, like redshanks and godwits, need to build up their reserves for their big journey in autumn, and are very likely not to be seen during my stay in winter. Wading birds that do stay here, like oystercatchers and sandpipers, need to wait for low tide to get to their feeding grounds of oysters and cockles. The Mokbaai is now partly covered with drift ice, pack ice and even pancake ice. Only at low tide a small stroke of mudflat will become clear of water. My mission was to photograph the different structures of ice floats in the pink and orange colours of sunrise. Sadly enough, I was way too late and the sun was covered with snow clouds coming up from the South.
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| Mokbaai with drift ice |
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| Another image of drift ice - Mokbaai |
No worries, I had enough time and expertise to create perspectives of the ice in more detailed pictures. And well, a trip to scout the nature reserve is always worthwhile. The salty air really opens up my lungs and my physical condition is better than I expected! It shows that I have learned from my adventures to the Lofoten, Spitsbergen, Poland and earlier dune walks in the Netherlands. I can cope much better with rough terrain than a year ago.
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| Drift ice in turmoil - Mokbaai |
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| Even some pancake ice forming - Mokbaai |
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| More drift ice crumbling - Mokbaai |
To pursue my adventure, I decided to travel on into the nature reserve of De Geul (along Karhoek and Mokweg). The dunes were soon covered in a thick pack of snow, now that snowflakes were struggling with the fierce wind during the first snowstorm today.
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| Dunes of Texel in the snow near Mokbaai and De Geul |
On my way back from De Geul, I encountered the true Texel sheep, enduring the cold in their furry coats. Texel sheep stay outside all year round, even on cold days like today. One sheep even had an icicle on its nose! They were very curious to see what kind of ‘animal’ (me) was passing by. I waved them goodbye and went home for a delicious tomato soup to warm up again.
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| Texel sheep in the cold - near De Geul and De Petten |
