Viewing platform De Geul - Den Hoorn

From viewing platform De Geul you look out over a rugged dune landscape with the Geulplas at its heart, a favourite spot for birds. This lake is an important nesting place for one of Texel's three spoonbill colonies. Every year, around the end of February, the first spoonbills return here after their winter in Africa. In summer, hundreds of pairs nest among the reed beds, often hunting in groups for sticklebacks and shrimps.

The valley was sealed off from the sea by a shifting dike around 1920, making the area increasingly wet. This created rich plant growth, with species such as moon fern, smooth pigweed and sea buckthorn. In autumn, the female buckthorns bear bright orange berries, an important food source for migrating birds.

Besides spoonbills, many gulls nest here, such as herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls. Scottish Highlanders and Exmoor ponies graze in the surrounding dunes, helping to keep the landscape varied.