Marken & Wadden

The Netherlands, 3 June 2026

We have treated ourselves with a second hand, but new lens. The Sony E70-350mm F/4.5 6.3 G OSS. This means we now have a greater zoom range where we can create much more detailed films about hiking, flowers and specially about wildlife. This seasons is all about nature with little ones growing up which makes us even more exited to catch it on film for you. So where would we go first to test our new equipment?

What if we are going to make a film about the newest (and one of the smallest) Islands of the Netherlands, wouldn't that be beautiful footage? Yes, let's go to Marken.

Marken is a former island in the Markermeer, which has been connected to the mainland by a dam since 1957 and now called a peninsula due to traffic purposes. The village (close to Amsterdam) exhales the authentic atmosphere from back in the years in Dutch settings where greenery and water alternate. Narrow alleys, drawbridges, and green colored wooden houses, as if time has stood still. During our hike we looked out over the Markermeer, IJselmeer and saw low-flying seagulls, cows in the meadows and special wildlife which we have never seen before! There was one in particulair bird which was first flying above us, ofcourse we were too late to get it on camera, but later he was sitting very relaxed in front of us. So for a couple of minutes we could try out our newest lens while not being in a hurry and mess it up. Thank you special Black-tailed Godwit, you are our first bird which we cought detailed and carefully on camera for our film.

During the research to Marken we also noticed that there is an Island called Marker Wadden. As a Dutch person, living here already for a long time we have never heard of it before so we didn't thought twice and took on this adventure and combined our footage together in one film.

To get to Marker Wadden we took a boat from Batavia Haven and from there we were floating over Lake Markermeer, a small but pleasantly 45 minute boat ride.

Marker Wadden is part of a network of protected areas in the world (Natura 2000). It is a created and restored Island and forms an unique ecosystem that will promote biodiversity in the Netherlands. This was formed because mudflats containing sediments have accumulated the lake over the past decades. This mainly appeared when Lake Markermeer was split off from Lake IJsselmeer as the dam between Enkhuizen and Lelystad was built for car traffic. Disconnected from the sea and rivers with barely any natural shores, the lake became a stagnant system. This island give nature a major boost with newly created habitats. For water plants, shellfish, fish and all kind of birds come to visit. To name a couple: a young bearded reedling, grey wegtail, Common Ringed Plover (they are very funny and quick!), (tiny) swans, (tiny) grebes, reed bunting, (tiny) Pied Avocets etc. Therefore a must see once you are in the Netherlands.

We tried to catch everything as good as possible on camera, although it was quite hot and we only were allowed to be 3 hours on the Island not everything went perfect, and we still need to get used to our camera settings but we are learning new things and slowly getting better. As long as you are doing what you really like and have fun with it some small progress everyday adds up to big results! 

Let us know what you think about our film by leaving a like and comment on our YouTube channel, see link below.

See you outside!


- Tim and Dorien