1 CONTROL MEASURES CIVIL AVIATION WADDENZEE

In view of the protection of the Waddenzee, being a protected natural reserve (wetland) the MinistryMinister of InfrastructureTransport and WaterPublic ManagementWorks (in co-operation with the Minister of Public Housing, Country Planning and Environmental Conservation and the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Defence), has laid down a General Administrative Order for control of civil aviation over the Waddenzee. The restrictions in this order are particularly applicable to civil flights below 1500 ft AGL over those shaded parts of the Waddenzee shown on page ENR 6-5.3.

For motorised civil air traffic above the natural area Waddenzee the following applies:

• flights below 1500 ft AGL are not allowed;
• when ceiling < 1500 ft AGL or flight visibility < 8 km, flights between 1000 ft AGL and 1500 ft AGL are allowed within the corridors depicted on chart ENR 6-5.3.

The above mentioned is not applicable to:

• that part of the flight necessary to depart from or land at an aerodrome, as well as the part necessary to follow a prescribed traffic pattern and/or departure or arrival procedures;
• flights in an emergency situation;
• helicopters encountering icing-conditions;
• the following special flights:
  • search and rescue as well as HEMS operations.
  • inspection flights or flights in pursuit.
  • pipeline control flights or flights to check power lines.
  • measurement flights in the interest of public health, supervision or science.
  • flights for shooting films or taking photographs, in the interest of news provision and or public relations.

The above mentioned flights are only exempted if they are executed by companies/bodies or pilots formally authorised to do so (e.g. by a low flying permit based on article 45 of the Air Traffic Regulations).

For flying below 1500 ft AGL and in the corridors below 1000 ft AGL above the Waddenzee, an exemption with respect to the Nature Protection Act is needed. You can apply for such an exemption in writing, well in advance of the planned date of your flight (a complete application procedure can take up to twelve weeks) at:

For flights below 1500 ft AGL (or 1000 ft AGL) a low flying permit is needed. You can apply for such a permit in writing, well in advance of the planned date of your flight (a complete application procedure can take up to six weeks) at:

2 BIRD MIGRATION

When on actual migration, most birds make long flights at often high levels in contrast to their flying at relative low altitudes during their stay in the concentration areas.

Although a great part of the bird population that is dangerous to aircraft start migrating from concentration areas, according to radar observations migration often appears to take place over a broad front, covering nearly the entire Netherlands territory.

As a result of radar observations it is known that mass migration takes place when tail winds are not exceeding 5 m/sec, the barometric pressure is above 1020 hPa, the temperature is at least 2 degrees below the average in autumn or above the average in spring and clouds are covering less than 4 oktas.

This can be completely in contrast to what will be observed visually.

After a period of bad weather there is a greater chance of mass movement. The average level used by day is approximately 1200 ft AMSL and by night approximately 2000 ft AMSL, while 10% of the birds fly even higher than 6000 ft AMSL.

The main day-migration periods are mid-September until mid-November and early in March until May. Heavy night migration may occur early in autumn (from mid-August onwards) and later in spring (till the end of May). During the winter months sudden snow and frost may stimulate very large numbers of water- and open land birds (geese, ducks, waders, starlings, thrushes and larks) to move to the south.

The bird strike risk resulting from these winter flights (during a period of sudden thaw, in opposite direction) is particularly high in the western part of the country.

3 BIRD CONCENTRATIONS

Bird sanctuaries with high bird concentrations are depicted on page ENR 6-5.3. Flying over these bird sanctuaries may constitute a risk for aircraft and may cause disturbance among the birds.

The various categories of breeding, resting or wintering bird species as well as their approximate number in thousands are listed in the table hereafter.

Flying over these areas at altitudes below 1000 ft may constitute a high risk to aircraft because of birds flying between their feeding and roosting places. Pilots are therefore strongly advised not to cross these areas below 1000 ft AMSL.

4 STORK STATIONS

In the Netherlands there are stations in which storks are held and taken care of. The population of these stations can vary from 5 up to 70 storks. One station in particular has a population of up to 300 birds.

Especially during the breeding period (March to July) storks can soar up to FL 100 in search of food. Also watch out for young storks taking flight during this period.

Stork migration takes place in July and August/September.