When standing straight on its long legs, the crane measures about 1.20 meters. The impressive animal has a wing span of 2.20 meters. He announces his arrival with a loud trumpet blast. Although many cranes only fly over during migration, there is also often a group that spends a few weeks in Heeze-Leende in spring or autumn. During the day, the cranes look for leftover corn and potatoes on the farmland. In the evening they return to the peace and quiet of the heather. The Strabrechtse Heide is an important stopping place for migratory birds. Not only for the crane, but also the black stork likes to seek the peace of the heather and in the spring shovelers and summer tals, among other things, breed around the fens. Early in the spring you can also hear the melancholy call of the curlew over the heather. Another resident is the green woodpecker, which mostly lives on the ground. Here he searches for ants and other treats. The Strabrechtse Heide, of which the Lieropse Heide and the Braakhuizensheide are parts, is a nature reserve of approximately 500 hectares. The heaths have a great ecological, but also a cultural-historical value. There are many fens and in the heart of the Strabrechtse Heide lies the Galgenberg; an open drifting sand area. The typical vegetation here consists of spurry, sheep grass and bunt. A place of historical importance on the heathland is De Hoenderboom, where a boundary marker indicates that Heeze, Maarheeze, Someren, Lierop and Mierlo used to meet here. Close to the Hoenderboom you can also find the Grafven, where in 1595 a number of women were murdered who were found guilty of witchcraft. You can also see nice things in built-up areas. There is a nameless semi-open post mill in Mierlo. In the past, the mill, which was built around 1640, was used to grind grain. Then she was still standing on the Molenheide. The mill was already moved in 1860, but it was not until 1992 that it got its current location: on a lawn in the middle of the village. The mill is still in good working order, but is no longer used. In Heeze you will see a breathtakingly beautiful castle, which has been placed on the National Monuments List. The first mention of the castle dates back to 1172, where the building is mentioned on a deed. The complex was expanded over the centuries. The fortress is now moated and consists of two parts: the medieval Eymerick castle and a newer castle dating from the seventeenth century. The location in the countryside is beautiful and the eighteenth-century furnishings have remained virtually intact. Despite this, the castle is inhabited. The last sight of the bike tour, before returning to the free parking lot of Auberge Vincent, is the Collse Molen. The exact year of construction of the mill is unknown, but it was built at the end of the eighteenth century. This undershot water mill mill was used oil and flour mill. In 1960 the municipality of Eindhoven de Collse bought the complex. The oil mill was reconstructed in 2003 and returned to service in the same year. On Saturday mornings you can visit the mill and in the shop located at the mill you can buy fresh flour that has been ground with the mill.
