frankfurt birding? (1 Viewer)

Hello all, first time posting here. I will be laying over in Frankfurt a couple of times this summer, one day each time. I wonder if anyone might have any suggestions as to where I might do some birding? I'm hoping for something, say a park or other natural area, that could be reached fairly easily from the airport by taxi or public transit. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

John

Hi John,

around the Airport is a lot of forest where you can see the some of the commoner forest birds. A short Taxi-ride or a short ride with the S-Bahn (suburban train) to the Stadium (also good for Bundesliga soccer, if you come at the right time ) will allow you to access some of the forests.

Parks in Frankfurt that could be good for some birding are Palmengarten and adjacent Grüneburgpark (underground stop Bockenheimer Warte) or the cemetery Hauptfriedhof (Underground stop with the same name).

A lot of good sites are listed in this website: http://www.norbert-kuehnberger.de/hessen1.html however to access most of the sites, you would need a car. One site that can be accessed with public transport (Underground stop Enkheim) and a little walking is this one: http://www.norbert-kuehnberger.de/enkrbh.html (German only, sorry)

Map of Frankfurt public transport: http://www.traffiq.de/fm/20/traffiQ_Liniennetzplan_2009.pdf

Florian

Only on the internet...a guy in Canada asks for birding advice about Germany, and within 2 hours gets what he needs from a birder in Viet Nam!

Thanks for the help, Florian. I'm hoping the jet lag won't be too extreme for me to use it. Never having birded in Europe, I'm not looking for ultra-rarities, just a few of the common birds to round out my list a little, so I'm sure that your advice will be helpful.

John

Hi John,
actually I am German and have lived in Frankfurt for a couple of years But yes, internet and birdforum is a great thing!

I think the city parks are fine in early morning. In the day, maybe better go to the forest somewhere around the airport, less people around then I guess.

Wish you a good time!
Florian

Hi,

There are a few interesting sites near Frankfurt all of which are quite accessible using the excellent train service. Two in particular are:

(1) Ruedesheim: An area of vineyards about 90 mins by train west of Frankfurt. Good for Rock Bunting, Green Woodpecker, Black Redstart and possibly Melodious Warbler (rare). The area below and west of the Niederwalddenkmal is the best.
Nice views over the Rhine valley from the Niederwalddenkmal. Some good wine shops in the town as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niederwalddenkmal
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=49.978991&lon=7.9052639&z=16&l=0&m=m

(2) Waghäusel
An area of wetlands about an hour south of Frankfurt. Birds of interest here are Bluethroat, Purple Heron, White Stork, Black Kite, Penduline Tit (favours willow trees), Grey-headed Woodpecker and rarities including Whiskered Tern. About 15 mins walk north from the train station Waghäusel.

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=49.2550334&lon=8.5122156&z=15&l=0&m=b

For train timetables, see http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml
Note that you can get fairly cheap day tickets (Laenderkarten - €20), but these are not valid on express trains (IC/EC/ICE).