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Birding in Rheinland-Pfalz, west Germany (1 Viewer)

Samuel Perfect

Samuel Perfect

Well-known member
Hi all,

I am going on holiday tomorrow to Rheinland-pfalz in west Germany (more specifically near Wittlich, in the north west of the province). I was wondering whether anyone knows any local birding hotspots in the area, particularly for Black, Middle Spotted and Grey-faced Woodpecker, Hazel Hen and Rock Bunting. I would be very grateful for any knowledge on the area or if anyone could direct me to a similar forum,

Many thanks in advance,
Samuel
 
Samuel Perfect said:
Hi all,

I am going on holiday tomorrow to Rheinland-pfalz in west Germany (more specifically near Wittlich, in the north west of the province). I was wondering whether anyone knows any local birding hotspots in the area, particularly for Black, Middle Spotted and Grey-faced Woodpecker, Hazel Hen and Rock Bunting. I would be very grateful for any knowledge on the area or if anyone could direct me to a similar forum,

Many thanks in advance,
Samuel
Click to expand...

Hi Samuel,

Hope I'm not too late. You could try website Ornitho.de, which is used by most serious birders here. To access historic records through DATABASE ENQUIRIES you would need to qualify by sighting reports. However, I think you will be able to access daily reports for RP in any event. Bernkastel Wittlich (WIL) is, I think the area local to your destination on ornitho.de.

I should tell you though, that we are somewhat in the doldrums at the moment with many migrants already gone, and local birds keeping to themselves. You might be lucky and encounter some early returning Common Cranes though.

Good luck

Mike B
 
Wittlich lies near an excellent area for Rock Buntings: your best chances are on steep, south-facing slopes (vineyards) near the Mosel river. The area east of Rachtig-Zeltingen is probably the closest place to Wittlich, but the area between Neumagen-Dhron and Trittenheim is often mentioned as well, as well as Traben-Trarbach (in the southern part of the town).
Hazel Hen: forget about it... that's a very hush-hush species in Germany, which is going down the pan.
Grey-faced Woodpecker occurs close to Wittlich: in the last year it has been reported south of the road between Bausendorf and Neuerburg, as well as near Ürzig. It likes quite open landscapes (in Germany anyway).
Black and Middle Spotted should be relatively easy to find, although the latter is unobtrusive. Also pay attention to any lingering Melodious Warblers (probably very hard by now).
 
Thanks very much Mike and Xenospiza,

Although I could only read your replies after I got back from Germany I should be able to use the information on another visit, perhaps next year. Although I didn't see all I was hoping for I was rather pleased to see several species that Britain would otherwise rarely have including Short-toed Treecreeper, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Red-backed Shrike, Black Stork, Kentish Plover (on the crossing over in France), Osprey, Crested Tit and Wood Sandpiper. I did make an entire day trip to the vineyard at the Mosel (on the south facing slopes) but didn't connect with any Rock Buntings unfortunately. All the same, thank you very much for your help,

Samuel
 
Going to Germany again from late March-early April and was wondering about any further recommendations on good birding sites in the same area. I was hoping to find Black Woodpecker somewhere
 
This is a good time of year for woodpecker.I believe you can found black woodpecker in almost every wood there as in Belgium but they've large territory and seeing them isn't always easy...

I guess you pass through Belgium to get there if you want I can give you spot for bluethroat and crested lark on the coast. In east of Belgium there's great grey shrike, black grouse (only 1 spot in Belgium) also spotted nutcraker(difficult) which are maybe not in that part of Germany?
 
Thanks François for the advice. I will be traveling down with my family (non-birders) so I probably wont be able to convince them to stop in Belgium. However, if similar species occur just over the border in Belgium it may be the case that a few also occur in the RP region. Also, any tips on finding Tengmalm's Owl would be much appreciated as I understand this is a particularly difficult species to see,

Thanks,
 
Although Tengmalm's Owl is quite widespread in RP, none are very close to Wittlich.
It has been heard just east of Adenau (50 min away) and just west of Ferschweiler (45 min). Better options are the (big) Westerwald and Soonwald areas, but they are 1.5 h away from Wittlich.

If I find out more (and I would like to as it would be a lifer [I only ever heard it] I'll let you know.
 
Thank you very much Xenospiza for the map :t: that should definitely come in useful on my next visit to Rheinland-Pfalz in August this year. Rock Bunting and Eagle Owl are two lifers I'm very keen to connect with this time so I'm very glad they are both on the map!

I've been told dusk is the best time to see Eagle Owls by the mosel looking over the rocky slopes. Would you happen to know how and were best to view them?

Are there similar maps for other parts of Rheinland-Phalz? No worries if they're in German I can understand the language well,

Many thanks :t:
 
Depending on where you go in RP, or how far you're willing to travel, there's also a few places in other states (Baden-Württemberg and Hessen) near the RP border, especially along the Rhine, that are worth visiting.
 
Thanks for the tip Sangahyando :t: not sure I'll be able to get anywhere other than by bike so I'll be a bit restricted. The Mosel seems to be the best spot yet for many of my target species so I'll definitely pay a visit there.

Any ideas if I can get Tawny Pipit and Crested Lark on the surrounding farmland in the west of Rheinland-Pfalz?
 
You could try from here: http://www.naturschutz.rlp.de/?q=vogelverbreitungskarten

This is the distribution of Crested Lark in Germany: http://ornitho.de/index.php?m_id=30047
I think you can forget about it.
Tawny Pipit will be migrating south in August: if you can find an accessible sand pit, you may stand a chance (it's how I found them near where I live). They mostly (only?) breed in Eastern Germany.

I am not great at finding Eagle Owl unless it's calling (early evening in early spring). Searching rocky ledges by day can be successful.
 
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Hi Samuel,
I don't know how good your German is, but http://www.google.de/url?sa=t&rct=j...stltKB0hqTEXdqDxiebhFAA&bvm=bv.48705608,d.Yms will give up to date sightings as well as other records and info generally for RP

Also it might be worth googling the local Biological Station, if its anything like mine in Kreis Paderborn it will have a Beobachtungsplatform, a page for recent bird sightings in the local area. I translate the reported sightings in Paderborn district into english, so I know they get new sightings on a daily basis and normally only cat A and B birds are mentioned.
 
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If your German is up to it you could also try this site guide. It's got about 25 pages on Rheinland-Pfalz and a few pages on Saarland but that is perhaps a bit too far from Wittlich for you. I own it and although I haven't used it much (most of the sites would require a trip of a few days for me) it looks like a very well put together book.

http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/344...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463375173&pf_rd_i=301128

All the best
Tom

PS. It's a new edition from last year and would be well worth getting it if you plan to return to the area again.
 
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Brosnabirder said:
If your German is up to it you could also try this site guide. It's got about 25 pages on Rheinland-Pfalz and a few pages on Saarland but that is perhaps a bit too far from Wittlich for you. I own it and although I haven't used it much (most of the sites would require a trip of a few days for me) it looks like a very well put together book.

http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/344...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463375173&pf_rd_i=301128

All the best
Tom
Click to expand...

If its anywhere near as good as its "Norddeutschland" equivalent, then I can also recommend it.
 
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