[Carles Oliver]

Hi everybody!

We're visiting Frankfurt at the end of March and we expect to have some hours to spend just birding. We would like to visit any natural area in the road back to the airport so the Hahn - Frankfurt lane should be the area the explore around. Any idea to share with?

Thank you to all.

Carles Oliver

[Captain_of_Crunch]

There are a couple of interesting sites near Frankfurt:

-Ruedesheim on the Rhine has breeding Rock Bunting in the vineyards to the west of the town (about here). There are also plenty of commoner central European species, such as Black Redstart and Green Woodpecker. The Rhine here also holds good numbers of Yellow-legged and Caspian Gulls. A Great Black-headed Gull was seen near here a few years ago.

-A bit further away is the Wagbachniederung. In my opinion it is probably the best birding site near Frankfurt, with breeding Purple Heron and Bluethroat. White Storks and Great White Egrets should be present as well.

-In Frankfurt itself, the Enkheimer Ried may be worth visiting. See here (http://www.norbert-kuehnberger.de/enkrbh.html) for more info.

[Carles Oliver]

Thank you very much for the information Mister Captain!!

[chazzyf]

Interesting stuff! I wish that I had asked before I went to Frankfurt and Aschaffenburg a few weeks back.

however, though I ended up staying at a Hotel near Frankfurt Airport, I was 5 mins away from a nice wood which was full of birds. Middle-Spotted Woodpecker and Hawfinch were the only species which I dont get to see in the Uk, but it made for an enjoyable walk. I wasn't quite so fortunate in Aschaffenburg, but if I'd had a bit more time, I'm sure that I would have seen a bit more thn I did.

the following site is a useful resource, but it took me a while to make sense of the organisation of the sightings. It helps to understand the acronyms for the major regions of Germany e.g. Frankfurt is in Hesse - HE, as you have to first select the region and then the starting letter(s) of the town name

http://www.ornitho.de/index.php?m_id=1