Grey-headed Woodpeckers in Rhineland (1 Viewer)

[Sam Bryo]

Are there any sites in westernmost Germany where I might be able to find Grey-headed Woodpecker? I’m visiting the area for a few days later this autumn and it’s one of the few Western European species I haven’t see yet. eBird shows very few recent records from the Koln/Bonn area, and those from 2020 seem to be random one-offs.

Remich (Haff Reimich Reserve) in SE Luxembourg appears to be a semi-regular site, but is there anywhere across the border in Germany that might be easier.

Thanks in advance.

Sam

 

[David_]

There is one in the Wahner Heide next to Cologne Airport but it’s a single bird in quite large area and while it was very reliable seen for a weeks in May it seems to have moved to another part of the area where there have been just a few sightings.
There are probably more reliable locations elsewhere.

 

[Sam Bryo]

Thankyou David. That sounds like a good start.

 

[wolfbirder]

Try checking E-bird, quite a lot of reports.

 

[Sam Bryo]

There were, but a lot of them were from the 1960s so hardly hot gen ;-)

 

[David_]

I have seen the bird around here in May:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/oBrNr9sTvckCE6bh8?g_st=ic

During summer it has been seen from time to time around here:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/opyqahDfb87dUKYc8?g_st=ic

But best idea would probably to look for observations on ornitho.de as most German birders use it instead of eBird. I think you can only search for observations for the last 15 days if you haven’t reported a certain number of observations.

If you have a car available you could also go to the Sauerland where GHW is more common. But I haven’t been there often so I can’t help with good locations.

 

[Sam Bryo]

Thankyou David. Wahner Heide looks like interesting habitat for me to go birding in, so I will add that to my agenda for the day I drive east. I will be staying in the Namur/Liege area of Belgium so probably won’t go as far as Sauerland.

 

[David_]

During autumn most of the interesting birds at Wahner Heide will already be gone. You could get lucky with the GHW or some migrants (depending on when in autumn you will be there) but species won’t be much different from anywhere else in Germany (or in Belgium)