Steinhorster Becken near Paderborn NRW (1 Viewer)

The Steinhorster Becken is a man made overflow basin for the river Ems that now has NSG status. It is west of Paderborn on the Kreis Paderborn/ Kreis Gütersloh boundary. Its the best birding area, IMO, around Paderborn, with lots of water, woodland and fields surrounding it. There is always something to see, although some of it is quite far away and a scope/spektiv is useful if you own one. Today I saw the first Black Necked Grebes that I've seen in Germany, along with many other species that are more common. I photographed a lot of warblers, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap today as well as Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Song Thrush, Nightingale,(Last year I photographed a Thrush Nightingale there, only the second ever recorded in Kreis Paderborn), Northern Lapwing, Tree Sparrow, Barn Swallow etc. etc. Last month we had Black tailed Godwit, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Eurasian Curlew, Common Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Mandarin Duck amongst others. There are breeding Ruddy Shelducks with a clutch of young chicks, a breeding pair of White Stork with 4! young in the nest. There is also a pair of Grey Herons with a nest and I saw a chick there today. Osprey are regulars and last winter we saw Ross's Goose, Snow Goose, White Fronted Goose, Barnacle Goose, Brent Goose as well as the Greylag, Canada and Egyptian Geese that have healthy breeding populations. Great Egret is also seen most days. Over winter or on migation we also see Nothern Shovelers, Eurasian Teal, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Shelduck, Garganey, boosting the number of species. Apparantly there are also Stock Doves there, but as I've yet to see one anywhere, I'm begining to think they don't exist and everyone else is making up stories. A circular route around the area is about 5 km in length with benches to rest as and when is needed. It is very popular for Sunday walkers or cyclists, so its best to go during the week. I've missed out a lot of species that are seen regularly or are resident, so this is not an complete list of what can be seen here. I like it though and wanted to share this great place with others who might be in the area.

I have visited a couple of times in the last year and it really is quite a nice site. One addition to your list is that White Storks are resident here, though they may be from a re-introduced population. Hope to be back in June

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.8244481,8.531,15z

There is parking off the L836 and the Tegelheide road. Public transport is unfortunately rather limited in the area.

Thanks for adding the map and parking detail CC, I get driven there as I don't drive anymore and I forgot to add details.

Lots of waders passing through at the moment and a Eurasian Spoonbill

Got a chance to visit this site last Monday (05/01) for a few hours. Nice views of a couple of Great Egrets, lots of White-fronted and Canada Geese, with a Barnacle Goose associating with the White-fronts. Three male and a female Goosander flew in to the large pool at the north end, which also held a few Gadwall and Wigeon. A flock of around 30 to 40 Tree Sparrows was a nice find in the car park at the south-western end.

However the highlight of the day was finding a Great Grey Shrike near the village of Sende a couple of kilometres away. GGS is a scarce winter visitor to the region and this is the second I have found locally. Present in the field west of the junction of the L787 and Brissestrasse:

https://www.google.ie/maps/@51.9038361,8.5493256,232m/data=!3m1!1e3

Thanks for the info C of C. There are also breeding CGS territories in NSG Sauertal south of Kleinenberg near Lichtenau. http://www.google.de/url?sa=t&rct=j...dZiiswoCOvtzojg-z10mjog&bvm=bv.83829542,d.d24