Bicycle Birding in Germany June 1997

Our trip to Germany to bicycle, bird and visit was fabulous! The
bicycling was terrific with Fahrradwegs everywhere we wanted to go
plus fast trains, allowing bicycles in designated cars, to bypass
sections of the country we had no time to investigate. We
included several hot birding spots in our itinerary and most did
not disappoint us. Singing birds were everywhere and we managed
to identify many of them and even learned to recognize some of
their songs. Although we had been told that the birds would have
stopped singing by June, they were shouting at us all day long
from every bush and tree. First birding stop was the Federsee
Naturschuzgebiet in southwestern Germany at Bad Bachau. It is a
marsh area with reeds, islands and boardwalks plus narrow dirt
trails bordered by water and marsh. We saw the colorful male
Bearded Tit (Bartmeise) here. His cinnamon back, long tail and
sides contrasted vividly with the white chest and throat, blue
gray cap and black beard marks. He was performing gymnastics in
the reeds singing as he went. We watched him for several minutes
before he disappeared deeper into the reeds. A fantastic sighting
for a lifer.
Another lifer was the Black Kite (Schwarzer Milan), a
magnificent soaring raptor with a scalloped tail. We saw him in
many places as we bicycled up and down hills through forests and
along several rivers (Donau or Danube, Neckar, and Rhine).
Another marsh and reed birding hotspot was at Wagh"ausel,
across the Rhine from Speyer. Here we saw several life birds
perusing the reeds and thickets around the ponds. These included
a family of Penduline Tits (Beutelmeise), smaller and paler than
the Bearded Tit. A German photographer set up his camera,
thrilled at the chance to get a picture of them. Another gorgeous
lifer at Wagh"ausel was the Bluethroat (Blaukehlchen) white-
spotted Bluethroat singing and flying among the swampy vegetation
putting on quite a show as we watched in awe at being so lucky to
observe the spectacle. Other life birds did not allow such a
great observance. These included a Purple Heron (Pupurreiher)
flying over and a Hawfinch (Kernbeisser) who perched in a tree
just long enough for us to make the identification. Can't miss
that huge blue bill plus large white patches in the dark wings as
he flew away never to be seen again.
Another life bird that we saw in many places was the Red Kite
(Roter Milan), a beautiful bird and graceful flier with long
forked red tail and colorful black, white and red wing pattern.
Two lifers were observed as we bicycled uphill through grape
vineyards on a very hot day. One, the male Red-backed Shrike
(Neunt"oter), stayed perched on a fence post as we passed by, his
chestnut back and pale blue crown certainly a different coloring
from our gray and white Northern and Loggerhead Shrikes but the
black mask was distinctive. The drab little Spotted Flycatcher
(Grauschn"apper) flew up from his perch many times as we
struggled to identify him. Yes, his crown does have some spots.
The Whitethroat (Dorngrasm"ucke) was a bit of a challenge too as
he flew back and forth from bush to bush singing as he flew. The
chestnut colored secondaries and breast and the inflight
chattering enabled us to distinguish him from the Lesser
Whitethroat.
We were lucky to see the nest of the Black Redstart
(Hausrotschwanz) located on the rafters of a carport near a
Gasthaus where we stayed. They are friendly little fellows that
enjoy being around people as the German name suggests. The male
is black with a red rump and tail while the female is a drab
gray. They frequently sing from the tops of buildings.
Another very unusual observance involved the Bullfinch
(Gimpel). We had stopped at a gas/grocery to buy ice cream and
noticed a used car lot next door, where the Bullfinch was perched
on a sideview mirror, attacking his image. He would fly away,
then come back and start all over again. The store attendant had
been watching him for days.
We had many other wonderful experiences with the birds of
Germany, but I'll end with the whole list of birds that we saw
and heard. We certainly can recommend Germany as a great
destination for viewing European birds.

Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Gray Heron
Purple Heron
Mute Swan
Greylag Goose
Cormorant
Mallard
Garganey (only saw one at Wagh"ausel)
Shoveler (saw several at Wagh"ausel)
Pochard
Tufted Duck
Goosander (Common Merganser)
Black Kite
Red Kite
Buzzard
Kestrel (European)
Peregrine (On a cliff along the Donau)
Pheasant (Ring-neck)
Moorhen
Coot (European)
Little Ringed Plover (at Wagh"ausel)
Lapwing
Redshank (at Wagh"ausel)
Common Sandpiper (at Wagh"ausel)
Black-headed Gull
Common Tern
Woodpigeon
Collared
Turtle Dove
Cuckoo (heard it many places, only saw it once)
Swift (their high screeching sounds hurt my ears when a large
flock zooms around city buildings)
Great-spotted Woodpecker
Middle-spotted Woodpecker
Black Woodpecker
Green Woodpecker
Skylark (doing their singing and descending thing over every
field)
Sand Martin
Swallow (our Barn Swallow)
House Martin
Meadow Pipit (Federsee)
Yellow Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
Wren (our Winter Wren)
Robin (little European bird)
Nightingale
Black Redstart
Blackbird (singing everywhere, has habits of our American
Robin. After all they are both members of the thrush
family.)
Fieldfare (No bird has a more unusual sound- identifiable anyplace
even in arctic Siberia at Ust-Port..........Russian
trip another postiing.)
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Reed Warbler
Whitethroat
Blackcap
Spotted Flycatcher
Bearded Tit
Willow Tit
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Penduline Tit
Red-backed Shrike
Jay
Magpie (Pica pica)
Jackdaw
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow (Federsee)
Chiffchaff (Never stops singing his chiffchaff song.)
Serin (Tiny little greenish finch.)
Chaffinch (Multicolored little finch seen everywhere.)
Goldfinch (Quite a gaudy fellow)
Siskin (European)
Greenfinch (Has an insect-like note , easly recoginized.)
Bullfinch
Hawfinch
Yellowhammer (A pretty yellow bird with chestnut rump, streaked
sides and back, with a song that is easy to
identify.)
Reed Bunting (Federsee)

Bill and Erin Woods Woods Tree Farm Redmond, WA U.S.A.
<wwwbike at halcyon.com>