Being blessed with so many long weekends in May and having to (or perhaps rather, being able to) use up the remaining vacation days of my internship, I ended up working only 14 days that month. This allowed me to be out birding much more than usual, and I was extremely pleased that this coincided with the height of spring. I spontaneously decided to visit the Wagbachniederung, a wetland near Heidelberg, where I was two months earlier (see this post). I slept at the not creatively but aptly named Hostel Mannheim in Mannheim to reach the wetland in the early morning.
When I stepped out onto the Waghäusel train station, I was greeted by drizzle and the bubbling song of a Common Nightingale. It was still dark but when I arrived at the start of the wetland here, dawn was progressing fast. The day was cloudy with interspersed drizzle, which meant that bird activity was higher for longer and nearly no other birders were around. The songs of Common Nightingales and Common Cuckoos all around created a lovely atmosphere. After some time, I managed to get good views of both species as well as my first barely acceptable photos.
European Greenfinch, Red-backed Shrike, Eurasian Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Eurasian Wren, and other common woodland birds were present in the initial woody section of the track before reaching the reedbeds.
A quartering Western Marsh-Harrier was harassed by Northern Lapwings over the reeds. Common Reed Bunting, Common Starling, and Common Reed Warbler were also in evidence in the reedbeds, although I was out of luck in the Bearded Reedling department. In the open waterbodies here, the typical duck and goose species along with Red-crested Pochard, Black-necked Grebe, Black-headed Gull, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Common Kingfisher were around. Marsh Warbler sang from the vegetation bordering the reeds and water.
The path under the large poplar trees was productive with Great Reed Warbler and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. At this point, I was excited to hear the buzzing song of Savi’s Warbler and soon found this lifer on top of a small bush in the reeds. A few of the Wagbachniederung’s famous Purple Herons also flew over – the surest way to see them after the local conservation organisation removed nesting mounts that attracted large numbers of photographers with ensuing disturbance to the wildlife.
On the way back, I watched a few Sand Martins among the Western House-Martins and Barn Swallows over the reeds. A quick look over the lake here revealed Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, and Eurasian Teal, while I flushed a European Turtle-Dove which settled on a distant bush close to the start of the wetland.
Starting the outing so early in the morning was fantastic as I had so much of the day left despite having spent several hours outside, absorbed by the birds. This is one of the most satisfying feelings for me when birding and was a great way to recharge from the busy work. And with so much time left, I decided to stop along the Rhine for some birding in the vineyards close to Frankfurt on the way back home (my next post).
My Zone Is Birding 