News

News · 21. September 2019

I know it's been quite a while since I last updated the blog. It's not because I didn't have seen anything during the last 10 months. That wouldn't be entirely correct. In fact, I didn't find the time to translate the missing posts, which I hope to catch up soon. Nonetheless, the true reason for this article is that I've moved to Rome for a year, where I will hopefully have the opportunity to explore also the local birdlife. Since this can hardly be told "Birding Franconia" again, I decided to...

News · 11. November 2018

It have been some uneventful weeks since my last blog post. I don't know why, but bird migration was generally slow. Fortunately, this changed dramatically last week, when three regional to national rarities had been found in Franconia. The first was a Snow Bunting at the Förmitzspeicher, the second a Great Northern Diver at the Rothsee and finally a Greater Flamingo at the Lindleinsee (near Ansbach). Of course, I wanted to see at least a single of these stunning birds. Since I couldn't visit...

News · 17. September 2018

Over the last two weeks I’ve visited the quarry ponds of the Upper Main valley quite a lot of times. The reason for this weren’t particularly the masses of migrants there, as some might presume. There was virtually no migration. On every of my visits I found the very same birds and I just continued to do so, since I hoped to witness the day, when a sweep of new migrants would come from north. Yet this hasn’t happened for the last fourteen times and so I definitely needed a change. My...

News · 11. September 2018

Originally, this blog post should look slightly different. I wanted to demonstrate, that the “Mohrhof-Weihergebiet” is still an excellent site for resting waders despite the weak numbers over the last years. At first, it seemed that all conditions for a perfect birding trip were fulfilled: an early start, splendid weather and an overwhelming greeting of diverse bird calls. Immediately, I started to check the first ponds, where I instantly found some Greenshanks, Ruffs and Spotted Redshanks....

News · 20. August 2018

As reported before 2018 has been an excellent year for herons in the Aischgrund. All three rare breeding species, namely Little Bittern, Purple and Night Heron, have successfully bred at more than just a single site. Since I couldn’t pay the major spots a visit during breeding season, I hoped to make up for it today. Having checked the latest observations on ornitho.de I started my small tour with the ponds of Mohrhof, which have proved to be a reliable site in the past. As usually I only...

News · 19. August 2018

My most recent birding trip led me once again to the Altmühlsee. Unfortunately, due to other commitments I was restricted to early afternoon, which definitely isn’t a good time for a visit as of the strong back light. Nonetheless birding was still excellent and many hoped for species showed soon after my arrival. Best example for this is the Night Heron that flew past almost immediately after I had set up my scope. Just in time I managed to get some flight shots before it disappeared in a...

News · 13. August 2018

A blogpost about the birdlife of Lake Como definitely seems a bit off topic for a website dedicated to birding in Franconia. Nonetheless I've decided to not be so strict in this matter, as I'm convinced that it will add some variety to it. I've spent a whole week on the western shore of Lake Como, which is in the NW of Italy. Although I wasn't there for birding, I spotted some nice birds now and then like Crag Martin, Alpine Swift and Short-toed Eagle. The area certainly has potential for being...

News · 03. August 2018

In the last two weeks I've focused my attention on the Main valley between Lichtenfels and Bamberg and could witness the first signs of the now starting wader migration. The most parts of the german inland aren't particularly good for observing waders and Franconia is unfortunately no real exception. Nonetheless, at some suitable sites the chances aren't bad for spotting at least a collection of common species. In the above mentioned area these certainly are the Mainverlängerung Unterbrunn and...

News · 20. Juli 2018

I know it is hard to believe, but my last birding trip was two months ago. And one thing for sure, the reason for this was not that there wouldn't have been any interesting birds to spot. In the Aischgrund for example Purple Heron, Night Heron and Little Bittern have all successfully bred in several places. Anyway, this morning I finally managed to get off for a brilliant trip. Despite the good birding conditions in the Aischgrund I chose instead the former quarry ponds of Trieb to try my luck...

News · 26. Mai 2018

Normally, May is an exciting month for birdwatching: many birds are busy with breeding activities, bird migration reaches its peak and the chance to find a rarity increases from day to day. Consciously, I say "normally", since May is in fact rather slow and very rainy in this year. The only real highlights were the three White-winged Black Terns I've seen at the barrage of Bertoldsheim three weeks ago, but apart from that there has been little of note. Especially, the season at the Altmühlsee...