Visiting the Cheetham Wetlands

A few days ago, I visited the Cheetham Wetlands after hearing bitterns had been seen in the reedbeds there.
Upon arrival, we walked across several pools surrounded by reeds using a bridge. Many Clamorous reed warblers were calling from the plants around us, and chestnut teals and Pacific black ducks were abundant. A few dusky moorhens and purple swamphens were seen, but there was no sign of the bittern.

CHESTNUT TEAL

Anas castanea

We walked on, following Skeleton Creek through the saltmarsh. A brown falcon watched for prey from atop a wire, while several distant flocks of curlew sandpipers were feeding. The creek itself was full of sharp-tailed sandpipers, many of which were quite approachable and gave great looks. Plants in the park to the left of the creek held crested pigeons, common starlings, Indian mynas, spotted turtledoves and many yellow-rumped thornbills, and an Australasian pipit was foraging in the grass.

SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER

Calidris acuminata

YELLOW-RUMPED THORNBILL

Acanthiza chrysohrrhoa

A short track headed into the saltmarsh, and here I got looks at a lifer: many singing striated fieldwrens. White-faced herons, superb fairy-wrens, singing honeyeaters and golden-headed cisticolas were also abundant here, and a single black-shouldered kite was watching the marshes from high up in a dead tree.

STRIATED FIELDWREN

Calamanthus fuliginosus

BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE

Elanus axillaris

6 Weeks in Germany: Touring Salzburg, Munich and Nuremberg

During the final week of my trip, all the exchange students from my school went on a brief tour of Nuremberg, Munich and Salzburg.
Here, a few other species were seen.
On the train to Nuremberg from Berlin, I saw the only red kite of the trip, and many common ravens. In Nuremberg itself, along the river were similar birds to those along the Spree. At Nuremberg Castle was a pair of Peregrine falcons and many carrion crows.
Munich had no birds of note, however at Salzburg we visited Salzburg Castle, where among other species I saw the only jackdaws of the trip, many more carrion crows and several Alpine accentors.

PEREGRINE FALCON

Falco peregrinus

CARRION CROW

Corvus corone

ALPINE ACCENTOR

Prunella collaris

6 Weeks in Germany: Müggelsee

The Müggelsee is Berlin's largest lake. The lake itself and the forest around it proved to be an incredibly productive birding site, where I saw a wide variety of species.
Upon arrival at the site, I would always initially check the small section of shore around the entrance of the tunnel. Here various common waterbirds such as mallards, Eurasian coots, black-headed gulls and mute swans were abundant. Goosanders were also usually visible swimming further out in the lake, though the earliest of my visits provided stunning views of a male swimming very close to shore.

GOOSANDER

Mergus merganser

One visit also provided views of a large flock of gulls, which included birds I tentatively identified as Caspian gulls and European herring gulls, as well as a few common gulls. I have absolutely zero experience with European gulls though, so the exact accuracy of any identifications made is doubtful.

COMMON GULL

Larus canus

EUROPEAN HERRING GULL

Larus argentatus

After this I would then travel through the tunnel and into the forest on the other side of the lake. This forest was extremely birdy, full of pretty much all the garden birds I've mentioned earlier, along with many marsh tits, Eurasian wrens and my first middle spotted woodpecker. 

MIDDLE SPOTTED WOODPECKER

Dendrocoptes medius

EURASIAN WREN

Troglodytes troglodytes

MARSH TIT

Poecile palustris

However, there were 2 main highlights.
Firstly, Northern goshawks were very common in the forest, and I got views of goshawks on every single one of my visits.

NORTHERN GOSHAWK

Accipiter gentilis

Secondly, on 3 of my 4 visits I was stunned to get close views of Black woodpecker. On my second visit, while walking back a Black woodpecker amazed me as it fed right next to the path. On my following visits, I was gifted with further and equally stunning views. This site seems extremely reliable for the species, even though it is so close to inner Berlin.

BLACK WOODPECKER

Dryocopus martius

On one of my visits, I stumbled across a large flock of feeding finches, consisting of many siskins and serins.

SERIN

Serinus serinus

The lake itself was also full of birdlife. Grey herons and great white egrets searched for fish on the shore, and many goosanders, goldeneyes and a single velvet scoter fed further out. A long pipe was used as a perch by many great cormorants.

GOLDENEYE

Bucephala clangula

VELVET SCOTER

Melanitta fusca

GREAT WHITE EGRET

Ardea alba

Finally, I saw my life Common raven flying over the lake.

COMMON RAVEN

Corvus corax

6 Weeks in Germany: Tempelhof

Tempelhof was once the main airport of West Berlin. When it was eventually abandoned, it was converted into a massive park, where a variety of birds can be seen.
Though the timing of my visit lead to me missing several key species that are only present in spring and summer, I still saw quite a lot here.
Upon arriving at the field, I could immediately see many Hooded crows and rooks, along with overflying Common gulls and a hovering Eurasian kestrel. The kestrels here proved to be extremely approachable, and later I got close views of several perched birds.

ROOK

Corvus frugilegus

EURASIAN KESTREL

Falco tinnunculus

As I walked further through the field, I came to a small wooded area near an old plane. Here were many Chaffinches, blackbirds, great tits, house sparrows and blue tits, along with the only greenfinch of the trip.
The highlight of my visits here was my first Northern goshawk, a female bird who flew swiftly into a tree, pursued by a flock of hooded crows mobbing it. I later also saw a Northern goshawk fly over the Tempelhof Station, setting a flock of feral pigeons to flight.

6 Weeks in Germany: Garden Birds of Berlin

In parkland and gardens throughout Berlin, several species were extremely common. I did a lot of birding from the window of my room in my host family's house, looking out onto their garden and photographing birds approaching their feeder.
Flocks of great tits and blue tits were omnipresent, as were Eurasian tree sparrows and house sparrows. Occasionally a flock of long-tailed tits would sweep through the garden and visit the feeder. Pine trees at the far end of the garden were visited by Eurasian jays and hawfinches, and a large tree in the centre of the garden was host to many short-toed treecreepers, Eurasian nuthatches, great spotted woodpeckers and once a single green woodpecker. A pair of blackbirds also inhabited the garden and, along with European robins, were often seen perched on the ground scratching through leaf litter. Once a Eurasian sparrowhawk flew through a nearby family's garden, but I was unable to get more than a glimpse of it.
Eurasian magpies and hooded crows were constantly flying overhead, along with wood pigeons. All 3 species were abundant throughout most of Berlin. A single carrion crow was seen once, but the crows in Berlin were almost entirely hooded.
The cemeteries in Berlin were all well-wooded and therefore great for birding. A visit to the cemetery in Karlshorst gave me good looks at many of the aforementioned species, along with my first Goldcrest, and some chaffinches.
Red squirrels were common in parkland, and particularly good views of some were had at the Schlossgarten Charlottenburg.
Anywhere there was water, black-headed gulls, mallards and Eurasian coots were abundant. In the skies above Berlin wheeled common gulls, Caspian gulls and Eurasian herring gulls, though often they were too distant to identify accurately. Occasionally I would be amazed by the sight of a Northern goshawk flying high overhead, sometimes being mobbed by crows.

BLUE TIT

Cyanistes caeruleus

GREAT TIT

Parus major

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER

Dendrocopos major

LONG-TAILED TIT

Aegithalos caudatus

BLACKBIRD

Turdus merula

EURASIAN MAGPIE

Pica pica

EURASIAN JAY

Garrulus glandarius

EURASIAN NUTHATCH

Sitta europaea

SHORT-TOED TREECREEPER

Certhia brachydactyla

GREEN WOODPECKER

Picus viridis

HOODED CROW

Corvus cornix

GOLDCREST

Regulus regulus

HAWFINCH

Coccothraustes coccothraustes

EUROPEAN ROBIN

Erithacus rubecula

WOOD PIGEON

Columba palumbus

BLACK-HEADED GULL

Chroicocephalus ridibundus

RED SQUIRREL

Sciurus vulgaris

6 Weeks In Germany: Summary

Hello,

I just returned from a school trip to Germany, where I was an exchange student and stayed with a host family in Berlin. Though the main aim of the trip was to practice my dodgy German, I managed to get a lot of birdwatching in too. Over the first 5 weeks of the trip, I was able to visit a variety of sites in Berlin. Then all the exchange students from my high school gathered for a 5-day tour, where we visited Nuremberg, Salzburg and Munich, and I was able to see a few more birds.

Bird-wise, the highlight of the trip was easily getting close views of Black woodpeckers around Berlin, which turned out to be much less difficult to locate than imagined.

SITES IN BERLIN:

Along with sightseeing, I visited several major birding sites in Berlin. I was unable to get out into Brandenburg to visit locations such as the Gülpe See, but was still able to see a lot. I travelled using the public transport network in Berlin, which was very helpful: using the S-Bahn, U-Bahn and trams it was possible to reach basically any site with only a short walk.

Some sites I only visited once, but others I visited multiple times due to them being very productive. Due to my visit being in the middle of winter, certain migratory birds that would otherwise have been at these sites were absent. However, I still saw a variety of species.

Certain sites will be written about in their own posts, but others I'll briefly summarise here.

TEMPELHOF: An old decommissioned airport turned into a park. Easily reached using the City Loop S-Bahn (S41/S42). Get off at Tempelhof Station, and an entrance to the park is very near the station.

SCHLOSSGARTEN CHARLOTTENBURG: A fairly large park near the stunning Schloss Charlottenburg. Can be reached by a short walk from Westend Station, which is once more easily accessible with the City Loop (S41/S42). Here we saw many of the birds common in pretty much any wooded area in Berlin: great spotted woodpeckers, blue tits, great tits, eurasian nuthatches, wood pigeons and short-toed treecreepers. Marsh tits were also present. The lake in front of the palace had Canada geese, grey herons, mallards, Eurasian coots, mute swans and our only tufted ducks of the entire trip. Apparently this is a decent site for goshawks and middle spotted woodpeckers, however we did not see either.

TUFTED DUCK

Aythya fuligula

GREY HERON

Ardea cinerea

EURASIAN COOT

Fulica atra

CANADA GOOSE

Branta canadensis

MUTE SWAN

Cygnus olor

MÜGGELSEE: A large lake surrounded by forest, the most productive of the sites visited. To get here, take the S3 to Friedrichshagen Station, and get off there. Walk down or take a tram down the Bölschestraße, and at the end of the road turn right along Müggelseedamm (if taking a tram get off at the 3rd stop from the station and walk the rest of the way). Walk along Josef-Nawrocki Straße until you reach the entrance of a park overlooking the Müggelsee. From here, you can watch birds along a small section of the shore. The Spreetunnel takes you to an area of forest on the other side, where a trail forks left and right. Travelling along the leftmost trail is productive for birdwatching. You'll know you're on the right trail when you eventually reach the Rübezahl am Müggelsee about 30 minutes from the Spreetunnel.

TREPTOWER PARK: A massive area of parkland that looked somewhat promising but was entirely inferior to the forest in Müggelsee for birding. This park, the second-largest park in Berlin, can be reached easily by walking from the Treptower Park Station (once more accessible via the City Loop S-Bahn among other lines). The birds here were similar to the birds at Schlossgarten Charlottenburg, however I got good views of mandarin duck in the pond here.

MANDARIN DUCK

Aix galericulata

BERLIN ZOO: A visit here with a friend gave many close views of grey herons, great cormorants, mallards and Mandarin ducks, along with the only common moorhen of the trip.

COMMON MOORHEN

Gallinula chloropus

GREAT CORMORANT

Phalacrocorax carbo

MALLARD

Anas platyrhynchos

Other sites mainly turned up more of the same birds from the Schlossgarten, so I will not bother mentioning them.