YOUNG BIRDER'S NOTES: 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.