This weekend I found myself back in Lauras parents village of Wilgottheim, about half an hours drive from the city of Strasbourg on the French-German border. Situated between the two ranges of the Vosges mountains, nearby VizMig watchpoints have produced some genuinely incredible counts of migrating birds, but I have never had the chance to be in the area during the autumn… until now!
Thus I spent the weekend getting up early and
exploring the hill behind the village, checking the trees and bushes there for
grounded migrants and hoping for good numbers of birds flying over. Overhead it
turned out was fairly quiet, with very little of note in terms of numbers
besides double-figure counts of both Tree Pipit and Yellow Wagtail, although
there were also many grounded birds confusing the overall total. I couldn’t
wait around too long, but in the two hours I explored the area during the
mornings it was pretty clear that no significant movement of birds was taking
place.
In the bushes it was excellent, with
regularly Pied Flycatchers, Common Redstarts and Spotted Flycatchers, bulked
out by the usual good counts of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, with the occasional
Willow Warbler also thrown in. There was also a single Whinchat and Wheatear,
two species I had not yet found in my explorations around Paris.
In addition to the migrant birds, it was also
a surprise to find both Middle Spotted and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers here.
While there are larger trees, it is hardly a wooded environment and I did not
expect to find these birds here. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker especially showed
very nicely!
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