) to insert bird names in your own language. The birdnames will automatically be translated for other users!
Upload images
Allowed image types are jpeg,png,gif
Max file size is 20MB
Description
At the foot of the Vosges, south of Thann, the lake of Michelbach dam (located in the town of the same name) was created in the 1980s in order to capture water from Doller and Michelbach to regulate the supply of the groundwater from which the Mulhouse conurbation draws its drinking water.
Preservation of water resources and diversity of living things going hand in hand, the body of water quickly became a haven of life. Thanks to its classification as a “voluntary nature reserve”, which includes former plowing converted into meadows as well as small forest portions, colonization by avifauna is steadily increasing there, and its vocation of welcoming migratory birds is asserting itself . Bird watching is interesting all year round.
In spring, it is the nesting of Mute Swan, Eurasian Coot, Mallard, Great Crested Grebe that attracts attention. The Red-backed Shrike is found in orchards south of the water.
Summer is the good season for stopovers of waders and the passage of Common Tern. At the end of summer and in autumn, with the drop in the level of the water, mud flats appear and are favorable for many species of shorebirds (Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Common Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Common Snipe and rarities are always possible such as Temminck's Stint, ) and herons; Black-necked Grebe, Black Tern and Osprey are also frequent the site.
Finally, in winter, it is easy to observe Great Cormorant, Goosander, for which the Michelbach site has become the reference extra-Rhine site in Alsace. Rare birds are recorded each year during this season: Red-breasted Merganser, Velvet Scoter, divers, Greater Scaup, ... You can also search for Penduline Tit among the Reed Bunting.
A beautiful walk begins from the parking lot (indicated by a sign), and takes the two dikes; a path goes around the body of water passing through a wood and an orchard. This circuit can be done in any season, except when the water is frozen.
Details
Access
The village of Michelbach (not to be confused with Michelbach-le-Bas near Saint-Louis) is a few kilometers south of Thann. Signs lead to the parking lot of the large dyke. Allow around 2 hours for the tour of the large reservoir, circuit marked out by the Club Vosgien.
Note: remind that it is necessary to stay strictly on paths and trails, and that intrusion into meadows and / or fields near the described sites is to be prohibited!