Vechta-Barnsdorf

Niedersachsen > Germany

A perfect area near Diepholz for Common Crane watching in autumn. Great for shooting pictures of groups of Common Crane out of the car.

Added by Mark van den Bosch

Description

Autodrive in the Diepholz district in Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) between Vechta and Barnsdorf. Start by sunrise when the Common Crane go from there nightshelter (Barnsdorfer-Vechtaer moor) to the feeding grounds between Vechta and Barnsdorf. The feeding area is very outstretched in this area but here you find a lot of small roads with flocks of Common Crane feeding in the farmland.

Details

Access

Just drive the road that is shown on the map and you will find flocks of Common Crane in everywhere.

Terrain and Habitat

Grassland

Conditions

Flat

Circular trail

Is a telescope useful?

Can be useful

Good birding season

Autumn

Best time to visit

Autumn migration

Route

Paved road, Unpaved road

Difficulty walking trail

Accessible by

Car

Birdwatching hide / platform

Extra info

The areas around Diepholz are famous for the gathering of Common Crane every autumn. Diepholz has 24,000 hectares of peat bogs in eleven different areas. Between the areas are small villages and lots of corn fields and grassland. Most visitors are gathered around a few large observation towers, and the rest of the area is usually quiet. The thousands of birds gather here in Germany during the Common Crane migration to fat up for their trip to the more southern wintering grounds. During this period, the number may reach in the tens of thousands. During te day the birds are foraging (feeding) on the different corn fields in the area and in the evening they fly in great numbers to their sleeping places in the peat bogs around Diepholz. The best time of the year, with the biggest amounts of Common Crane is during the last two weeks of october, and the first week in november.