Description
The Büsum Pearl Bay is an artificial sandbank, jutting out from the northeast-German town of Büsum, into the vast mudflats and shallow water of the Wadden Sea, which is part of the greater North Sea. This sea area belongs to the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park of Germany.
The sandbank is used for human leisure and tourism (bathing, beach sport etc), however, there are also some less busy sandy areas, as well as sea-walls, which are used by numerous gulls, such as Obični galeb, Srebrnasti galeb, and Crni galeb, and more rarely but occasionally also skuas, as a place to search for food.
The sea-walls also offers the perfect habitat for several different kinds of waders (Šljuka kamenjarka, Morska sprutka) who rest there sporadically on autumn migration, especially when there is less tourist use. Autumn migration and winter can be great for spotting rarer sea birds and sea ducks, as well as perhaps Snežna strnadica on migration.
The backwater is used for water sports, but one can often spot Veliki vranac and Mali gnjurac also using the water.
Details
Access
The Büsumer Perlebucht is the tourist centre of Büsum. The bay may only be entered by foot over the dam or lagoon. The longer, northern path over the lagoon is marked with 1 on the map, and the southern path, over the dam, is marked 2 on the map. In addition, a guest card is required in the summer months.
Cars can be parked in one of three different carparks in the town (click on one of the three P's on the map for directions.) Bicycles must be locked at locking stations at the entrance point to both paths. Public transport: Büsum has a regional train station which is the end of the RB63 line. From the station it is a 2 km/25-30 min walk to both path entrances.