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Brachter Wald

North Rhine-Westphalia  >  Germany

An old British ammunition depot turned into a nature reserve full of heathland, pine forests and lots of wildlife.

Added* by Bas Engels
Most recent update 12 veljače 2020

Description

Between 1948 - 1996 a British ammunition depot was situated on this location and stored about 50.000 tons of ammunition. The area is located on the western side of the city of Brüggen and has a total of six entrances. The depot is completely fenced to retain the population of wild animals, like Fallow Deer and Wild Boar. The area consists of a semi-open landscape of (mainly) pine forests and heathland areas and still contains the remnants of the old depot, like buildings, watchtowers and bunkers.

The heathland area contains scattered trees and bushes and is a very good location for typical heathland species, like Crnoglavi Batić and Ševa Krunica. It has a fairly good population of Leganj, which can be seen and heard in especially late spring. Other species that can be found on these heathland areas are Žuta strnadica, Prugasta Trepetljka and sometimes Smeđoglavi Batić. Some parts of the depot are especially good for Veliki svračak in winter.

The (mainly) pine forests are an ideal breeding habitat for many species of common songbird, like Šumska Crvenperka, Kratkoprsti puzavac and Brezov Zviždak. Other breeding species are Kukmasta sjenica, Jelova sjenica , Crnoglava sjenica and Planinska sjenica. Many woodpeckers can be found in the area and all five species are present: Veliki Djetlić, Crvenoglavi djetlić, Mali djetao, Zelena žuna and Crna žuna. In the evening, courtship flights of Šumska šljuka can be seen along the edges of the forest. In winter, the area is home to a variety of wintering birds, like large flocks of finches and tits. Within these flocks, smaller numbers of Zlatoglavi Kraljić and Vatroglavi Kraljić can be present.

Predatory birds can often be seen flying over the area, like the common Škanjac and Vjetruša, but also scarcer species like Škanjac osaš and Crvena lunja. Small numbers of Gavran can also be seen flying low above the forests.

Details

Access

The area is accessable on foot and by bike. The area has a total of six entrances and there are many tracks in the area, differing in length between several to about 20 kilometers. The best entrance to the park is shown on the map (see P) and can be reached by parking the car in the Netherlands and crossing the border. There are several other trails possible, but this map shows one of the many possibilities.

Terrain and Habitat

Forest , Scattered trees and bushes , Moors/heathland

Conditions

Flat

Circular trail

Yes

Is a telescope useful?

No

Good birding season

Winter , Spring

Best time to visit

Spring , Winter

Route

Paved road , Unpaved road

Difficulty walking trail

Easy

Accessible by

Foot , Bicycle

Birdwatching hide / platform

No

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