Opis
The small river Selz has been renaturalised at this reserve and European Beavers have recolonised as well. Along with an area of flooded marshes, reedbeds, ponds, grassland and scattered riverine woodland, some regionally scarce breeders are present and over the years a wide variety of passage and winter birds have been recorded. Over 200 species are now on the reserve list. A concerted effort in Spring on a good day can produce 70 species at the reserve and along the river.
The main attraction for most will be spring and summer reedbed visitors, such as podróżniczek, brzęczka and błotniak stawowy. trzciniak has become more regular. wąsatka appears on passage and in some years has stayed to breed. remiz has bred but nowadays is generally a scarce migrant. There is a czapla siwa colony and scarcer relatives such as ślepowron, czapla nadobna, bączek, czapla purpurowa and bąk have all been recorded in recent years, some regularly.
Passage waders can be found on the pools or flooded grasslands, but this is heavily dependent on weather and water level conditions. More regular are samotnik, łęczak, brodziec piskliwy and kwokacz. krwawodziób, biegus zmienny, sieweczka rzeczna, sieweczka obrożna, batalion and brodziec śniady are no longer regular but also possible. Local scarcities such as rycyk, szablodziób, kulik mniejszy, biegus krzywodzioby, biegus mały and even płatkonóg płaskodzioby have all been recorded here and along the river. siewka złota and mornel have been recorded migrating overhead on occasion.
żuraw, bocian czarny and bocian biały are regular visitors, and the latter has started to breed. The woodlands hold good numbers of słowik rdzawy and wilga (zwyczajna). dzięcioł średni has recently colonised the area. In adjacent meadows and scrub gąsiorek, kląskawka, pliszka żółta and potrzeszcz can be found on passage and breeding. pójdźka and uszatka breed, as does kobuz, kania ruda and kania czarna.
Wildfowl numbers, mostly dabbing ducks, build up modestly in Spring and Autumn with cyraneczka, krzyżówka, and krakwa being the most easily encountered. Visibility can be a challenge with reeds obscuring the pools, so try using a scope from higher ground. In most winters, singles or low numbers of wild geese are recorded among the resident groups of gęgawa, the most regular being gęś białoczelna, followed by gęś tundrowa. A łabędź krzykliwy was a recent and unusual overwinterer. siwerniak is regular on passage and sometimes winter.
Szczegóły
Dostęp
Limited free parking is available at a couple of small paved areas next to the L432 between Hahnheim and Sörgenloch. This road is also on a bus-route (652) with the nearest bus-stop at Wahlheimer Hof to the east of the reserve, or alternatively at Sörgenloch to the west. A path, paved only on most of the southern side, circumvents the pools, grassland, and reedbeds. Cycling this part of the southern edge is possible, but other stretches are often high grass (beware of ticks) and can be muddy depending on conditions. An official paved cycling route veers west of the reserve when at the south-western corner but returns to the Selz shortly afterwards. Beaver activity and excessive rain sometimes causes extensive localised flooding.

