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Description
You probably wouldn't go out of your way to visit but if you're in Strasbourg anyway, you may find Étang du Karpfenloch a pleasant place to spend a few moments birdwatching, especially in winter when the ducks and other waterbirds have arrived. The big plus aside from its proximity to a big city is the glorious afternoon light on a sunny winter's day.
There will be quite a few walkers passing by. They'll mainly be interested in the beluša veľká as well as the kormorán veľký and volavka popolavá, which are there all year round along with a surprising number of rybárik riečny.
From mid-to-late autumn until the spring, you can find large numbers of kačica chripľavka, accompanied at different times by groups of chochlačka sivá and/or chochlačka vrkočatá and, to a lesser extent, kačica hvizdárka. Towards the back of the pond there should also be several potápka malá and perhaps some potápka chochlatá.
If you stick around for an hour or more, you have a good chance of seeing the raptors that pass semi-regularly but usually briefly. sokol sťahovavý, sokol myšiar (pustovka), myšiak hôrny and jastrab krahulec are all realistic possibilities, and a jastrab veľký has been known to frequent the far side of the pond.
Corvids - mainly vrana čierna, havran čierny and krkavec čierny - congregate nearby in winter and will pass over the pond at various points during the day without necessarily hanging around. There are several ďateľ veľký in the vicinity. tesár čierny can also be found, though not as easily as in the past.
Passerines that you have a good chance of encountering include sýkorka veľká, sýkorka belasá, sýkorka hôrna, brhlík obyčajný and stehlík čížik. In winter, you'll probably hear drozd trskota and drozd čvíkota too.
Details
Access
Étang du Karpfenloch is about 6 km northeast of the city center of Strasbourg. The pond is right next to a car park that shouldn't ever be full (there's more space on the road if necessary). Press P on the map for directions. You can also cycle here quite easily, but there's no public transport. If you're already in Robertsau then it's not too far to walk here from Parc de Pourtales.