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Description
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 slávik modrák, svrčiak slávikovitý and kaňa močiarna. trsteniarik veľký has become more regular. fúzatka trstinová appears on passage and in some years has stayed to breed. kúdeľníčka lužná has bred but nowadays is generally a scarce migrant. There is a volavka popolavá colony and scarcer relatives such as chavkoš nočný, beluša malá, bučiačik močiarny, volavka purpurová and bučiak veľký 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 kalužiak perlavý, kalužiak močiarny, kalužiačik malý and kalužiak sivý. kalužiak červenonohý, pobrežník čiernozobý, kulík riečný, kulík piesočný, bojovník bahenný and kalužiak tmavý are no longer regular but also possible. Local scarcities such as brehár čiernochvostý, šabliarka modronohá, hvizdák malý, pobrežník krivozobý, pobrežník sivý and even lyskonoh ploskozobý have all been recorded here and along the river. kulík zlatý and kulík vrchovský have been recorded migrating overhead on occasion.
žeriav popolavý, bocian čierny and bocian biely are regular visitors, and the latter has started to breed. The woodlands hold good numbers of slávik obyčajný and vlha obyčajná. ďateľ prostredný has recently colonised the area. In adjacent meadows and scrub strakoš obyčajný, pŕhľaviar čiernohlavý, trasochvost žltý and strnádka lúčna can be found on passage and breeding. kuvik obyčajný and myšiarka ušatá breed, as does sokol lastovičiar, haja červená and haja tmavá.
Wildfowl numbers, mostly dabbing ducks, build up modestly in Spring and Autumn with kačica chrapka, kačica divá, and kačica chripľavka 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 hus divá, the most regular being hus bieločelá, followed by hus tundrová. A labuť spevavá was a recent and unusual overwinterer. ľabtuška vrchovská is regular on passage and sometimes winter.
Details
Access
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.