Rate birdingplace Plan d'Eau de Plobsheim
Description
The lake of Plobsheim is a large basin that was build to regulate the water of the river Ill. There are shallow waters in the south and deeper waters in the north where the basin is conected to the river Rhine.
In migrating times the south is a good place to watch waders like Kızılbacak , Kara kızılbacak , Yeşilbacak , Küçük kumkuşu and Karakarınlı kumkuşu . Other migrating species are Sumru, Hazar sumrusu and Balık kartalı . There is a chance to see rarer species like Bıyıklı Sumru , Akkanatlı sumru and Küçük ak balýkçýl hunting for fish. In spring and summer the northern part of the area is rather uninteresting for watching birds. That changes in autumn and especially in winter.
Almost the whole year but especially in winter the area is one of the best places in the Upper Rhine region to watch all sorts of ducks, grebes and divers. Even rarer species like Buz Dalgýcý , Pasbaş Patka and Tarakdiş can be found here. For divers the north of the area is a good place to have a look in winter. It can be worth it to look a the gulls more closely. Sometimes there are Küçük martı , Akdeniz Martısı and Gümüş martı between the Gümüş martı and Karabağ martı .
In the forest near by you can see Sarıasma and Kara sinekkapan in summer and all sorts of woodpeckers.
Details
Access
The area is near the city of Strasbourg. The nearest trainstation can be found in the village Erstein. From there the site can be reached by bike. Furthermore there are many spots to park your car. Click on a P in the map for directions.
) to insert bird names in your own language. The birdnames will automatically be translated for other users!
FR: Hélas, les distances d'observation sont un peu grandes. Mais, en hiver, les espèces sont exceptionnelles ! Un incontournable !
EN: Unfortunately, the viewing distances are a bit large. But, in winter, the species are exceptional! A must!
I have been there in late August from approx. 15:00 - 17:00. I haven't really seen anything special, just a lot of Kuğu and the usual waterbirds. Karabatak ... I started at the point in the north where there was really nothing to observe until the point where there is the red sign on the map above. There I could see many Kuğu (but nothing else). I tried going a bit further but I did not have enough time to really go any further. I would really much recommend to start the route at the other side and then consider on how far you wanna walk that trail. This site might be better in winter, but for me in summer the place was nothing special today.
FR: Super sortie, sur un magnifique site. Observation exceptionnelle de Büyük tarakdiş, de Altıngöz, de Macar ördeği, de Buz Dalgýcý et de Küçük Karabatak ! Un site incontournable pour les oiseaux d'eau hivernants en Alsace.
EN: Magnificent site. Outstanding observations of Büyük tarakdiş, Altıngöz, Macar ördeği, Buz Dalgýcý and Küçük Karabatak! An essential site for wintering waterbirds in Alsace.
The Krafft end of the Plan d'eau de Plobsheim can be a source of constant disappointment given the distances involved and the possibility of inconsiderate fishermen spooking every bird in the area, but it's also the place where I've seen Küçük Karabatak, Alaca Balikçil, Sarıbacaklı kumkuşu, Çeltikçi, Arı Şahini and several other species that are very unlikely to be found anywhere else in the Bas-Rhin. A spotting scope is essential rather than merely useful, and close-up photos are highly unlikely, but it's worth checking out faune-france or faune-alsace for recent sightings to find out whether a visit might be worthwhile anyway. (The northern end around Sept-Ecluses probably deserves its own page)