Best European birding spot in September (1 Viewer)

[johnraven]

Would any one have views on where would be the best place to spend a week birding in Europe in September? I am thinking migration, but any ideas v welcome. Perhaps east for different birds to UK?

 

[albatross02]

Would any one have views on where would be the best place to spend a week birding in Europe in September? I am thinking migration, but any ideas v welcome. Perhaps east for different birds to UK?

Hi Johnraven,

in Germany the best time for migration is around 15. - 20. Oktober.
Last year in this time we had more than 54.000 cranes on Linumer Bruch near Berlin.
Also in this time we had around 200.000 geese and more than 10.000 cranes lot of Ducks and also small assemblies of White-tailed Eagle on lake Guelper See, 80 west of Berlin.

Best regards
Dieter

 

[Julian Sykes Wildlife]

The raptors (and other species) migrating across the Straits of Gibraltar (Southern Spain) during September must take some beating.

Easy to organise too.

Cheers Jules

 

[John Butler]

Would any one have views on where would be the best place to spend a week birding in Europe in September? I am thinking migration, but any ideas v welcome. Perhaps east for different birds to UK?

Hi John.

If you are thinking of the migration period then you should seriously be considering Tarifa in Spain. It is THE migration site for birds migrating back to Africa after spending the summer in Europe.
Tarifa offers the shortest sea crossing between Spain and Morocco (9 miles) and it is the chosen route taken by hundreds of thousands of storks, vultures, eagles, harriers, kites, kestrels, buzzards, falcons, etc. and millions of passerines, hirundines and waders.
Certainly, there will be many different birds to what you see in the UK, like Bonelli´s, Booted and Short-toed Eagles, Lesser Kestrels, White and Black Storks, Griffon, Black and Egyptian Vultures, Black Kites, Honey Buzzards, Rollers, Bee-eaters, Golden Orioles, Great Spotted Cuckoos and Hoopoes, to name just a few.

Let me know if you want more info on Tarifa.

 

[Ernesto]

Would any one have views on where would be the best place to spend a week birding in Europe in September? I am thinking migration, but any ideas v welcome. Perhaps east for different birds to UK?

Hi John,

If I had a week free in September no doubts I would choose Hortobagy in Hungary, both for resident breeders and migrants. The list of migrants is too long, but includes Dotterels (sometimes in hundreds), eagles such as Lesser and Greater Spotted Eagles, Pallid Harriers, plus the good chance of Saker, Eastern Imperial Eagle and Long-legged Buzzard. I do not mention the list of migrant songbirds as it is too long.
Of course it is not a bottle-neck area, so some efforts (and luck) in finding the birds have to be taken into account.
cheers

Ernesto

 

[njlarsen]

Not sure about the timing, but Bosporus in Turkey does have migration too, with much more easterly species than UK. An old favorite would be Falsterbo in SW Sweden, but again, I cannot of the top of my head remember which species migrate through during which part of September.

Niels

 

[johnraven]

Thanks for all the tips, v interesting. Any thoughts on how Bulgaria/Turkey compares to a westerly route - Spain/Gibraltar?