Last weekend, I returned to the wonderful Moorlinse Buch in Berlin, which I discovered only last October. The only geese around were Greylags but the winter visitors had been replaced by plenty of breeding Red-necked Grebes. Some of the nests were ridiculously close to the shore, and the above picture was taken with my mobile phone! There were lots of singing Nightingales too, with a hunting Marsh Harrier, displaying Goldeneyes, migrating Swallows and a single, male Garganey. In some scrubby woodland nearby, I got great looks at a female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and found both Common Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher, whilst a marshy area surrounded by reeds was full of calling Blue-headed Wagtails and at least six Wood Sandpipers. This is fast becoming one of my favourite city birding sites and is well worth a full morning if you are ever in Berlin.
