Migratory Wader Stopover — Wadden Sea, Schleswig-Holstein & Niedersachsen

About this spectacle

Twice each year, the vast intertidal mudflats of the Wadden Sea transform into one of the most extraordinary wildlife spectacles on Earth. Ten to twelve million migratory birds — knots, dunlins, oystercatchers, bar-tailed godwits and more — funnel through this critical refuelling station on the East Atlantic Flyway. At high tide the birds are pushed off the flats and compress into massive, writhing roosts on exposed sandbanks: dense clouds of knots wheel in perfect synchrony, flashing silver and rust against grey North Sea skies. As the tide ebbs, the mudflats emerge kilometre by kilometre and the roosts dissolve into restless, probing flocks that spread in every direction. The soundscape is extraordinary — a constant background of piping, whistling and the rush of thousands of wings. Dawn arrivals at the roost, silhouetted against pale tidal light, offer some of the most dramatic birdwatching in Europe. The scale is almost incomprehensible: the mudflat surface appears to move as a living carpet of birds.

When to go

Jan — Dec, peak Jul — May

Getting there

Nearest airport: BRE. Nearest city: Bremerhaven.

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