Rhine delta on Lake Constance: migration and winter rafts

Ducks (tufted, pochard, red-crested pochard, goldeneye), great crested grebe, coot, whooper swans; waders and terns on passage; 330 species recorded. Naturschutzgebiet Rheindelta, Vorarlberg, Austria.

Best time: 15 Nov – 31 Jan and 1 Aug – 30 Sep and 15 Apr – 15 May (November to January, April to May, August to September). Where: Rohrspitz (Fußach), Fußacher Bucht / Rheinmündung, Hard – Lagunen / Bregenzer Achmündung (Austria). Time of day: Gull roost lifts in the 30 min around sunrise.

• You can go on your own
• Free
• Telescope recommended
• Sound 3/5

Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.

When is the best time?

• Peak 1: 15 Nov – 31 Jan — Mid November to end of January: winter rafts
• Peak 2: 1 Aug – 30 Sep — August–September: autumn wader passage on the exposed mud
• Peak 3: 15 Apr – 15 May — Mid April to mid May: spring wader passage

Active from 1 Aug to 15 May (August to May) in a typical year.

Time of day

Gull roost lifts in the 30 min around sunrise; duck rafts and swans through the first 2 h of light before the airfield wakes; swans and geese call on the Fußacher Bucht at night from the dyke.

• Dawn: 30 min before sunrise → 2 h after sunrise
• Evening: 30 min before sunset → 90 min after last light

What will you hear?

Diving-duck rafts and wing-whistle, coot, whooper swans, gull roosts, curlew and godwit on the shallows in autumn; reed warblers and bittern in spring; the lake's fetch.

Binoculars?

Telescope recommended. Rafts and waders are 200 m to 1 km out from the Rohrspitz towers; scope recommended, binoculars minimum.

Where to go

• Rohrspitz (Fußach) — Peninsula between lagoons; shallow water west to Wetterwinkel holds the big winter flocks; observation towers. Map
• Fußacher Bucht / Rheinmündung — River mouth with mudflats; waders on passage. Map
• Hard – Lagunen / Bregenzer Achmündung — Eastern delta; gull and tern colonies in summer. Map

How to go on your own, and what it costs

Rohrspitz: park at Fußach and walk or cycle the dyke to the towers; Fußacher Bucht and the Hard lagoons from the lakeside paths — all free and open at night; no entry to lagoons or reed, no boats in winter.

Cost: Free.

Field-recording notes

The delta is squeezed between Bregenz, the A14 and Altenrhein airfield (St. Gallen–Altenrhein, small jets and light aircraft by day) — dawn on a windless winter day is the window. The nature reserve restricts access to paths and dykes (no entry to the lagoons or reed), and boats are banned in the reserve zone in winter. The Bodensee 'Föhn' can kill a session; check the Vorarlberg forecast. Whooper swans and geese roost on the Fußacher Bucht and call at night — the dyke path is open.

Sources

• Bodensee-Vorarlberg – Naturschutzgebiet Rheindelta
• OAB – Vorarlberger Rheindelta

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More: all spectacles in Austria · winter geese, swans and ducks · January · Austria in April · Austria in May · August · Austria in September · November · Austria in December