The Migratory Bird Days on Juist

Birds you'll see on Juist include, for example:

• Gulls
• Terns
• Waders
• shelducks

... which you will see especially often at their favorite place, the wide Juist beach.

By the way: They are "waders" and not "wading birds", because these little creatures got their name not from the Wadden Sea, but from their mode of locomotion - wading.

Basically all year round, but (depending on weather conditions - because birds like clear, quite windless weather for flying) the busy birds migrate towards their breeding grounds sometimes already in January, but mostly rather in March to May. Back home they usually start in June, but in September and October you will probably see the most migratory birds.

More precisely, on the day of your choice, it is best to get up early, because the bird migration is most intense in the early morning. Then a true spectacle of ducks, geese, gulls and terns awaits you. If you want to watch migrating songbirds, you have to be on your way even earlier, because these little "guys" usually move from place to place during the night.

But you can see the waders all day long. But here again the tides play a major role: When the tide is low, the waders spread out over the mudflats and can only be seen from a great distance. For a good photo you need a camera with the right zoom. But the waders come closer at high tide, because then they gather in large groups on the salt marshes and on the beaches.

On their journey from Greenland to South Africa, the birds like to use the East Frisian Islands as a kind of waymarker, so that on Juist the migrating birds can be seen particularly well.

With all observations and all fascination: Please keep in mind that these animals are easily frightened and should better not be disturbed during the preparations of their journey. Keep an appropriate distance from resting birds and stay on the signposted paths.