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Vosges du Nord Regional Nature Park

Natural Park · France

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Photo © Florian Grossir

Photo © Florian Grossir — CC BY-SA 4.0 — Source: Wikimedia Commons

ABOUT

Where the sandstone plateau of the northern Vosges fractures into wooded ridges and narrow valleys, a protected landscape unfolds across the Franco-German border country. This is a park of low, rounded hills cloaked in beech and oak, of damp hollows where ferns and mosses thrive, and of open pastures and orchard meadows that break the forest canopy. The climate is temperate and humid with no dry season, so water is present year-round in streams, ponds and marshy clearings, and the vegetation stays green through a long growing season. Ecologically the park is a mosaic: mature broadleaf woodland, wet meadows, hedgerows and small wetlands knit together into a habitat network that supports woodland songbirds, birds of prey, small forest mammals, amphibians and a rich invertebrate fauna. The sandstone geology gives the terrain its distinctive character, with rock outcrops, cliffs and eroded formations that add vertical structure to an otherwise gentle landscape.

For photographers and birdwatchers, the appeal lies in the combination of accessible forest tracks, quiet wetland edges and the soft, changeable light of a continental climate. Spring brings migrant songbirds back to the woods and hedgerows, summer offers long, workable daylight and active breeding groups, and autumn turns the broadleaf canopy into a palette of copper and gold while migratory birds move through. Winter is cold and often misty, revealing the bones of the landscape and concentrating birds of prey and small mammals around open ground and unfrozen water. The park is well served by marked trails and viewing points, making it easy to work a range of habitats in a single day, from dense woodland interior to open meadow and pond margins. Patience at the forest edge, at first light or in the fading afternoon, rewards the visitor with the kind of quiet encounters that define serious wildlife watching.

WILDLIFE

Month

Type

Eurasian Eagle-Owl

Anas platyrhynchos

Aythya fuligula

Common Merganser

Mergus merganser

Common Pheasant

Phasianus colchicus

Cuculus canorus

Common Wood Pigeon

Columba palumbus

Eurasian Collared Dove

Streptopelia decaocto

Rallus aquaticus

Tachybaptus ruficollis

Eurasian Dotterel

Eudromias morinellus

Eurasian Woodcock

Scolopax rusticola

Common Sandpiper

Actitis hypoleucos

Black-headed Gull

Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Ciconia ciconia

Great Cormorant

Phalacrocorax carbo

European Honey Buzzard

Pernis apivorus

Eurasian Sparrowhawk

Accipiter nisus

Common Kingfisher

Eurasian Wryneck

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

Dendrocoptes medius

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Dryobates minor

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Dendrocopos major

Black Woodpecker

Dryocopus martius

European Green Woodpecker

Falco tinnunculus

Red-footed Falcon

Falco vespertinus

Peregrine Falcon

Falco peregrinus

Eurasian Golden Oriole

Oriolus oriolus

Red-backed Shrike

Lanius collurio

Garrulus glandarius

Eurasian Magpie

Northern Nutcracker

Nucifraga caryocatactes

Western Jackdaw

Coloeus monedula

Lophophanes cristatus

Poecile palustris

Poecile montanus

Eurasian Blue Tit

Cyanistes caeruleus

Lullula arborea

Eurasian Skylark

Alauda arvensis

Riparia riparia

Eurasian Crag Martin

Ptyonoprogne rupestris

Hirundo rustica

Western House Martin

Delichon urbicum

Long-tailed Tit

Aegithalos caudatus

Phylloscopus sibilatrix

Phylloscopus trochilus

Common Chiffchaff

Phylloscopus collybita

Eurasian Blackcap

Sylvia atricapilla

Common Firecrest

Regulus ignicapilla

Regulus regulus

Troglodytes troglodytes

Eurasian Nuthatch

Tichodroma muraria

Eurasian Treecreeper

Certhia familiaris

Short-toed Treecreeper

Certhia brachydactyla

Common Starling

Sturnus vulgaris

Turdus philomelos

Turdus viscivorus

Common Blackbird

Turdus torquatus

Spotted Flycatcher

Muscicapa striata

Erithacus rubecula

European Pied Flycatcher

Ficedula hypoleuca

Phoenicurus ochruros

Common Redstart

Phoenicurus phoenicurus

Saxicola rubetra

European Stonechat

Saxicola rubicola

Northern Wheatear

Oenanthe oenanthe

White-throated Dipper

Cinclus cinclus

White-winged Snowfinch

Montifringilla nivalis

Passer domesticus

Alpine Accentor

Prunella collaris

Prunella modularis

Motacilla cinerea

Anthus pratensis

Anthus trivialis

Anthus spinoletta

Eurasian Chaffinch

Fringilla coelebs

Fringilla montifringilla

Coccothraustes coccothraustes

Eurasian Bullfinch

Pyrrhula pyrrhula

European Greenfinch

Chloris chloris

Linaria cannabina

Acanthis flammea

Loxia curvirostra

European Goldfinch

Carduelis carduelis

Serinus serinus

Eurasian Siskin

Emberiza citrinella

Emberiza cirlus

Coturnix coturnix

Red-legged Partridge

European Nightjar

Caprimulgus europaeus

European Turtle Dove

Streptopelia turtur

Gallinula chloropus

Eurasian Curlew

Numenius arquata

Green Sandpiper

Tringa ochropus

Pandion haliaetus

Western Marsh Harrier

Circus aeruginosus

Short-eared Owl

European Bee-eater

Merops apiaster

Grey-headed Woodpecker

Falco columbarius

Corvus frugilegus

Bohemian Waxwing

Bombycilla garrulus

Galerida cristata

Acrocephalus palustris

Icterine Warbler

Hippolais icterina

Common Grasshopper Warbler

Locustella naevia

Common Whitethroat

Curruca communis

Common Nightingale

Luscinia megarhynchos

Western Yellow Wagtail

Motacilla flava

Anthus campestris

Carduelis citrinella

Plectrophenax nivalis

Emberiza calandra

Ortolan Bunting

Emberiza hortulana

Alopochen aegyptiaca

Tadorna ferruginea

Aix galericulata

Mareca strepera

Red-crested Pochard

Tetrastes bonasia

Western Capercaillie

Tetrao urogallus

Tachymarptis melba

Northern Lapwing

Vanellus vanellus

Gallinago gallinago

Griffon Vulture

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Circaetus gallicus

Aquila chrysaetos

Montagu's Harrier

Circus pygargus

Western Barn Owl

Aegolius funereus

Eurasian Pygmy Owl

Glaucidium passerinum

Rose-ringed Parakeet

Psittacula krameri

Great Grey Shrike

Lanius excubitor

Woodchat Shrike

Western Bonelli's Warbler

Phylloscopus bonelli

Common Reed Warbler

Acrocephalus scirpaceus

Melodious Warbler

Hippolais polyglotta

African Stonechat

Saxicola torquatus

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Passer montanus

Common Reed Bunting

Emberiza schoeniclus

Cairina moschata

Western Roe Deer

Capreolus capreolus

Western Red Deer

Lepus europaeus

Myocastor coypus

European Garden Dormouse

Eliomys quercinus

Muscardinus avellanarius

Eurasian Red Squirrel

Sciurus vulgaris

Eurasian Beaver

Clethrionomys glareolus

Ondatra zibethicus

Yellow-necked Field Mouse

Apodemus flavicollis

Rattus norvegicus

West European Hedgehog

Erinaceus europaeus

European Pine Marten

European Badger

Mustela nivalis

European Wildcat

Felis silvestris

Northern Chamois

Rupicapra rupicapra

Common Fallow Deer

Eurasian Wild Boar

European Rabbit

Oryctolagus cuniculus

European Fat Dormouse

Marmota marmota

Short-tailed Field Vole

Microtus agrestis

Microtus arvalis

Long-tailed Field Mouse

Apodemus sylvaticus

Eurasian Harvest Mouse

Micromys minutus

Greater White-toothed Shrew

Crocidura russula

Schreibers's Long-fingered Bat

Miniopterus schreibersii

Bechstein's Myotis

Myotis bechsteinii

Brandt's Myotis

Myotis brandtii

Daubenton's Myotis

Myotis daubentonii

Geoffroy's Myotis

Myotis emarginatus

Common Whiskered Myotis

Myotis mystacinus

Natterer's Myotis

Myotis nattereri

Leisler's Noctule

Nyctalus leisleri

Nyctalus noctula

Nathusius's Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus nathusii

Common Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus pipistrellus

Soprano Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus pygmaeus

Western Barbastelle

Barbastella barbastellus

Brown Long-eared Bat

Plecotus auritus

Gray Long-eared Bat

Plecotus austriacus

Eurasian Particolored Bat

Vespertilio murinus

Greater Horseshoe Bat

Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

Lesser Horseshoe Bat

Rhinolophus hipposideros

Mustela erminea

European Polecat

Mustela putorius

Northern Raccoon

Alcathoe Whiskered Myotis

Myotis alcathoe

View Complete List (224 more) →

COMMUNITY

0 Community observations

No community observations yet — be the first to log a sighting here.

Natural environment

Vosges du Nord Regional Nature Park

Strong seasonal contrast, with cold winters and warmer summers.

Usual climateCold humid with mild summersUpland · Lowland

Average annual temperature 7.7 °C Average of the twelve monthly means

Average elevation 840 m Upland

Climate pattern Cold humid with mild summers Also: Humid temperate with mild summers

A year of temperatures

Monthly means, with the coldest and warmest highlighted

Monthly minimum · January -0.4 °C Monthly maximum · July 16.4 °C

Global temperature scale

−40°−20°0°20°40°

Terrain and elevation

840 m · Upland

Average terrain elevation estimate across the hotspot; the figure does not represent its highest summits.

Elevation scale

840 m

02,0004,0006,0008,000m

Upland

Long-term climate averages, not live weather.

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