Short Walk along the Klingnau Reservoir Lake, a Birdwatcher's Paradise

Wednesday May 29, 2024 -- A bit of nice weather in the morning, so we did a very short walk along Lake Klingnau (Klingnauersee) very near the German border, as we also sometimes like to go shopping or for lunch in Germany, where things are still slightly cheaper than in Switzerland.

Lake Klingnauersee (which is not really a lake but rather a widening of the Aar River due to a power plant dam) is a popular spot for birdwatchers, and apparently the kingfishers like to nest there, so that is what we were hoping to see, but no such luck. We did do the same walk once before but in winter when there was no green at all, so it was nice to see it at a different time of year. Also, they have built a viewing platform since the last time we were here, but we really didn't see a whole lot of different birds. The weather was nicer than expected, but almost too warm for the rather monotonous walk. 

Getting into Waldshut, Germany, was a bit stressful this time, as there is construction going on on the railway bridge between Switzerland and Germany, so we have to take a bus, and the traffic across the vehicle bridge at customs is quite bad. But we had a reasonably priced lunch at my favourite Asian shop, followed by some wonderful Gelato at one of several places in the main town. I have to admit, it used to be much nicer in this little village years back when I used to come often, but somehow it has become known to the tourists, as so many such cute places are, and therefore almost always overcrowded. 

The rain started just as we left the ice-cream place, so the weather held out longer than expected. 

Crossing the bridge at Döttingen and looking north along the widening of the Aare River. The dam at the far end has created a reservoir lake called Klingnauer Stausee. We started here at 9:40.

Lake Klingnau, a "Bird Paradise all Year Round"

Our goal of the day was some shopping in Waldshut, Germany but this lake is close to the border, so we started with a short 5-km hike along the lake to Koblenz, from where we took a bus across the border to the North. (The Rhine River forms the country border here). 

Starting in Döttingen, the trail along the "Aare Riverbank" takes just over an hour to walk to the train station in Koblenz. 

The lush vegetation along the lake

The trail along the lake is long and straight and paved, which is a bit boring. Had we actually seen a king-fisher, we would have been much happier. Apparently, another popular bird here (seldom seen but much heard) is the "Little Grebe", which we also did not see, and are not sure if we heard it. It is one of Switzerland's smallest water birds, and was voted "Bird of the Year 2024".

This new observation tower was not here when we first did this walk in 2015. Across from the platform is a new information center called "Birdlife Center", unfortunately only open in the afternoon that we were there. 

I think that is a great white egret

View south along the bird sanctuary toward the town of Döttingen where we started our hike

Some of the water birds we observed from the tower

Hidden in the trees on the left is a military bunker and straight ahead is the hydro-power plant and the dam which we can cross.

Even crows are birds which enjoy this sanctuary!

This common bird has the unfortunate name of Great Tit. 

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Much noise in the reeds, some of which are definitely frogs, but are there also birds here? Definitely not kingfishers, though.

And we saw absolutely nothing of what was making all this noise. 

Just 1½ km to the west is a town called Leuggern. That large building is a hospital. 

We left the main trail along the lake for a parallel side trail which was more interesting, and also led next to this most beautiful field of red poppies and blue cornflowers!

What lovely meadow-flowers!

At the north end of the lake is a town called Gippingen, and we walked on its outskirts back to the dam

Small town called Gippingen. For this walk along the lake, we actually had better weather than expected, and it was quite warm!

Crossing a small canal before getting to the dam. (There is another moor landscape here called Grippinger Grien which we originally wanted to walk through, then continue along the river to a ferry across the Rhine River to Waldshut, but we had no confirmation if the ferry was running, and really wanted to be in Waldshut for lunch. So we did a shorter walk to the train station in Koblenz). 

Crossing the hydro dam. 

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The water level is pretty high, so the run-off (water not going through the turbines to create electricity) is pretty powerful.

The water is very high due to lots of rain in the past couple of weeks, so the overflow was very strong! Looking north, those hills are in Germany. 

In March 2015 (dark pink) we started in a town called Klingnau and walked through there first before crossing the bridge and walking along the west side of the lake. This time we started right at the bridge in Döttingen. From Koblenz train station there is a connection to Waldshut in Germany, but till end of 2024 we have to take the bus, as the railway bridge is being renovated. 

First of two old gates in Waldshut town in Germany (from home, a trip to here usually only takes an hour and 40 minutes by train). I have been here many times for shopping, usually on sunnier days!

Main street of old town Waldshut, where there are many outdoor restaurants and at least two ice-cream places! Even with the weather turning (later it rained), there were quite a few people here. Also, Wednesday is market day. 

Main street old town Waldshut

Up ahead is the west gate of the town. 

Walking down a side road toward the Asian bistro shop, we came across a small church tucked in between other buildings. In all the times I've been here, I had never noticed this!

After lunch we treated ourselves to hand-made Italian Gelato! Urs had boring old Baileys', but I tried three new flavours: Kiwi, Salted Caramel, and one called "Summer in the City", which was more of a sorbet with lemon, strawberry and basil! It was so good!

Location of Waldshut in relation to where we live in Zug