Alsatian Storks

Riquewehr is where I saw a lot of them nesting. Fyi, it was early December.

In June, 2012 we saw storks and nests in Eguisheim. There were nests on the chimneys of the chateau. They have a Stork Festival in June, I think. We weren't there for it.

Colmar is where we saw the most storks, particularly on the cathedral.

If you go north from Strasbourg, along the river, towards Lauterbourg, you'll find storks. especially in the morning and evenings in the fields.

and just cross the river towards Freiburg im Breisgau and you will find a stork nest at the Schallstadt railway station on an electric pole. The same family returns year after year. I have seen them for at least 3 years. And in the fields east of Gengenbach they are regularly feeding in the fields.

A bit further north and east (yes I know it isn't Alsace, but hey ho) is the beautiful village of Dinkelsbühl which has a nest on top of the library or town hall which is monitored by CCTV and there are screens in the window which allow you to watch what's happening above.

Leonard, that's only funny because I've stayed in Colmar four times separate times and have never seen a stork there. Had to go to Riquewehr to see one. Go figure.

There us a nature parc near Hunawihr between Riquewihr and Ribeauville that us worth a visit. We walked from Riquewihr to Ribeauville and stopped during our trek. There are nests at eye level as you walk a raised walkway. Sprng is a great time there!https://naturoparc.fr/

Our first day in Colmar we walked around town, not looking for storks. The second day we bicycled to Eguisheim and saw our first storks. That evening, back in Colmar, we looked UP and saw their nests on the cathedral.

Well we dint got no storks, but we got a county outside San Antonio, Texas where some folk still talk Alsatian and complain about the "English" that dont.

Thank you to everyone for the input. The interest in seeing the storks was based on my fascination with big, awkward birds. We just had a pelican fly by our patio and as we traveled down the Rhine in 2014, we saw flocks of them near Bern-kastel Keus (SPELLING?). We also saw a nest in Rothenburg that trip, which makes the suggestions for places in Germany worth considering.

A bunch of storks nest on rooftops in Ribeauville.
Have fun stalking the storks!

Thanks to strict environmental protection, they are actually fairly common in northeast France and southwest Germany (again). Nests on roofs and chimneys are popping up again, and your chances are good to just see them on a meadow looking for snacks - particularly if the meadow is a little marshy.

In fact, even if it is in Alsace that they are easiest to see, there are storks almost everywhere in the north of France, and even in Charente Maritime, so Royan, La Rochelle etc. You just need to be informed of where to see them and when. So we have the choice between choucroute and moules frites 😄!

Last July, after following the Tour de France in other parts of France, we stayed in Bergheim, what Rick Steves described as the “least touristy of the Wine Road towns. I have photos from the deck of our room of a stork that landed on a chimney a couple of buildings away at dusk, later joined by its mate, after which lots of beak clicking ensued. They mate for life, I learned.

Strolling the street for a closer view of the birds, who stayed there for at least two hours, a striped yellow cat ran across the street to me, and rolled on its back at my feet, purring loudly. I don’t know if it thought I was somebody it knew, or it just recognized a cat (and animal) person!

At the town square the next morning, several buildings had storks, perched on nest platforms that had been placed there for them. We bought a bottle of Cremant d’ Alsace local bubbly, featuring a cartoon stork on the label, wearing a crown and a royal robe. Bergheim certainly values its storks. Whether spring is any different than late July, I don’t know.