The Walk & What You'll See

The roughly 400-metre circular path is easy to navigate on foot at any pace. Along the way you pass enclosures and open areas housing water birds (several duck and goose species), game birds, pigeons, corvids, songbirds, birds of prey, and the aforementioned peacocks. Free-roaming rabbits hop between visitors' feet, and the irrepressible runner ducks trail whoever is holding a bag of approved feed.↗↗

Beyond the birds, small colonies of honeybees and a visible ant nest give entomology enthusiasts a bonus. Wooden information boards along the route explain species behaviour, habitat needs, and broader environmental themes, so the visit doubles as an informal nature lesson.↗

For Families & Children

Feeding the ducks with the station's specially prepared feed is a perennial highlight for young visitors. A barefoot sensory path (Barfußpfad) lets children and adults alike test different ground textures underfoot — gravel, bark, moss, sand — while the Nature Explorer Diploma programme gives school-age kids a structured way to learn about local ecology and conservation. Children from toddler age through pre-teen find plenty to engage with on this short route.↗↗

Getting There & Combining with a Walk

The station sits along the B498 road heading from Osterode toward the Söse Reservoir (Sösetalsperre). The easiest car access is the signed parking area at the Forsthaus Sösetal (Bürgermeister-Schimpf-Straße); from there it is roughly a 500-metre flat walk to the entrance. There is also an alternative parking option at Schwarze Brücke on the same route.↗↗

If you prefer to arrive on foot, several waymarked family hiking loops connect here. The five-kilometre Rundweg Waldvogelstation (Route 6) and the Feenhöhe viewpoint trail both pass through the area, so the bird station works well as the midpoint or finale of a one-to-two-hour woodland walk in the southern Harz.↗

Practical Information

The Waldvogelstation is open Thursday through Sunday, 2 pm to 6 pm, from April to September (last entry at 5 pm). Monday to Wednesday the gates are closed. The site is wheelchair-accessible in terms of parking and paths, and the compact loop means it does not require long distances on foot.↗↗

The station is privately operated by Klaus Dietrich and is not run by the town, so details can shift year to year; a quick phone call ahead (+49 171 8907805) is a sensible step if you are travelling from a distance. Picnic seating and benches scattered along the path make it easy to linger and enjoy the forest atmosphere.↗