A completely different day. A sunny, warm early March day. Not a cloud in the sky. We drive up to the northeastern corner of the site to walk in the woods and around the wetlands of the northern marsh. Auspicious start with two ringtail Hen Harriers moving northeast just on the edge of Laubbach.
We're not that early on site today - 9.30 - and meeting someone, so we're in no rush to leave the carpark. The open flat floodplain of the river Ostrach stretches up north to the town of Ostrach, a shimmering velvety green punctuated with white flecks - most of them Mute Swans, but a few Great Egrets sprinkled around the view too. Greylag Geese are paired up and eagerly stuffing themselves on the new growth. A pair of Lapwing - now a real rarity in this part of the world - appear to be taking an interest in the meadows nearest the river. If they stay to try and breed, that would be something, but their chances are slim.
We amble down to the Bannwaldturm, a 35-m high tower on the edge of the Bannwald, offering a spectacular view across the reserve and far into the distance. On a clear day you can see for miles - today's rather hazy, but you can still see for a good few kilometres. And the blued haze of the distant ridges rising towards the foothills of the Alps are a beautiful sight, even if they're not crisp and clear. Everywhere you look, there are circling raptors: Buzzards and Red Kites in pairs and trios, occasionally five or six together. There's a whole lot of migration going on here and the residents are anxiously keeping the migrants away from their own territories. A Black Stork circles up from the trees in the distance, effortlessly spiralling up above the horizon and then gliding off towards the southwest: perhaps on a mission to repair the nest, perhaps just looking for a meal. Soon afterwards a whacking great female Goshawk climbs out of the same area of woodland, advertising herself with deep, deep wingbeats and fluffed-out undertail coverts. Despite careful searching we fail to find a male displaying with her and, after a while, she drops back down into the trees.
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| The view south from the Bannwaldturm, across the re-wetted moor |
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| Looking east across the wet meadows - here be all sorts of delights in season. |
We spend a long time at the top of the tower, mainly watching kites and buzzards, listening to the thin song of a Stonechat drifting up from the meadows below. Eventually it's time to move again though. We spiral back down to ground level, then head southwest along the boardwalk to the Fünfeckweiher. The path leads through re-wetted moorland along the banks of the old drainage ditch, now brim-full with water and fallen wood. The pines and spruces on the north side of the ditch are surrounded with a thick green carpet of clubmosses and ericaceous shrubs; to the south of the ditch most of the nearest trees have been drowned by the raised water-level - a tangled 3-D jigsaw of bleached wood and burgeoning vegetation between it. Dunnocks and Willow Tits provide the base soundtrack, a few Crested Tits purr in between.
The Fünfeckweiher is a lively place today: Greylags are busy nest-building on the islands, Teal and Mallard loaf around the edges of the pool, a few Gadwall strewn among them. A couple of Cormorants drying their wings as far away from the people as possible. Yet more buzzards and kites overhead, and then a third ringtail Hen Harrier for the day glides purposefully northeast over us.
We continue on through the woods, looping back round to the carpark along a series of trails through - variously - wet, spruce, mixed and broadleaf woodland. The bird mix changes with the trees: Willow Tit and Bullfinch, Coal Tit and Nuthatch, Black Woodpecker and Firecrest, Treecreeper and Short-toed Treecreeper all put in appearances. We end the walk with a neatly-rounded 50 bird species, which feels pretty rewarding from such a late start in the day.
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