Trip Report: Northern Austrian Alps, Spring 2004

Nördliche österreichische Alpen, Frühling 2004

All photos taken during the trip. Do not use without permission. Click to enlarge. Fire Salamander Copyright 2004 Robbin D. Knapp Bird's-nest Orchid Copyright 2004 Robbin D. Knapp Young Coot Copyright 2004 Robbin D. Knapp Snowfinch Copyright 2004 Phil Harris Looking for Alpine Accentors Copyright 2004 Robbin D. Knapp Snowfinch country Copyright 2004 James Hanlon Black Redstart Copyright 2004 Phil Harris Mute Swan Copyright 2004 Robbin D. Knapp Common Blue with beak bites in wing? Copyright 2004 James Hanlon Common Blue Copyright 2004 Phil Harris Chequered Skipper Copyright 2004 James Hanlon Common Heath Copyright 2004 Phil Harris Wood White Copyright 2004 Phil Harris

From May 28 to 31, 2004, three Englishmen, an American from Austria and two native Austrians visited Austria's Salzkammergut region and Salzburg.

Day 1: Friday, May 28, 2004, in and around Salzburg

Darrel and Phil arrived at Salzburg by RyanAir in the morning and James was to arrive in the evening, so we did a day of birding in and around Salzburg. Unfortunately it rained fairly heavily the whole day.
We drove the few kilometers from the airport to the Mönchsberg ("monk mountain") garage in the middle of town and walked across the Salzach River to the Kapuzinerberg ("capuchin mountain"). We took a walk on the wooded mountain (actually more of a large hill), which afforded good views of Salzburg. Here there are apparently Chamois, although we didn't see any. However, we did see an impressive-looking Fire Salamander. On the way back down into the city we saw the first of several Black Redstarts. They are much more common in Austria than Common Redstarts and can be seen in gardens and industrial areas as well as on rocky mountainsides, their original habitat.
Then we drove south to the Leopoldskroner Teich or Weiher (Teich and Weiher both mean "pond"), where we saw several common water birds. Just to the west of the pond is a park where we saw our first target species, a Short-toed Treecreeper, in pouring rain. Then we drove further south toward the Hellbrunn Zoo, where there are free-breeding Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus), which we didn't see. Just south of the zoo there is a Grey Heron colony, where we also saw three free-flying Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus), apparently escaped from the zoo.
Dusk was arriving so we drove back to the city, where I left Darrel and Phil at the Domplatz ("cathedral square"). Here breeding Eagle Owls (Bubo bubo) had been seen for several years just before our expedition. I had information that they weren't there this year, but we decided to give it a try since we were there anyway. Meanwhile James's plane was due, so I had to go to the airport. When we got back Darrel and Phil reported what we already suspected: the Eagle Owls didn't show.
Then it was off to Ebensee on the southern tip of the lake Traunsee, which was our base of operations.

Species seen on first day in and around Salzburg:

Day 2: Saturday, May 29, 2004, Krippenstein and Hallstättersee

The rest of the trip was devoted to the Salzkammergut region, sometimes called Austria's Lake District, on the northern edge of the Alps, with high mountains and deep lakes. We concentrated on Alpine species rather than for example water birds. For the rest of the trip Werner joined us. He is a native Austrian ornithologist who knows the area well.

First we took the Krippenstein ("crèche stone") cable car on the Dachstein ("roof stone") mountain near the town of Obertraun ("upper Traun") and got off at the first station, called Schönbergalm ("beautiful mountain meadow"). It is 1300 m (4265 ft.) above sea level. Here the cable car workers have often seen Snowfinch at the feeder in a window of the cable car station, but we didn't have any luck here. Here we also had our first hopes for Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria), but unfortunately didn't see any the whole trip. However, we did see another target species, the Alpine Chough. Mammals seen were Chamois, Weasel (Mustela nivalis) and Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris).

Species recorded at Schönbergalm (those marked "[more than 3] singing" may or may not have been seen):

Next we got back into the cable car and rode to the top. We stayed around the cable car station, called Krippenstein, which is at 2100 m (6890 ft.) and had several feet of snow on the ground. After waiting a while we got some good observations of a few Snowfinches. Werner, Conny and I climbed higher in the snow looking for Alpine Accentor (Prunella collaris) but didn't find any.

Species recorded at Krippenstein (those marked "singing" may or may not have been seen):

Then we took the cable car back down to the bottom station and searched the woods near the station for woodpeckers. The altitude here was 600 m (1970 ft.). After much searching we finally got a glimpse of a White-backed Woodpecker. From the parking lot we saw a Golden Eagle flying high up.

Species seen:

Our last stop of the day was near the town of Steeg at the northeastern shore of Hallstättersee (Hallstatt Lake), where there are reed beds and brush along a railroad track. 510 m (1670 ft.)

Species recorded (those marked "[more than 3] singing" may or may not have been seen):

Day 3: Sunday, May 30, 2004, Traunsee

We spent day 3 at various places around Traunsee ("Traun lake"). First we went to Hollereck, south of the town of Altmünster ("old monastery"), where there are reed beds, marshy areas and thickets. Then we went to Altmünster itself, where in winter Wallcreepers are regularly found on the monastery walls. 425 m (1395 ft.)

Species recorded at Hollereck and in Altmünster (those marked "[more than 3] singing" may or may not have been seen):

Then we tried our luck at some craggy rocks and rocky mountainsides on the northeastern side of Traunsee in the area of Hois'n and Kaltenbachwildnis ("cold brook wilderness"). We mostly wanted Wallcreeper but unfortunately didn't see any. 425-650 m (1395-2130 ft.)

Species recorded at Hois'n/Kaltenbachwildnis (those marked "[more than 3] singing" may or may not have been seen):

Finally we stopped in some mature-growth woods in the park of an old castle that is now a school on the northwestern edge of Traunsee near Grub (Altmünster). Here we hoped for some woodpeckers but only saw Great Spotted. 475 m (1560 ft.)

Species recorded (those marked "singing" may or may not have been seen):

Day 4: Monday, May 31, 2004, Alpine meadows and forests

The fourth day consisted of mountain hiking and catching the plane back to the UK. Here our main aim was woodpeckers. We finally managed to see Black, as well as White-backed, but only heard Grey-headed despite desperate searching on the final stretch back down the mountain.

The first stretch was from Weißenbach am Attersee ("white brook on Atter lake") to Fachbergalm ("Fach mountain meadow"). 500-700 m (1640-2300 ft.)

Species recorded (those marked "[more than 3] singing" may or may not have been seen):

The second stretch was from Fachbergalm to Haleswiessee, a small, swampy mountain lake. 800 m (2625 ft.)

Species recorded (those marked "singing" may or may not have been seen):

All in all, we saw many target birds, mostly Alpine species, of course, and some of us got several lifers, but our main aim, the Wallcreeper, eluded us, as well as some of the woodpeckers and all the owls, whereby our main interest was the Eagle Owl. Unfortunately the rock quarry on Traunsee where I have often seen Wallcreepers in the past has recently been declared off-limits to non-employees. The total bird species for the trip was 84, 85 including subspecies. We also observed many different butterflies and moths. Some of us stayed at Pension Ahamer (Rindbachstr. 20, 4802 Ebensee, tel. +43 6133 52020, pension.ahamer@sklona.at), which can be recommended.

Copyright 2004 Robbin D. Knapp, with help from Werner Weißmair, James Hanlon, Darrel Bryant, Phil Harris, Conny Gigl, and Stefan Gratzer