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Birdwatching in Lower Austria,
This summer, 2001, my wife and I went for a week's holiday in Fuschl, about 45 minutes from Salzburg. The village was very nice and we thoroughly enjoyed our week's holiday. I had hoped that I would be able to get in some good alpine birdwatching but unfortunately this area proved disappointing.
The geography of the area is mostly mature conifer woodland with some deciduous areas and farmed grassland. There is very little arable or animal farming. The grassland seemed to support almost no birds except for the white wagtail which was very common. Most birds lived around the farms and villages and house martins were very common. The woods seemed to have few birds though you could occasionally hear them in the tree canopy. One day we walked for an hour along a beautiful forest track full of wild flowers and butterflies and we saw one solitary bird - a wren. The best bet is to sit at a forest clearing and wait for the birds to come to you.
We did go to Vienna for the day and travelled through a large arable area which appeared to have more birds - the highlight being a white stork.
I suspect that we were not high enough to get the alpine birds I hoped for. In the week I did not see any other birdwatcher - tourist or local.
The list is as follows :
Little Grebe
White Stork
Mute Swan
Mallard
Tufted Duck
Buzzard
Golden Eagle
Kestrel
Black-headed Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Swift
Swallow
House Martin
Grey Wagtail
White Wagtail
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Black Redstart
Redstart
Wheatear
Blackbird
Fieldfare
Sedge Warbler
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Goldcrest
Spotted Flycatcher
Willow Tit
Crested Tit
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Treecreeper
Red-backed Shrike
Jay
Magpie
Jackdaw
Carrion Crow
Hooded Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Yellowhammer.
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