We were enjoying a quiet evening in the flat last Friday, April 1.  The long work week, replete with talks and classes, was giving way to expectation of wandering the Styrian hills and maybe a trip to Eggenberg Scholss, a large palace complex at the end of Tram Line 1.  Saturday was supposed to be in the high 70’s and we were looking forward to walking around, even without seeing all the flowers that would undoubtedly be planted there if we went later in the season.  But first, time to sleep.

Then the phone rang! (10:00 PM)   It was Sebastian, our birding friend, and ‘did we want to go out birding on Sunday?  He would be leading a BirdLife Austria group and we were invited.  (to be fair to Sebastian, he didn’t think we would have our handys turned on that late at night!)   Then he called back a few minutes later asking if we wanted to go on Saturday as well, if he could reach his birding friend with the car to order to check his schedule.  Then, another call, saying he could not reach him and so Sunday it was.  And so we went to bed, thinking we’d do a few errands on Saturday (remember stores are not open at all on Sunday), and maybe visit the Schloss.

The next morning, awakened by the melodies of birds and the sun already calling ‘get up’ we were actually birding from the bed!  Our apartment windows are at about the same height as the trees surrounding it, so it makes for easy and compelling observation.  It was 7 AM and the phone rang.

Sebastian again, saying he had reached his friend with the car and did we want to go out TODAY?  Could we be ready in ½ hour?  Bill was saying ‘of course’ as I was without coffee mumbling incoherently throwing on clothes.  We inhaled quite possibly the best morning breads we’ve had in Austria, gulped yesterday’s coffee, assembled some sandwiches, and got ourselves downstairs on time.   Whew.

Waiting for us were Sebastian and Wilfried.  Wilfried is the Chair of BirdLife Styria (partnered with Audubon in the US) and also a botany professor at KFU.  How do we keep meeting just the folks who can answer so many of our questions?

 

 

The day’s birding was simply terrific, from the Lapwings nesting in the fields at the Graz Flughafen (seems like a precarious existence to me!) and pheasants, to crested Grebes, Green and Wood Sandpipers, and a variety of ducks on small ponds in the area.

 

 

Lapwings are very cool birds.  Both genders are striking in appearance, but the males especially, with their mohawk hair-style feather-style, and funny, floppy wings.  We saw many doing a display flight.   Here is a female sitting on the nest (digiscoped, must improve technique!)

 

 

The day was simply gorgeous.  We’ve come to almost expect that in Styria.  It seems to rain a bit, just enough to perk up more flowers and nudge more tree leaves into showing up, and then it’s sunny and warm.  The typical haze was gone and we could see snowcapped mountains in the not too far distance.  What you can’t ‘see’ however is the lovely aroma from the farm fields.  Hey, it’s spring and time to fertilize, naturlich, for growing all those pumpkins and corn!  Naturlich means cow, pig and worst-smelling of all, chicken manure!

 

We crisscrossed the valleys surrounding Graz, going west, then south, then east, looking in fields, by streams and in woods, with us collecting new birds the way children collect stones at the edge of a lake. Our list ‘pockets’ were filling up!

The highlight, though, had to be watching the swans.  These were mute swans. We have them also in the US but they are introduced birds, often seen in city parks.  These swans are in their native habitat, which maybe makes them feistier.   So you’re probably thinking of some stately and peaceful creature, gliding along on the water’s surface as if on ice.

 

Resplendent in their breeding plumage their behavior is anything but serene.  I have never heard such a racket nor seen such a fight!  At one pond we witnessed a territorial dispute between two cobs.

 

 

 

It’s a small pond and, sorry, there is only room for one pair.  The male whose mate was nesting at one end repeatedly attacked another pair until they finally got the message and left.

 

 

Unfortunately that piece of grass decided to move right in front of the camera at the wrong moment!  But there were feathers everywhere!

It was pretty exciting!

Click on the photo below to see the swan action and hear the amazing sound of the wings!

 

Along the way, we saw frogs, toads, and eggs of the same.  Also some very strong beetles moving a squashed toad!  And you thought ants were the musclemen/women of the insect world!

 

 

 

More flowers, and yes, even some snipes!

 

 

 

 

To scare up snipes, Sebastian donned big rubber boots and mucked along through the swamp!

 

It was a lovely day for a stroll through the woods.

 

We never DID get to Eggengberg Castle but maybe in May, we can arrange it!

We’ll be traveling now for the next few weeks – Vienna, Spain, Salzburg, Altenpostmarkt, Vienna, and Budapest.  I am almost worn out just thinking about it!

Vielen Dank, as always, for reading and for your comments!