Subject: re info request EUROPE
Date: Jan 23 11:36:15 1996
From: Phil Hotlen - n8540420 at henson.cc.wwu.edu


Unfortunately I deleted the recent message requesting information about
birding in the Munich area (as well as points farther east). I don`t
know whether my contribution is worth much. It`s more like "war stories."
But here goes. My suggestions are based on my experience at low-octane
bird watching in the Augsburg-Munich area, 1971-75, when I was stationed
in the Army there.

The Germans have publish many local and regional bird and nature site guides.
Mine have mysteriously disappeared, but should be replaceable in updated
form. Bookstores and Natural History Museums should have some for sale.
(Don`t let yourself be intimidated by the German language text!).
Peterson`s Filed Guide to the Birds of Europe (or etc.) has the names in
German and a few other languages, along with English.

A good spot for many species of basic continental birds, to get your list
started, is the Nymphenburg Palace (Schloss) in Munich. No car is
necessary. Acres of wooded gardens with ponds have several species of
woodpeckers, for example. Tawny Owls (Strix aluco) are resident and are
sometimes seen sunning themselves, ignoring passersby. "Little old
ladies" have several species of Titmice literally eating out of their
hands. (It reminds me of Reifel Refuge-- ha ha!) A birding guide book
for Nymphenburg was being sold at the main entrance.

If you have a car, the south end of Ammersee (lake) southwest of Munich,
has otherwise hard to find marsh-loving warbler species. At Chiemsee
(lake), I saw Whiskered Terns and Great Reed Warblers, with Turtle Doves
nearby. And, I once saw a Eurasian Nutcracker not far from Hitler`s
Eagle`s Nest (Berchtesgaden). A car trip up to the top of Grossglockner,
Austria's highest peak, has a few interesting alpine passerines that are
easily spotted from the road. And the large Alpine Swifts can be seen
riding the updrafts on the south slope in summer.

If you are interested in "stuffed birds", as I was, then visit the large
old Natural History Museum in Vienna, opposite the Art Museum. They
exhibit several species of now extinct birds, including the Ivory-billed
and Imperial Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. (Maximillian, emperor of Mexico,
was a Hapsburg). Another museum has a Quetzal feather headress--
Montezuma`s?). The Senkenburg Museum in Frankfurt, by the way, also has
stuffed extinct birds on display. They include The Great Auk, Laborador
Duck, Passenger Pigeon, and Carolina Parakeet. And a museum in Salzburg
has a stuffed Aye-Aye (Lemuroid).

But I`m sure the eastern countries on your itinerary have more exciting
live birds, if not more exciting museum collections.

Phil Hotlen
<n8540420 at henson.wwu.cc.edu>