On the transfer from Innsbruck to Seefeld we were informed by fellow passengers about the lack of wildlife, birds in particular, in the Seefeld area. Indeed no birds were seen from the coach.
I was a little disappointed but this holiday was chosen by my wife who wanted to get away from the usual bird intense visits elsewhere in Europe. I had my digiscoping equipment just in case.
Basically it was a walking holiday using public transport or ski lifts to get us to chosen walks.
We obtained a superb map from the Inghams office in Seefeld. It had all the available walks in the area and classified them according to degree of difficulty and length. The walks themselves were on excellent paths and were regularly signposted so it was nearly impossible to get lost. Every 15mins on a path there was a bench, most welcome after a steep incline.
Having checked in at the hotel we walked to the small lake just through Seefeld. Crested Tit was the first bird followed by Great Reed Warbler. It soon became apparent that Black Redstarts were everywhere.
On our first day proper we took the funicular railway out of Seefeld up to a ski station (1700m). At the bottom I had brief glimpses of Nutcracker and what could have been Grey Headed and Three-toed Woodpeckers. Pied Flycatcher and Jay were also seen. At the ski station we were immediately greeted by Alpine Choughs and their startling electric calls. My wife put me on to a large raptor which she had already identified correctly as Golden Eagle. I was drawn over to some pine trees by a 'chipping' noise to find a large flock of very obliging Crossbills with a few, more restless Citril Finches. We walked back down the mountainside and obtained good views of citril finch, which were actually quite common, and Water Pipits.
The next day we repeated the journey but extended it by taking the cable car up to the very top of the mountain. Good views of nutcracker and some extremely close alpine choughs. On the walk down a Three-toed Woodpecker posed to be digiscoped and my wife glimpsed a large black bird flying between the trees, a Black Woodpecker? On this walk the butterflies were superb with Adonis Blue, Chalkhill Blue, Swallowtail, Pearl Bordered and Dark Green Fritillaries amongst many others
The next two days were sightseeing including a very worthwhile trip to Innsbruck. Innsbruck has a lot of charm with its architecture and parks. The 'Hofgarten' in the centre of the city was alive with flycatchers, Common Redstart, warbler sp. and Great Spotted Woodpeckers.
On Thursday we got the train to Sharnitz(15mins) for a walk described as 'wonderfully picturesque', as it turned out to be. A pair of Firecrests were just outsise the railway station. Deep in the forest I heard a distant call so I replied back with a noise as near as I could get to a great spot. I was amazed to get a reply and was beginning to think black wood. I tried again and the almost immediate reply was much nearer. It was at this point that some walkers appeared and gave me the oddest of looks. It was at this moment of distraction that my wife exclaimed and described what must have been my quarry flying by. I missed it!
Our final full day was another local walk. It started off well with Serin and Siskin.
Another three-toed flew past us and on the ramparts of an 'artificial castle' were some photogenic Crag Martins. Dippers and Grey Wagtails were common.
The alpine plants were still in flower and there were many other butterflies that were difficult to identify eg Ringlet sp. We think we may have had Mnestra Ringlet for example. I hope that this report has dispelled the views given to us on the coach transfer. We thought this was a great holiday and will repeat it.
Crested tit
Common buzzard
Raven
Coot
Mallard
Great reed warbler
Alpine chough
Citril finch
Crossbill
Golden eagle
Great spotted wood.
Three-toed wood.
Coal tit
Goldcrest
Pied flycatcher
Black redstart
Water pipit
Blackbird
Chaffinch
Bullfinch
House sparrow
House martin
Wren
Nutcracker
Jay
Mistle thrush
Blue tit
Dipper
Grey wagtail
Goldfinch
Great tit
Willow warbler
Nuthatch
Robin
Chiffchaff
Rook
Long-tailed tit
Swallow
Crag martin
Treecreeper
Firecrest
Pied wagtail
Greenfinch
Crow
Common redstart
Serin
Willow tit
Siskin
Kestrel