Late on the 14th we arrived at Dornbirn, the largest town in easternmost Austria. Margaret’s nephew Marc lives here (convenient as he works for a Swiss company), although her sister Cathy and husband Wolfgang live in easternmost Austria (see posts for July 2013). Photos of the birding and sightseeing we did whilst in this area have been uploaded in the last post.
On arrival we assembled at the apartment that Marc shares with his bride-to-be Elizabeth. L-R: Rene’s fiancée Danielle; Rene, Marc’s brother; Wolfgang, Marc and Rene’s father; John, Margaret’s son-in-law now living in Essex; and with his back to the camera, Daniel, Marc’s best man. Note the neighbours are practicing their mountaineering techniques on their roof!
Marc and Elizabeth have a superb view from their apartment balcony. The restaurant where the reception was to be held the following day can only be reached by cable car and is situated on the left hand most peak.
Marc and Elizabeth have a beautifully equipped modern apartment. L-R: Wolfgang; Margaret (back to camera); Marc; Daniel – John’s cousin and Marc’s friend, originally from SA now in Canada; John (back to the camera); Danielle; Roual (also back to the camera) – Daniel’s brother, also now in Canada; and Rene.
In Austria the civil wedding ceremony is held on a different day and at a different location from the church ceremony. In the afternoon of Friday 15th we assembled at the town hall for the civil ceremony with many of the family wearing traditional Austrian costumes. L-R: Wolfgang; Cathy – Marc’s mother and Margaret’s sister, Elizabeth – Marc’s bride, Marc, Rene and Danielle.
L-R: Bridesmaid Christine, Elizabeth, Marc and best man Daniel (not to be confused with Canadian Daniel).
The civil ceremony.
John poses with the ladies. L-R: Christine, John and Elizabeth.
The weather was against us but fortunately improved for the church ceremony the following day. Margaret had been dreading the ascent to the Panorama Restaurant by cable car for the reception ….
…. but by the time we got there the clouds had closed in and you couldn’t see a thing, much to Margaret’s relief.
Margaret with sister Cathy and older brother Martin (who flew here all the way from Australia). Her younger brother, Duncan, was unable to make it due to work commitments, which is a shame as the four of them haven’t been together since school days.
We had a lovely meal at the restaurant and as you can see from the photo quite a lot of what John calls ‘personality’, ie alcoholic beverages. L-R: Anita – Margaret’s daughter; Roual – John’s cousin from Canada; Cathy and Danielle.
When it was time to leave the clouds had cleared somewhat, revealing this view over Dornbirn, but in the dark Margaret made the descent without any problems.
The following afternoon we gathered at the church in the nearby village of Bildstein for the church ceremony.
We were asked not to take photos during the service, an exception being made for the official photographer seen here, so I took this quick shot before we all went in. It was a Catholic service (which I have never experienced before) and of course was in German, so I had no idea what was going on, but the priest, a friend of Marc’s, did thank those who had travelled from Britain, Australia and Canada in English.
The bride and groom after the service.
Bride and groom releasing white doves. I was a bit slow on the shutter button!
The 200 or so guests gathered outside the church for champagne and canapes
Margaret’s brother Martin and his wife Jean were joined by their daughter Caroline, who flew out from the UK just for the church ceremony.
Another day, another reception and yet more alcohol.
Marc is one of the most capable and organised people I have ever met. A company director and local politician by the age of 30, nothing seems to faze him, except perhaps having take part in the first dance (particularly when your wife’s hobby is ballroom dancing).
Our activities on the following day, Sunday 17th, have been detailed in the last post. On the 18th we left early to drive back to Zürich and catch the plane to Heathrow. To conclude here are a few shots from the plane of northern Switzerland ….
…. the neatly patterned fields of Germany ….
…. and the cloudier conditions as we descended over the London Eye and the Palace of Westminster.
From Lucerne we headed for the principality of Liechtenstein before arriving in Dornbirn, Austria for a four night stay. The purpose of coming here was to attend Margaret’s nephew Marc’s wedding and to meet up with other members of the family. Photos dealing with the wedding and associated social events will be uploaded in the next post. This post concentrates on our sightseeing and birding in the three countries mentioned above.
Before we arrived in Austria we spent a few hours looking around Vaduz, the capital of the tiny principality of Liechtenstein.
I was last in Vaduz in 1975, a brief visit as part of a long coach trip around Europe. All I can recall from that visit is seeing the castle perched high above the town. Well that looks just the same ….
…. but the pedestrianised centre is now populated with examples of modern art ….
…. such as this representation of businessmen riding pigs.
I particularly liked this jet of water confined between two narrow, high walls. Not a drop fell on you as you stood below. By varying the shutter speed and your position with respect to the sun you could create modern art of your own.
After a tour around the various statues and pieces of art we drove to Dornbirn, the largest town in western Austria.
Our first visit to the centre of Dornbirn on the morning before Marc and Elizabeth’s civil ceremony was in heavy rain but ….
…. the following morning the weather was much better and the local market was in full swing.
The Dornbirn area was good for raptors and over the next three days we saw a number of Black Kites ….
…. Red Kites ….
…. and even a few Honey Buzzards.
In surrounding meadows ….
…. we found a few White Storks.
We originally thought that some of Margaret’s relatives would still be around on the Sunday following the wedding but it transpired that most had to head for home. With a day mostly to ourselves we drove to Fußach on the shore of the Bodensee for some birding.
The Bodensee itself was host to a number of Great Cormorants and Red-crested Pochards
…. and in the reed beds Great Reed Warblers were quite numerous and their guttural kara-kara-gurk-gurk song was a feature of the area.
The highlight for me was views of five Red-footed Falcons, in particular this male which showed well. these birds are long-distance migrants and have just arrived from their wintering grounds in southern Africa and are pausing on route to their breeding grounds in easternmost Austria eastwards through the steppes of eastern Europe to central Asia.
We returned to Dornbirn and spent the afternoon with Anita and John, Margaret’s daughter and her husband. We visited the area of Rappenlochschlucht ….
…. a picturesque area with elevated walkways, narrow gorges ….
…. waterfalls ….
…. and lakes.
On our final evening we drove around the east end of the Bodensee and into Germany.
Our destination was the picturesque town of Lindau
We headed for the harbour, the entrance guarded by a lighthouse and an imposing statue of a lion.
From the lion statue we had a great view of the harbour and ….
…. and could look directly down on an incubating Mute Swan.
So we concluded our trip with this lovely view of the harbour at Lindau. All that was remained was to drive back to Zürich and fly home. Over the last 17 days we covered 3000 km and visited seven countries and saw some of the best scenery in the world.
Margaret and I have just returned from a two week trip to the Alps and the south of France which culminated in attending Margaret’s nephew’s wedding in Donbirn, in western Austria.
One of many bird species we saw whilst in the area was the beautiful Red-footed Falcon, a species that breeds from easternmost Austria eastwards across the steppes of Central Asia. Little did I expect that within a day and half of returning to the UK I’d be watching one just seven miles from my home at Wareham.
With most of my gear still unpacked I left the house without my camera, after all I reasoned it was going to be a spot in the distance and hardly worth photographing. How wrong I was as it gave wonderfuly close views at time, but Ian Ballam has kindly allowed me to use a selection of his shots.
Red-footed Falcons tend to migrate further to the west in spring than in autumn and turn up in Britain with some regularity in late spring. That said, although I have seen eight in the UK, it is 23 years since I last saw one in Dorset and this was my first one in the Poole Harbour area.
Red-footed Falcon. Second calendar-year female. Wareham Dorset 20/5/15 – Photo by Ian Ballam
Red-footed Falcon. Second calendar-year female. Wareham Dorset 20/5/15 – Photo by Ian Ballam
Red-footed Falcon. Second calendar-year female. Wareham Dorset 20/5/15 – Photo by Ian Ballam
Red-footed Falcon. Second calendar-year female. Wareham Dorset 20/5/15 – Photo by Ian Ballam
Red-footed Falcon. Second calendar-year female. Wareham Dorset 20/5/15 – Photo by Ian Ballam
And just for comparison here is a shot of an adult male I photographed at the Bodensee in westernmost Austria on 17/5/15
Red-footed Falcon adult male
Red-footed Falcon adult male
Red-footed Falcon adult male
The trip to the Alps was a photographers dream and of course I have many hundreds of photos to edit. I managed three ‘ticks’ a new bird, a new mammal and a new country. I’ll be posting more on that soon.
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