László Novák - Lödersdorf, Austria

Everybody has one or more very favourite things about the world that makes her or his heart tick much faster than usual. Until now I had two of them. The first two are the national anthem and the crane migration in Hortobagy National Park.
But after I went to Lödersdorf in Austria I have a third one too. This is a huge Brambling gathering in a very little spot of the forest near the village. Four million birds or so.
A sight that is quite hard to take in. The impression is so powerful, I had to go there four times. I took images, went home, evaluated them, waited for good weather and went back again and again.
So I have to apologize, but my report is not up to date, but I try to give you my best throw of my images taken there.

First let me tell you some words about this unique phenomenon.
Lödersdorf lies in the Raab valley between Feldbach and Fehring. The local people have perhaps never seen so many birds on their doorstep.
The first news arrived in January about a huge brambling movement, but it took some days to identify the correct place for it. Soon after this I visited the valley in the company of some of my friends. Despite that we had prepared for the sight, we were all shocked by the millions of birds.

After returning home I spread the news to my best friends, including Florian Möllers telling him to visit the place together. Instead he asked me to do a photo report about it.

The trip from my home was less than 200 km, so it was enough to start after 12 pm. The first group of birds arrived at the valley half an hour before sunset. They were very much waited for not only by the locals and birdwatcher, but also by the predator birds. 5-6 Sparrow Hawks and four Peregrines were circling in the air.

After arriving, the first smaller flocks of the bramblings started to get together to a bigger and bigger swarm. By the time the sun hit the horizon, four million birds were flying above our heads. Sometimes they were so close to the people - who covered themselves against the rain of dropping with umbrellas - that we could have touched them in the air.
After 30 or 40 minutes of this unique show they perched to the branches of the trees. Try to imagine the trees full of leaves in the middle of the winter. I know it is not easy. Now change each leave to a bird. I must tell you it is a spectacle that I will never forget.

Also their sleeping place - it is not bigger than 100×100 metres. All the 4 million birds were sleeping in this very little fragment of the forest. The undergrowth is not only painted white by the dropping, but the ground is fully covered with it. If you go there, you do not have to take a sledge with you, it is easy to slide on your bottom. Be careful, it is easier than you would like to.

The forest is not only noisy from the birds but also smelly. A lot of feathers on the ground, and some dead birds. According to experts 5 000 birds die every day. Despite this fact, not many corpses were found in the forest. The predators work well at night.

The last day I visited Lödersdorf was on the 1st of March. Warm weather arrived that sent the birds home to northern Europe, so there were much fewer birds than before. What can I say after these trips? I can just pray for it to be similar miracles in the future of our exploited world.

I wish to thank Lajos Németh (www.greeneye.org.uk) for his support before and during this trip.

Please note that blogs reflect our photographers' opinions and not necessarily those of the directors of Wild Wonders of Europe.