Beasts of Vienna - The Tree of the Grey Herons

I will fight to spread my wings

Carry me away, my wind

For I trust you for me to care

Show me your world, your everywhere

Dear Alexandre,

I am currently housesitting in Vienna, which is a nice endeavor of caring for two guinea pigs and a very cuddly cat. It also puts me into the position of being a tourist in my own city and I simply love it. I go to social meetups, walk through the city, meet friends and engage in activities that I would do on a holiday. For example, I brought my camera with me and did a lovely photo safari in the zoo, which is a thing I haven’t done in years. But way more exciting was my little trip into wildlife photography and it showed me quite impressively, how easy it is to find new exiting things even in a city that I know my whole life long.

It was my first morning here in Vienna and I got up early and felt the excitement of adventure-hunting in my legs. I am staying in the Mesopotamial region of Vienna between the Neue Donau and the Alte Donau, quite close to Floridsdorf and its railroad station. And exactly between the house and the station there is a park that is called Wasserpark Floridsdorf. I saw it often when passing by train and over some decades the feeling grew that once I need to walk the lovely looking paths there myself. Now was the time to fulfill my dream and so I crossed underneath the train bridge and followed a gravel path directly beside the last bit of the Alte Donau. And there I saw in the distance a sight of wonder. A group of trees, almost looking as one on a small island in the calm waters of the dawn. It stood there in green beauty, reminding me of pictures from Africa, because it was over and over filled with large birds – 17 was my first count, but there were many more.

Graureiher or Grey Herons belong to my favorite birds. They are quite big for Austria, have an impressive wingspan and an elegance that is breathtaking. The apartment on the edge of the Wiener Wald I grew up in was close to a creek and there were always some Grey Herons to find, especially in the morning. I remember seeing them on those beautiful big pine trees, sleeping in the morning sun, whilst the ground hasn’t been touched yet by its beams. Herons never fail to impress me, they always give my day a feeling of a magical world that I am allowed to explore – a great feature on a grim day. But now I was standing in front of a whole colony – one of three in Vienna as I read later.

This little Island at the end of the Alte Donau amazed me and I hope you can imagine my excitement – What a way to start the day! So I came back with my camera and my telephoto lens at half past five in the morning to take some shots of the incoming birds. There is a lot of traffic on the Island, birds taking off, birds landing and one thing I learned quite fast is that incoming birds always cry out a certain kind of shriek before landing. That came in handy, because that way I could spot new birds midflight. The Island itself gives up a sweet noise of non-stop chatter. I saw a lot of nests and birds brooding, relaxing in the first rays of morning light, seemingly not disturbed by the vibrating sound of the colony. There were other birds as well, cute little moorhens, some black birds, ducks and a grey goose. It was a lovely gift. Starstruck by the closeness of those majestic birds, excited for the hunt of good pictures, just happy about my discovery – a little spot in Vienna made me so happy, with ease.

Look up to the sky, my friend, there might be magic to be found 🌟