Bavarian Alps Part I – Karwendel Mountains

One of the highlights of my summer holidays was a week-long hiking trip with two birding friends I met last year while volunteering at the bird observatory on Heligoland. We planned the trip for a while and were all eager to see some of the specialities of the Alps. Having never been birding in montane areas in Europe, there were a number of rather common alpine birds that were potential lifers. We slept in hiking huts during the trip but carried most food and cooking equipment ourselves so we could prepare food independently. Turns out most huts charge a surcharge when you don’t buy their food – which I guess makes sense as it’s expensive to get the food there but it was quite annoying as we carried all the food ourselves and then were expected for stuff we didn’t take advantage of…
We spent time birding in the Karwendelgrube, Arnspitz, and Soierngruppe, each of which I’ll cover in separate posts. The Karwendelgrube, a high altitude rocky pit, is one of the most popular birding spots in the Bavarian Alps as it provides easy access to high-altitude birds via a cable-car. We hiked up via a very challenging track across snow and scree fields but it was worth it as we arrived an hour before the cable cars start arriving with other tourists (“other” being here a euphemism for the type of people birders are rather allergic to when desperately trying to find a lifer).

We also spent a day in total on the lower slopes of the mountain, where Western Bonelli’s Warblers were common, judging by their calls. Seeing them was another matter though, and took was a while before we obtained acceptable views. Eurasian Nutcrackers seemed to employ similar tactics, although this unusual beast eventually posed nicely for us on a drizzly morning.

A highlight on the way up was a White-backed Woodpecker in the dark forest before sunrise – permitting nothing but quick views. I managed a horrendous photo but since it’s a lifer, I feel like posting it nonetheless. Just scroll down quickly!

Staying with the woodpecker theme, another special of the Alps in the form of a Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker was quite obliging. One friend and I were busy questioning why we decided to take on such a tiring hike when the third member of our group called out “three-toed!” – a concise answer to our question, in response to which we forgot about our heavy backpacks and ran uphill. We only managed very brief views but it was close enough for us to appreciate its odd feet.

Above the tree line and in the Karwendelgrube, we saw a number of specials including Wallcreeper, White-winged Snowfinch, Alpine Accentor, Alpine Chough, and the long-awaited Rock Ptarmigan. The latter careened across the pit before clearing the ridge, providing brief fly-by views that reminded me of the snowcock scene in the movie The Big Year (which I’ve probably watched a dozen times – watch it if you haven’t). We were not in a helicopter but the steep slopes and loose ground felt nearly as precarious.

Birding was regularly hampered by the thick fog that appeared quite suddenly, especially at higher altitudes. I was looking forward to taking some nice photos since I hauled my big lens all the way up the mountains, but this was considerably more difficult with the weather. Nonetheless, we were very happy with our sightings and proceeded to continue to the next section of our tour, which I’ll cover in my next post.