Strong help

Stork family feels at home on transmission mast

In Straßwalchen, A1 converted the top of a transmission mast into a cozy stork home in 2021. Then there was the joy of offspring(Bild: A1/APA/Neumayr)

Salzburg AG removed a nest in Leopoldskron without having a replacement plan. In Flachgau, another company once did a better job.

Fridolin and Elsa have taken flight from Leopoldskron: The stork couple, so christened by local residents, had started building their nest near Moosstrasse in mid-April. The migratory birds are an absolute rarity in the province - it was only a few years ago that they were spotted attempting to spend the summer in the province again after a good two-century break. The joy among bird lovers about the imminent breeding and possible offspring was enormous. But Salzburg AG intervened. Due to a short circuit on the 110k V electricity pylon chosen by Master Adebar as a nest, as the company announced.

A Salzburg AG employee removed the stork pair's nest in Leopoldskron - no replacement was provided(Bild: zVg)

Mobile phone provider helped with breeding preparations
And because of the danger to the animals. For this reason, on April 18, a Salzburg AG technician simply knocked the compact nest ring, which had already been assembled from countless branches, to the ground. The residents of Wildmoosweg and Obermoosweg were very sad - the "Krone" reported.

The stork couple was only seen briefly at the replacement nest(Bild: Tröster Andreas)

According to Salzburg AG, it was not until April 23 that the company contacted a nature conservation association - by which time resourceful neighbors had long since built Fridolin and Elsa their own makeshift nest. However, the wild birds react very sensitively to disturbances during the entire breeding phase. The new roost was inspected, but the couple probably no longer felt safe enough in Leopoldskron. "There should have been an alternative within sight before the first nest was removed," explained a wild bird expert.

A1 in Straßwalchen showed how to do it properly. A transmission mast erected in 2020 was modified by the mobile phone provider's technicians so that a pair of storks returning in 2021 found an even larger nest and gave birth to offspring.