Stork feels at home

Not too much fiddling in the nest: record offspring

Bad Erlach is delighted to have four young storks this year.(Bild: Franz Baldauf)

"Blessing of children" in the Bad Erlach nest after harsh words against the supposedly inactive municipality. But they only listened to the advice of an expert. This "inactivity" paid off: The stork couple flew to the nest again and even had more young this year than in previous years.

The stork's nest on the chimney of the former brickworks in Bad Erlach, in the district of Wiener Neustadt, was tilted. The newspaper "Krone" reported on criticism from some citizens because too little was being done and the nest was in danger of collapsing.

Advice from experts followed
Mayor Bärbel Stockinger emphasized that the issue had been handled with particular care and that a stork expert had even been brought in and his advice implemented.

Municipal workers only trimmed the nest so as not to "mess with the birds' nests" too much. The stork pair settled on the 18-metre-high chimney again this year. The mayor is delighted that they should feel at home there: "There have always been two or three young storks in recent years. This year we have a record offspring of four!"