WP's: HOME | Animal Farm: Cats' Farm ~ [Farm Extension] | ?Help? | Deutsch

WP's Farm Extension

Röthenbach in the country, east of Nuremberg in the Pegnitz valley

Kingfishers in the big city

Exciting - the rather rare kingfisher needs waters rich in fish and sandy steep banks for breeding. Near Heroldsberg in the forest, but also at the river Pegnitz in the middle of Nuremberg, once near the subway station Wöhrder Wiese and once at the railroad bridge across the lake Wöhrd I have already discovered them.
Good to have such a green axis through the city.

Roes - tales of the road

Every (almost) hunter likes to claim that mountain bikers scare and unsettle roes. That is not conform to my own and other bikers' experiences. Often the curious animals let one come so close that one considers to ring the bell in order to cause them clear the way. Obviously the don't feel threatened, because apparently the hunters rarely come by bicycle.
The oddest experience I had in the forest near Schnaittach. With difficulty I fought up the roughly graveled path when suddenly directly in front of me a deer crossed the path. I just found the time to break. Scared the deer clashed into the wire mesh fence of a plantation right over and struggles with its legs in panic. So excessive that I was in fear of a fracture. I was already slipped off my bike and now I went back three steps talking calming to the deer. The deer attentively watched me, slacked of and slowly got out its legs of the fence. Concentrated it examined me. Then it looks along the fence - it ran hundred meter away from us, but less than five meter behind me it ended - intensively and carefully it snuffed and listen in my direction again and then it stalked at a measured step in my direction and passed me in a distance of perhaps three steps and turned around the corner of the fence and disappeared in the forest.

Nuremberg: Under the bridge over the river Pegnitz

Teamwork

Expecting high water at river Pegnitz in Nuremberg Mögeldorf. Slowly, but incessantly the water got higher and threatened the nest and four chicken of a pair of black coots. Flutteringly the adult birds tried to secure the nest. Some passing strollers stopped and watched interested. Suddenly the spell was broken. Like on a signal they swarmed out and brought back stalks, twigs and clumps of grass. And also the coots immediately recognized that support was on the way and swam to meet the helpers in order to receive the building material. The nest could be saved. Tired but obviously relieved coots took a rest in the now high water resistant nest and happy humans with a shining smile on their faces continued their walk.

Confidence

Experiments of Konrad Lorenz already clearly showed that graylag geese can be imprinted by humans. But how is the relationship between wild graylag geese and (unknown) humans? At the Lake of Wöhrd in Nuremberg a lot of graylag breed. Partly they are so trusting that they accept feeding by hand. I tried with five chicken, maybe two days old, to carefully fetch one out of the water to scale it in my hand. No chance, clever they avoided my hand. Suddenly one out of three attending adult birds which secured the group to the water side came closer and »talked« to one of the chicken. At once it staid completely calm in the water, let glide my hand under it and let lift itself (as light as a feather!) and have a look on it. Carefully put in the water again it swam around as if nothing had ever happened.

Swan Lake

Every now and then the river Pegnitz freezes in the Wöhrder See section so thick that it is suitable for skating. Of course, I took the chance, and some other brave people, to draw our circles in the ice. A hidden place on the bank where somebody had deposited a large amount of baked goods. I wanted to do something good to the water birds and fetched a loaf of bread. Arrived in the middle of the icy surface i was encircled by dozens of hungry swans gliding in from each direction.