"Plan B": Relocation of the training camp from Baden-Württemberg to Salzburg
Newsletter 17/04/2021
Hand-raising at Vienna Zoo has begun. Helena Wehner and Katharina Huchler are raising a total of 33 Northern Bald Ibis chicks, all of which come from the Rosegg Zoo in Carinthia. The birds are developing splendidly and are gaining 40-60 grams in weight every day. At the beginning of May, the chicks will start to leave the nests, so it will be time to move to a training camp where they will fledge and be trained to follow the ultralight aircraft.
Our plan was to set up the training camp in Baden-Württemberg at Binningen airfield (municipality of Hilzingen) to release more birds into the breeding colony of Überlingen at Lake Constance.
Now we have to switch to "plan B": The birds will be trained in Seekirchen am Wallersee in the region of Salzburg and from there they will follow the ultralight aircraft to the wintering area in Tuscany in mid-August. We already set up our training camp at the farm of the Ackerl family in Seekirchen in 2015 and 2016. Hence, we are returning to a familiar place.
The reason for the change of plans is the ongoing restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel restrictions considerably increase the effort for the cross-border organisation of the camp and allow training only within existing special regulations. This effort and the risk that the implementation of the project would be rendered impossible by further restrictions ultimately made us prefer a camp in Austria as a much less complicated and lower-risk option.
Thus, we have to postpone the expansion of the breeding colony in Überlingen on Lake Constance by another year. This will further slowdown the growth of this colony, but we are confident that it will not result in any fundamental threat to the colony. After all, this year we expect the first breeding in Überlingen and we estimate 3-4 nests. While breeding has already started in both the Burghausen and Kuchl colonies, most of the birds of the Überlingen colony are still stuck along the migration route due to the current bad weather.
According to "plan B", the 33 young birds are to be integrated into the two breeding colonies Burghausen in Bavaria and Kuchl in Salzburg when they reach sexual maturity. The release of further birds for these two colonies is an objective in the project that is now being brought forward.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to all the people who made an effort to organize the camp at the Binningen airfield in the run-up to the event, especially the chairman of the Binningen Flying Club, Mr. Stefan Brütsch, and the mayor of Hilzingen, Mr. Holger Mayer. The enthusiasm and commitment were great and we regret very much not being able to enjoy their hospitality this year. But we hope for a relaxed season together in 2022!!!
Picture: Hand-raising at Vienna Zoo. Foto Daniel Zupanc.