Peregrine Falcon on a viaduct in the Zschopau valley

Few sounds in nature are more captivating and exciting to an ornithologist’s ear than the clear, hard-hit raucous cackle of a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) in courtship mode. The calls trot far across the distant landscape.

A Peregrine Falcon has obviously chosen one of the viaducts in the valley of the Zschopau as a perch, if not as a breeding ground. At least he has an excellent overview. The falcon flies around the impressive technical structure, shouting loudly, and then happily sits down on one of the offset steel constructions directly below the parapet. Not really is he impressed by a flock of Eurasian Jackdaws (Corvus monedula) flying around and also calling loudly.

The spring season is a particularly exciting time for bird watchers as birds of all species migrate and return to their breeding grounds. One of the most impressive birds to watch during this time is the Peregrine Falcon.

Peregrine Falcon are very agile and powerful birds of prey with distinctive hooked beaks and long, pointed wings. In spring, Peregrine Falcons also come home from their migration. Once they have found a suitable breeding ground, Peregrines build their nests and begin raising their young. But before that, a noisy courtship period is initiated.

Viaducts in the Zschopau valley, such as the Limmritz Viaduct, enable a railway line to run along and over the river Zschopau. These structures are part of the Bankrottmeile, the so-called bankruptcy mile. Due to the high costs of the bridges, the Chemnitz-Riesa railway company became insolvent a long time ago and was then nationalized. In Waldheim, a beautiful small town in the district of Mittelsachsen, there are even three impressive railway bridges to be admired. Two of them were built to overcome the valleys on the Chemnitz-Riesa railway line. Coming from Chemnitz, first drive over the 210 m long and 41 m high Heiligenborn Viaduct. After stopping at Waldheim station, the train then continues over the Diedenhainer Viaduct, which is 153 m long but higher at 52 m. Continuing towards Döbeln, you then cross the Limmritz Viaduct, which spans the Zschopau and is 270 m long and 34 m high.

To cope with the growing demand for top shots of the rarer species of the Palearctic Bird-Lens is keen to enrich the range of pictures of birds you can find in the western palearctic.  Trips to remote places like this one to capture images not only of rare birds of western palearctic were very successful. The nice image of the blog is only a first impression, what you will find in the gallery in the “Picture Shop” very soon. Just give bird-lens.com a message, if bird-lens.com could serve you with an image needed before the new pictures are online.

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