Image: ÖBB / Fritscher
Two years ago, storks discovered the radio mast at Perg Central Station as a nesting place. In fact, they find the best conditions for an eyrie here: storks prefer a clear view and a high landing site for their nest. In order to preserve the habitat of the protected animals, a separate platform was built high up on this mast. It serves as a base for the nest and at the same time protects the environment from contamination. In addition, it ensures that the radio technology continues to be reliably available even when there are plenty of stork offspring.
Platform secures stork’s nest
Everything had to be settled before the stork couple’s breeding season begins in March. So the old nest had to be carefully lifted down and cleaned with a truck-mounted crane. Then the antennas of the radio mast were dismantled and the specially made platform was mounted at a dizzy height on the mast. Finally, the antennas were professionally reattached and the cleaned nest was anchored to the platform. ÖBB technician Jürgen Schneider, route management and system development: “Only after these complex work steps is everything ready for the storks. We look forward to their hopefully numerous offspring.”
Species protection and infrastructure
As soon as storks settle, the nest is protected and must remain in its original condition. In order to comply with species protection, ÖBB in Perg works closely with authorities and nature conservation organizations. Robert Gattringer supports the ÖBB as a stork expert, Johannes Moser as an official expert for the district authority for nature and landscape protection. “We also checked whether we could relocate the storks. To do this, however, there would have to be an equivalent location within a radius of 20 meters, which is not the case at Perg train station,” explains Robert Gattringer. Johannes Moser says: “With the platform, ÖBB has found an optimal solution from the point of view of species protection.”
Even after this successful jump-start into the breeding season, the ÖBB want to work to ensure that the protected storks feel at home in the district capital. For example, the nest has to be cleaned regularly and the branches loosened so that nothing falls apart. Experts commissioned specifically for this purpose will carry out this maintenance work after the breeding season.
Source: Nachrichten
