There is no doubting the beauty of the Alps and to be able to experience them in near perpetual September sunshine was wonderful over the last few weeks in Austria. For birders Autumn is not really the time to visit but I spent some time birding in the mountains while on a general touristic visit with my wife and saw some interesting species but mostly just enjoyed walking and birding in a fantastic landscape. In the forests in the foothills I was happy to see birds such as Firecrest, Black Woodpecker, White-backed Woodpecker, Wood Warbler, Crested Tit, Red Crossbill and Spotted Nutcracker while higher up it was great to see lots of Alpine Choughs, a flock of Alpine Accentors, several Golden Eagles, Water Pipits, Black Grouse and Rock Ptarmigan.

Alpine Chough

Every time one gets high up in the Alps the sound of Alpine Choughs becomes familiar and if you visit a ski resort or tourist restaurant then these birds are very friendly, swooping in to feast on discarded food and even feeding from the hand. They are really comical characters and although they are common I really enjoy seeing them.

One of my mountain visits was made to the Nordkette area near Innsbruck which I accessed by cable car one day and then hiked up through the forest on another day. Up at the top in lovely sunshine were loads of people and plenty of Alpine Choughs but it was a real surprise to see two Rock Ptarmigans just metres away from the crowds of tourists.

Ptarmigan

I also saw Water Pipit, Raven, Wheatear and a flock of Alpine Accentors feeding on the ground in the high mountains but little else.

Another day in the mountains was spent driving up the Grossglockner mountain road which gives vehicular access to some high Alpine scenery. Alpine Marmots were the most obvious wildlife in the area and birds were few and far between. I had to work quite hard to see a few Water Pipits, Black Redstarts, Linnets, a Wheatear while a few Golden Eagles displayed some exciting behaviour.

Alpine Marmot

I took several other walks though forest and high mountains with one extraordinary observation being a Black Grouse that was flushed by a Golden Eagle that I was watching. The grouse flew straight overhead and then on towards a distant mountain after being scared by the eagle. I added Fieldfare to my list and there were loads of Spotted Nutcrackers to enjoy.

Spotted Nutcracker

A beautiful sight was this Chamois walking along a mountain ridge as the sun began to cast a nice glow in the late afternoon.

Chamois

Although I spent some time looking for them I could not find any Snowfinches anywhere, probably not a good time of year to see them but certainly it was a good time of year to walk in the spectacular landscape.

I found that although September is obviously far from the best time of year for visiting this region, given some decent weather and plenty of time in the field it was possible to see a lot of interesting birds and with a little more effort and a dedicated birding trip it would probably still be possible to see all the key resident species.