i spent last saturday on a biological field trip to lechtal valley (satellite image). the river “lech” (eponymous for the LECHtal valley, as usual for tyrolean valleys) is the last non-modulated river of the northern-alps region.
we started out in a gorge in one of lechtal’s side valleys, where we found – entre autres – LOTS of wild orchids (orchis maculata, cephalanthera rubra, neottia nidus-avis, …), chamois, and several alpine salamanders (salamandra atra, alpensalamander). they’re ovoviviparous amphibians, which means they give birth to live young – usually twins, after a pregnancy period of up to three years.
we had lunch in bschlabs (believe me, it sounds just as silly in german :razz:). BTW, bschlabs is actually situated nearby another funny town: namlos (“nameless” in english)…
afterwards, we headed for the lechtal valley and had a round tour, which led along the river’s shore in one direction, and back through the nearby, more inbound area. we also encountered horse leeches (haemopis sanguisuga, pferdeegel) in one of the natural pools.
the landscape there is just gorgeous! it’s kind of distressing that it took me 20 years to get there!
side note: i should probably stop talking to people who are older than me. because if i do, i’m usually stuck in what could be called “distracting euphoria”. fortunately, i got off *this* series of distractions meanwhile, but there’s a number of new goals on my personal to-do list now…
german speaking visitors might also be interested in visiting www.tiroler-lech.at – the official homepage of the “LIFE project” in tyrol’s lechtal valley.