Schwarzsee

We walked from Kitzbuehel in a north-westerly direction to Schwarzsee (Black Lake). The lake takes its name from the dark green mud water and is 0.48 km² and the maximum depth is 54 m. It is popular for bathing not only because of its warm water temperature but it is also very idyllic and lies within the landscape of the Wilder Kaiser Mountain Range, literally ‘Wild Emperor’.

We were hoping to find some interesting insects and were rewarded as the rain arrived and the cooler temperature slowed down the metabolism of the dragon flies. Sheltering under umbrellas we captured a dragon fly too cold and wet to fly!

temperature dropped and a dragonfly cooled and was too wet to fly until it had warmed up.

The hunt for a good Orchid Specimen

 

 

 

 

A trip via the Hahnenkammm Gondola to the Panorama trail.

Today I saw my first geometer caterpillar.  Many geometer moth larvae bear cryptic markings that resemble plant parts. When threatened, these inchworms may stand erect, extending their bodies straight outward from the branch or stem they are gripping, to mimic a twig or leaf petiole. I tried to capture this caterpillar in both positions. Here are a few Orchids and spiders I found today.

 

 

Kitzbüheler Horn

Kitzbüheler Horn is 1,996 m high and at the summit there is a 102 metre high TV tower belonging to the ORF ( Österreichischer Rundfunk)  Austrian Broadcasting Corporation. It is funded from a combination of television licence fee revenue and limited on-air advertising and is the dominant player in the Austrian broadcast media.
An Alpine flower garden (Alpenblumengarten) has been laid out at a height of 1800 m which, despite its name, has mountain plants from all over the world. This is the area I spent the day.  There are several cable cars and gondola lifts to this area.  We took the Alpenhaus cable car and then a gondola.  This area is also renown for the  International Kitzbühler Horn Race and the current record time to the Alpenhaus is held by Beat Bräu who completed the race in a time of 29:11 minutes.  There were a few serious mountain bikers testing the slopes. 

It was a hot day 33 degrees C and I certainly caught the sun on my arms and face. I found grasshoppers a spider carrying eggs, beetles and flies and an array of Alpine flowering plants. the lift to the Kitzbüheler Horn was on the other side of the town some walked through the town.