A happy farmer

First stork in the Innviertel has landed on a farm

The male stork is currently building a nest, which should be ready by the time his partner arrives

(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger/Daniel Scharinger)

The Innviertel region is not actually a traditional place for storks to live. The white and black birds generally prefer warmer regions. Global warming could be one of the reasons why a stork apparently feels so at home there that it has been stopping off in Munderfing for three years now.

The Pieringer family from Munderfing has been visited by a stork in March for three years now. "The first time he came at the end of the month, then in the middle of the month and this year at the beginning of the month - maybe it has something to do with climate change?", puzzles farmer Martin Pieringer (30).

The majestic bird sets up a shelter around 13 meters above the farm, where it will stay with its family until autumn. During this time, he and his partner will raise their young. However, the female is not expected for another one to two weeks and will then "settle into the nest she has made".

Children look forward to offspring
"In the first year, two out of three chicks survived, last year unfortunately none did due to the weather," regrets Pieringer, whose children Annalena (5) and Maximilian (8) are now fervently hoping that everything will go well this year. "They'll then get a visit from curious friends."

The stork is also a welcome visitor to the Pieringer farm in a figurative sense: "My wife Bernadette gave birth to our Elias in December."