Red kite rescued after crash landing in Krottenthaler Weiher
Created: 07/03/2022, 12:00 p.m
By: Alexandra Korimorth
(from left) Hans Weindl, Reinhold Busse and Natalie Simmeth released the recovered Red Kite in Krottenthal.
© Alexandra Korimorth
A failed fighter flight with a crash landing in the Krottenthaler Weiher (municipality of Waakirchen) had a happy ending for a red kite.
The magnificent bird was saved in a joint action.
Krottenthal
– It was a coincidence that the Krottenthal organic farmer Hans Weindl observed a kite chasing last Sunday (June 26).
He threw himself on a frog in the village pond, which, however, only held a little water due to the heat.
The red kite missed its target and landed noisily in the mud - and got stuck.
With each wing-flapping attempt to free itself, the great bird muddied its feathers even more.
"In no time he was completely exhausted," reports Weindl, who immediately rushed to help.
Washed muddy bird with the help of watering cans
The attempt to get to the bird with rubber boots failed.
Weindl got boards and a pole, crawled towards Schlick and was able to pull the Milan out.
"He didn't fight or hack.
Somehow he must have sensed that I wanted to help him.” Before Weindl transported him on the loading area of his work vehicle in the direction of Hof, he called Reinhold Busse, his friend and falconer from Schaftlach.
He was there in a few minutes, and together they carried out the first washing of the animal with watering cans.
The red kite was taken to the sanctuary in Otterfing with its feathers muddy.
© Private
Mother bird had to get back to her brood as soon as possible
"We discovered that the red kite has a breeding spot, so it is therefore female and was probably looking for food for the young," explains Busse.
Once rare, these migratory birds, which belong to the goshawk family and are elegant fliers and can be recognized from the ground by their forked tail and distinctive white wing panels set against deeply fingered black primaries.
They are now more common in the Oberland.
But this year, since there are so few mice and thus food for all birds of prey, the offspring of the raptors is generally not looking so good.
So Falkner Busse knew that the mother bird had to go back to her brood as quickly as possible because the father was alone in looking after it.
The bird was nursed back to health in a sanctuary
In order to clarify whether the lady Milan may have injured herself during the crash landing or the liberation operation and could therefore not be able to fly, Busse immediately took her to Alfred Aigner's sanctuary for owls and birds of prey in Otterfing.
There Natalie Simmeth took over the almost motionless bird.
She knows: "Red kites like to play dead out of fear. Very few are aggressive." Simmeth cleaned the animal in the bathtub with suitable agents and lots of warm water, examined it and ringed it.
After that, she nursed the red kite up for two days with chicks and mice from specialist retailers.
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Vogel goodbye with a "Mach's gut" into the air
Early Thursday morning, the bird friend brought the recovered patient in a box back to Krottenthal, where the rescuers Weindl and buses were already waiting.
Together they climbed a hill directly opposite the forest, where Weindl had observed another red kite – most likely the male of the bird family.
Buses threw the bird, which weighed around 1.4 kilograms, into the air with verve.
Simmeth called out "Mach's gut" afterwards, and the mother bird swung up elegantly and headed straight for a tall fir tree, where her eyrie with the offspring is obviously located.
The happy end of a comprehensive rescue operation.
a.k
