house in the woods on eiserne hand.
though the first signs of spring had already showed before, winter wasn't ready to completely let go. february is of course a winter month and winter is technically still going strong until the middle of march, so it shouldn't be super surprising that a snow flurry will descend on the lands of the taunus mountains. what should've been wondrous is the fact that spring came so early that year, though i always have to intersect and explain that the mild climate right next to the rhine river is very conducive for early springtime. when nature in the rhine valley or the valleys surrounding the taunus mountains is about to burst open and thrive, up in the mountains things can look a tad bit different. is it raining in wiesbaden around 3 degrees celsius, you can be sure it's snowing at 0 degree celsius up in the mountains. with that knowledge in mind you should definitely head up to the mountains a day after such weather conditions for snow enjoyment par excellence!
my parents and i went for a last walk during such a day on the 'eiserne hand' before they headed back home to thuringia and it was a very elevating one. i love snow massively, it's the only thing i actually absolutely adore about winter, it makes me feel all newborn and crisp and spirited. something about the whiteness of it all that makes it so, i guess. as if you are walking on a blank sheet of paper and someone draws landscapes on them while you walk all over it. the contrasts are sweet, if there's colour, it pops up brightly, changing mundane things into little objects of art. and the quiscience of a winter landscape with snow is just unbeatable also!
the mountain pass eiserne hand sits 423 meters above sea level, which is not super high, but it's enough elevation to let magic happen! in historic times this pass was a very important crossroads, 5 roads were leading to different directions, the most important one from wiesbaden to taunusstein-hahn, into various directions in the mountains and also down to the rheingau. there's an old train station of the aartalbahn up here, too, that brought people from the city up for recreational purposes, but also served as a transport possibility for mining industry products ( the image above actually shows the snowed in train tracks 😅 ). it's not used for train traffic anymore though, and is now a very delicious and nice restaurant called 'waldgeist'.
i can actually recommend this restaurant, i have been there several times already and always loved it! they serve burgers and schnitzel mostly, but it's all made quite well and the service is awesome.
i think we first went on a walk through the nearby woods before we ended up inside the restaurant later. we wanted to enjoy the still fresh snow before it started to get slushy and muddy!
and enjoy we did. some places seemed almost unspoiled by human tracks...
... while other paths were used more.
there's a few very nice hiking & strolling routes around the eiserne hand, a perfect way to explore the area around the pass! look at all this fluffy snow! it was perfect for skis and sleighs, actually!
powdered with icing 😍
haus hubertus looks like a neat ancient forester's lodge in the middle of the woods, but it's actually not that old and it wasn't built to serve the forestry offices at all. erected in 1938/1939 by the nazis as a monitoring station to listen in on france, it had quite an inglorious start of existence, one that isn't romantic at all. these days it's used by the forestry offices to accommodate their workers.
found a very cute little birds house hanging in a tree right next to the lodge.
an urge overcame me and i spontaneously build a little snow critter!
wood with star patterns! i am not sure how they form and whether it is a typical character trait for a special tree, but they sure look pretty!
long forest lanes...
... and tiny thaw water creeks right next to them.
every now and then an almost frozen water hole crossed our path.
skeleton twigs & slushy ice water.
this one got illuminated with sunlight soon after!
😍
after our lunch we decided to pay wiesbaden's local animal park a visit - the fasanerie. i haven't been there in quite some time, but i used to pay it a visit every single year - sometimes even twice. they foster and keep native animals, some that are very common, and some that are not, from red deer to wolves, bears & lynxes, from racoons to nutrias & foxes, you can be sure to encounter them all here and learn about their importance in the wildlife structure of germany. oh, and by the way, entry is free, which is amazing! the park solely survives on donations!
a so called energy station is this blue door here, it was built in a project to make people stop for a bit and try to train their resilience capacities. it's supposed to help people be more attentive and observant to the things in the here and now and develop resiliences against depression and burn-out. apparently there's even a guide that helps you go through all the stations and what to do there, but i wasn't aware of that back then, i just simply loved the randomness of it all. might be worth looking into, though, even though i often look at these things a little bit critically 😅 it would at least make for an interesting activity in the park, and maybe you'd even learn a thing or two about yourself or the people you are there with. this door is supposed to help you find goals for the future and develop steps on how to reach them!
and this suite is supposed to convey humour and airiness, a sense of childhood & a change of perspective.
another chair was for encounters for two people to strengthen connectivity and bonds, social interactions & communications.
but we were there for them animals, so here are some! the roe deers are often not very visible in the summer, but this time we got really lucky and finally spotted them! they all wore very heavy winter fur and looked extra cuddly.
a female sweetheart.
and a dapper male, with fascinating fluffy antlers! they are covered with bast skin and called pedicles, they consequently fray them on trees to sharpen them for fights in autumn. did you know that the antlers of roe deer immediately start regrowing after shedding? i didn't know that, most cervids apparently can't, their regrowth starts a few months after shedding.
always a personal highlight for me are the wildcats. in winter they have extra fur, too, which makes them look like big floofballs. european wildcats are a little bit bigger than normal house cats, their tail is a lot more impressive, too, being thicker and more bushy! i have never encountered one in open nature ( they are usually extremely shy and steer clear of humans ), so it's always nice to be able to get to see them in animal parks. many of the specimen you'll meet in animal parks here in germany are some that couldn't be released into the wild anymore ( maybe because they had severe injuries and trauma or just grew up in captivity and never learned the appropriate behavioural patterns to make it in the wild ). and with elusive animals like wild cats, that are usually not visible even for people who get out into nature often, it's a good way to learn about these special animals - the wild versions of our domestic cats.
i couldn't decide on which photo i liked best, i loved all of them, and so they stayed in this post! isn't this an utterly beautiful animal? i could stare at it for hours!
😍
while not native in germany, the raccoon increasingly finds its way into the wilderness here. in some places it is already so numerous that it's already seen as an invasive species, frowned upon by people who want to protect the local fauna. yes, they are very cute, but it is said that they suppress various animal populations, especially when it comes to nest opportunities for birds. if that is actually proven is up for debate, it is a fact though, that they are extensively hunted for this reason.
these little button eyes would make it really hard for me to shoot them, though, their faces are just too inquisitive and curious for me to view them as pests 😅
the fasanerie also has some seriously beautiful birds to marvel at - this northern hawk-owl is one of those gems! these owls are extremely rare in germany, that's because they usually live waaaaaay up north. what's special about this bird, is the fact that it's not a nocturnal owl, but very active in the day! in fact, it's the only owl that does that, all other owls are hunters of the night.
i loved the gorgeous pattern of their plumage!
hiding in a corner of a different aviary was this specimen - the eurasian eagle-owl! it is the world's tallest owl species - its wingspan reaches up to 168 cm! did you know that the females actually are taller than the males? something i also didn't know!
their big orange eyes and distinct ear tufts are the most remarkable features they possess ( next to their size ). i find the eyes simply gorgeous and mesmerizing.
the last bird of the day ( and the last creature i took a photo of on this visit ) was the lesser spotted eagle ( which we germans call schreiadler - scream eagle 😅 ). this bird is almost extinct in germany, only a small population still lives in the east. they reminded me of bald eagles, though they are significantly smaller ( between 55 & 67 cms tall ). and of course their plumage is not as contrastful as the bald eagle's, but still, they have the same majesty going on, don't you think? these birds are also known to perform siblicide, which means that when there's two or more eggs in the nest one of the freshly hatched birds will immediately start killing the other one. i am guessing this practice has the purpose of giving the surviving fledgling the appropriate nourishment to grow stronger - but it's pretty hardcore, i'd say 😆
the final destination of this february day brought us to the riverside in schierstein, where we made a tiny round along the promenade next to the water reservoir and were rewarded with a splendid sundown.
view towards walluf & the rheingau hills ( which are part of the taunus mountains ). on the right is the aforementioned water reservoir which is a mecca for all kinds of birdlife! storks are the most famous inhabitants here, in summer the whole place is dotted with them and you can witness their nesting habits!
gorgeously illuminated clouds! i swear, that sunset was a dream!
it's very peculiar, we started the day in snow up in the higher regions of the mountains, then moved a little lower to the wiesbaden woods where there was still a little snow left, and then ended up in absolutely snow-free territory at the riverside. you see, you can have it all in a relatively small region ;)
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