In The National Park of Saxon Switzerland (6/12)

In The National Park of Saxon Switzerland (6/12)

The National Park in the south-east of the Federal Republic, near the border of the Czech Republic, is part of the Elbsandstein Mountains. This landscape is characterized by bizarre diversity. Wildly romantic deep ravines, towering table mountains, weird and wonderful rocks, to which pine trees and weeping birches cling, all these serve as a refuge for a whole series of threatened local animal species. Thanks to a resettlement programme launched in 1989, there are now over 10 couples of breeding peregrines in the region. The cute little dormouse, which has become rare in Germany, has made its home in the rocks of the Elbsandstein Mountains. In the cool gorges the sparrow owl, the smallest of all owls, rears its young. Down in the depths, where the yellow violets and the marsh marigolds bloom, the mountain wagtail resides together with the water-ouzel. The latter dives into the many little streams in search of caddis-worms and crayfish.