In The Nature Reserve of the Lower Elbe Valley (5/12)

White-tailed eagles circle above the riverside forests, cranes strut across the meadows in their mating gait, marking out their territory with their cries. Countless frogs and toads perform an open-air concert in the marshes. Nature in North Germany: at a distance of only some 100 kilometres from Hamburg, a riverscape has been preserved which is unique in the heart of Europe. Thousands of geese on their migration between the northern breeding areas and their winter quarters can be observed here. Whistling swans from Siberia use the flooded regions as their winter quarters. Beavers from the Elbe have found a safe haven in the riverside meadows. These have also become the most important habitat in our part of the world for the white stork. And an increasing number of cranes are now breeding again in this undisturbed water wilderness of flooded alder and oak forests. Unique animal portraits, fascinating landscape atmospheres and aerial shots take the viewer into this riverscape of paradisial beauty.