Rosalia – Kogelberg Nature Park is the youngest nature park in Burgenland and covers 13 towns. It is located on the eastern rim of the Vienna Basin and home to the “Mattersburger Hügelland” bird sanctuary with a wide range of bird species.
The landscape is characterized by the Sopron and Rosalia mountains, in the Wulka valley, by hedges and orchards, strawberry fields and wet meadows, vineyards and chestnut groves. Trees that like warm conditions can be found here, such as oaks, hornbeams, and sweet chestnuts.
The “Rohrbacher Kogel” nature reserve is one of the most extensive dry landscapes in the region, where the Hungarian iris, dittany, flax species, Siberian bellflower, small pasque flower, and several species of orchids grow together.
The Rohrbacher pond meadows are considered an inside tip among birdwatchers because protected and rare species breed in this nature and conservation area upstream of the Kogelberg: the Western Marsh Harrier, Little Bittern, Spotted Crake, and several species of heron, such as the Great White Heron, Gray Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, and Purple Heron. Amphibians also feel at home in the mild waters.
The nature park is home to the largest national population of breeding Eurasian Scops Owl, which is extremely rare in Austria. It requires tree hollows for breeding, but will also accept nest boxes. This migratory bird is nocturnal, wintering in southern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. It feeds on larger insects and spiders, but also on earthworms, woodlice, small birds and mammals, and tree frogs. The Eurasian Scops Owl is a thermophilic species that uses open, and sometimes also dry landscapes.
Numerous plant species can also be found in the nature park, such as the extremely tasty sweet chestnut. A member of the beech family, it is an old cultivated plant and is enjoyed both roasted and boiled. The sweet chestnut is very attractive to bees – chestnut honey is a particular specialty among the single flower honeys.
Size of the area: 7.500 ha
Founding year: 2006
Important habitats: Orchard meadows, forest/forest edge and clearings, rough pastures, dry grasslands.
Communities: Bad Sauerbrunn, Baumgarten, Draßburg, Forchtenstein, Loipersbach, Marz, Pöttelsdorf, Pöttsching, Rohrbach, Schattendorf, Sigleß, Sieggraben, Zemendorf-Stöttera