The Seewinkel soda pans around Illmitz and Apetlon are the core. Avocets, black-winged stilts, Kentish plovers and a constant turnover of migrant waders use the shallow saline water, with the pans changing character as they dry through the summer.

The reedbelt holds great white and purple herons, little bitterns, bearded reedlings and marsh harriers, watched from the boardwalks and towers at the national park visitor centre in Illmitz.

The meadows and pastures between the pans hold great bustard — the heaviest flying bird in the world, and a species this region has done much to save — along with red-footed falcons and rollers on the wires in summer.

The lake's Hungarian end, in Fertő-Hanság National Park, is the quieter half of the same ecosystem and worth crossing for.

The vineyards and villages around the lake are part of the appeal — this is a wine region as much as a wetland, and the two coexist comfortably.

April and May bring migration and breeding display; autumn brings waders and geese. Winter can be spectacular with white-tailed eagles hunting the flocks.

Practicalities

Illmitz is the birding base, around an hour from Vienna, with the national park centre providing maps, current sightings and guided trips.

Much of the area is a strict reserve where you must keep to paths and hides. Bikes are the local way to get around the pan network — distances are short, the land is flat, and you will see more than from a car.