Monday, September 22, 2014

Switserland

Again almost a month ago:-) An end of August visit to Switserland with 2 birding goals;

Day 1: The Bodensee has become a reliable place to see Long-tailed Skua's in this time of year. You need to hire a boat to get to the centre of this huge lake, and so we did. Despite of extensive chumming we did not find a single skua, but enjoyed a first-winter Mediteranean Gull.
Goosander
Day 2: End of August you cannot miss Dotterel on Cassonsgrat. The high (2800m) plains are a very attractive stop-over site for this beautifull wader. You need to take 3 impressive cableways to get there, and so we did. 2 Golden Eagles and 3 Nutcrackers on the way were promising but on the top we had to conclude that there were no Dotterels. Compensation was found in a large flock of Ptarmigans, they gave a great show. Furthermore there were several large flocks of Alpine Accentors, and Alpine Chough of course.
Dotterel habitat


 
better luck next time!