Birding on ski trips?

[breffni]

I went to Zermatt in Switzerland (near the Matterhorn) in December 2004 and decided to bring my scope and camera with me. The result was well worth it - there is much to be seen even above 2000 metres in the middle of winter (temp at night often below inus 20 of colder).

Birds ween were as follows (all between 17th December and 31st December):

Species Where Altitude (metres)
Nuthatch Near Zmut 2200
Crested tit ditto ditto
Willow tit ditto ditto
Treecreeper ditto ditto
Longtail tit ditto ditto
Crossbill Riffelalp 2222
Alpine accentor Riffleberg 2600
Nutcracker ditto ditto
Snow sparrow Gornergrat 3000
Alpine chough Klein matterhorn >4000

Failed to see golden eagle, wall creeper, black grouse or rock partridge but some nice Ibex and chamois, along with a snowhare also seen.

One last point - be very careful when using your coolpix 4500 or other digital camera - most do not tolerate temps below freezing and the autofocus may jam or pack up altogether - est to keep it under jacket and take out only briefly when needed.

Also skiing with scope on back is harder than you would imagine...not to mention risk of being speared with tripod leg etc.

Breffni Martin
breffnimartin@gmail.com

[johnraven]

I am quite impressed - skiing with a telescope! I have the image in my mind of a James Bond style extreme-birder. I think there may be an extreme-birding thread somewhere - you should announce your achievements in this field!

I did a little birding once on a work skiing "jolly" to Chamonix, and saw Alpine Chough, Nutcracker, Snow Finch and Ring Ouzel (early Apr). I am a particular fan of Alpine Chough.

[mike coleman]

I can add GS Woodpecker, Golden Eagle, Buzzard and Citril Finch to a skiing list - The woodpecker, eagle and buzzard were in Obertauern in Austria and the finch was in France somewhere, both years ago - only have Snow Bunting and Red Grouse to show for my Scottish skiing exploits, still waiting for that elusive Ptarmigan from the pistes!

[watcher]

Skiing in Bulgaria could be also easily combined with watching Dalmatian Pelicans and Pygmy Cormorants, which roosting sites are neabry the roads from Sofia to the main ski resorts of Bansko and Pamporovo. Nutckrackers and Alpine Accentors are very likely to be spotted along the ski-runs. During nights with nice weather Tengmalm's Owl are singing in the spruce forests!
Regards,

http://www.birdwatchingbulgaria.com

[Ruby]

I don't usually take any optics with me when ski-ing (already got too much to carry!! - family pack-mule dontcha know!!) but have managed to see Ravens, Alpine Chough and a solitary Nutcracker earlier on this season, plus some unidentified Finchlike birds.

Going to Les Arcs 2000 in a few weeks and I WILL be taking some BINs with me, if only hoping for another crack at a mysterious bird I saw high in the Alps last April...

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=24214&highlight=alpine+mystery


RGds... Ruby

[MikeB.]

Skiing in Austria two weeks ago with the family at half term, and didn't see one bird! Snowed every single day, which was great for powder, but vis was poor.

Never yet found a good way to carry photo gear, AND keep your balance. Any ideas much appreciated!

A plastic bag is a must to put your camera in, to stop condensation forming inside when you go from cold to hot, whether film or digital.

Mike

[Hotspur]

Snowboarding in Borovets, Bulgaria earlier this year saw very few birds but Crested Tit and Eagle Owl were nice.

[breffni]

To skiing with a televid 77 and tripod, I eventually i strapped it across my shoulder and under my jacket to stop it shifting around and knocking me off balance (im an intermediate skier). Skiing with bins is fairly easy - again put them under jacket, sitting on the small of your back, ideally in a soft case, (incidentally i also support a golf habit and have perfected a stroke while wearing bins - golf courses can be surprisingly good places to see birds)...below a few more photos from the trip. Locals said that for birds like grouse and partridge eschewed the ski areas, doubtless terrified by the overhead moving ski-lifts...

Breffni
http://www.spiritstore.ie/birds/spirit_store_ecosystem.html

[Nutcracker]

Locals said that for birds like grouse and partridge eschewed the ski areas, doubtless terrified by the overhead moving ski-lifts...

Some get killed by collision with the cables, but more important is the number of crows attracted in by tourists' litter. These kill the chicks in summer.

[wintibird]

Grouses and Partridges are very shy birds in the Swiss Alps and very vulnerable to disturbance. They avoid ski areas. This wouldn't be a problem, as there would be enough space around. But skiing outside the resorts, heliskiing, mountainbiking, paragliding, building new tracks for the forest management etc... takes place in this areas.
Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus is suffering very much from disturbance and habitat loss and is declining rapidly in Switzerland. Also Hazel Grouse Bonasa bonasia are locally rare where there is to much tourism.
Ptarmigan Lagopus mutus and Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix populations seem to be stable, only around the big resorts (like Zermatt) there can be a decline (I'm not surprised that youhaven't seen one).
The population of Rock Partridge Alectoris graeca is growing since some years and they are found in new areas. The reason for this positive developement is unclear. But as they are shy they usually are not found along the pists.
The Crow population has not really changed in the last decades in the alps. Neither Carrion Crow Corvus corone nor Yellow-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus are the problem. It's us, the skiiers. It's ok to go skiing (I do it as well), but say to the locals that you don't wish the new lift they want to build or the new cablecar to another mountain.

Greetings from Switzerland
(Where the snow finally has melted and spring arrived)

[Nutcracker]

Interesting - the details I gave are from ski resorts in Scotland, where crows (Corvus corone, C. cornix) attracted to tourists are known to be a serious problem. Perhaps people here are more likely to throw food away?

Of course in Scotland it is only Lagopus mutus that is affected by skiing, as the other species do not occur on the ski slopes. Where Tetrao urogallus and T. tetrix occur, there is not enough snow for skiing.

Other species adversely affected by ski lifts in Scotland are Charadrius morinellus and other waders, and Plectrophenax nivalis (though this also benefits from discarded food too!)

[pemburung]

Not a bird thing, but I saw my first porcupine skiing in Colorado, from the ski lift, which passed right next to the tree it was feeding on. Now, this was my first time skiing, but it made me learn very quickly, as as soon as I got to the top I came down as straight and fast as possible to get back on the lift to have another look at the porcupine.

As far as equipment goes, if you have a problem with large bins, buy some smaller bins as well. Best to wear them outside, so they are at the same temp as your face so they don't fog. It takes a lot of cold to freeze the oil.

Pemburung

[breffni]

Grouses and Partridges are very shy birds in the Swiss Alps and very vulnerable to disturbance. They avoid ski areas. This wouldn't be a problem, as there would be enough space around. But skiing outside the resorts, heliskiing, mountainbiking, paragliding, building new tracks for the forest management etc... takes place in this areas.
Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus is suffering very much from disturbance and habitat loss and is declining rapidly in Switzerland. Also Hazel Grouse Bonasa bonasia are locally rare where there is to much tourism.
Ptarmigan Lagopus mutus and Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix populations seem to be stable, only around the big resorts (like Zermatt) there can be a decline (I'm not surprised that youhaven't seen one).
The population of Rock Partridge Alectoris graeca is growing since some years and they are found in new areas. The reason for this positive developement is unclear. But as they are shy they usually are not found along the pists.
The Crow population has not really changed in the last decades in the alps. Neither Carrion Crow Corvus corone nor Yellow-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus are the problem. It's us, the skiiers. It's ok to go skiing (I do it as well), but say to the locals that you don't wish the new lift they want to build or the new cablecar to another mountain.

Greetings from Switzerland
(Where the snow finally has melted and spring arrived)

Thanks - thats interesting - as a tourist one tends to imagine that there are vast undistrubed spaces in the alps (eg looking out from the klien matterhorn) but i guess in winter the wildlife concentrates around the valleys, exactly where the skiing is...in zernatt there is a small nature reserve below riffelalp but my understanding is that this will soon have a huge lift crossing over it...one question: where to go to find a wall creeper (i will be in the basel area in May).

B.

[wintibird]

Hi
No Wallcreepers in Basel unfortunately. In May the birds who are wintering in the lowlands are back in the alps and therefore quite some way out of Basel. There are certain good spots. One is the Feschelschlucht (gorge) near Leuk in the Valais (same canton as Zermatt). I could give you more spots via E-mail, depends if you have the time and a car to leave Basel (next spot from Basel at least 3 hours with a car).
In Winter it's easier as you can find Wallcreeper for example around Burgdorf in the lowlands.

Just north of Basel is a very nice area, the petit camargue alsacienne. It's actually in France, about 5 kms north of the town. Nightingales all around.

Greetings
André