This week was quite succesful for my Swiss list. Tuesday I went out to Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland to look for a Long-legged Buzzard who was found two days ago. I arrived on the spot only to hear that the bird has left and couldn't be relocated. With another birder I drove around the region, looking out for raptors. There were many Common Buzzards, Red Kites, Black Kites and Kestrels. We just checked some buzzards when I spotted one with prominent long leggs! There it was, pretty distant but a look through the scope made the id clear. Species 293 for my Swiss list, only 7 more to go... Soon I had to return to School for a parent-teacher meeting, but it was very hard to concentrate on it

Today I and three mates drove to a place in Eastern Switzerland where some years ago White-backed Woodpeckers have been discovered. They started breeding in Switzerland maybe 8 years ago, but the forests they prefer are hard to reach and they are notoriously hard to find. One mate knew the place where we arrived shortly after seven. Stepping out of the car we heard a Grey-headed Woodpecker calling and we saw several Greater-Spotted Woodpeckers. We walked through the forest, it started snowing, but no sign at all. 25 Raven passed (I've never seen so much together here) and a Peregrine flew through. Some Chamois were a nice sight too. We returned to the car and took another path, still nothing. After 2,5 hours we came back to the car again and heard some drumming and a Black Woodpecker calling. As the drumming and the calls responded to each other we thought there were two Black ones. But suddenly one mate spotted the drumming Woodpecker and there it was: a stunning male White-backed Woodpecker. We watched him for maybe 5 minutes and then he disappeard. Species 294 on my Swiss list and just 6 more to go to the magic 300......