Advice for Birding trip August (1 Viewer)

Hi

I am planning a short birding trip in early August and would like to try for the following birds (all lifers):

Rock Partridge
Nutcracker
Rock Thrush
Hazel Grouse

I am also keen to say as many as possible of the usual alpine specialities including Alpine Accentor, Snowfinch, Wallcreeper and Lammergeier. I only have 4 days and will be driving down from Luxembourg. Could anyone give me some good site advice on where to go and how best to maximize my time.

Many thanks in advance

John

Hi,
Leuk in Valais is probably a good spot: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Leukerbad (and http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Leukerfeld). The three first should be realistic, Hazel Grouse needs a lot of luck.
Cheers, Florian

Many thanks for the reply & the links Florian. Apologies for not replying before but I have been away for the last 3 weeks. Do you have any advice on specific areas to look at in Leukerbad / Leukerfeld or is it just best to try the different routes and habitats?
Thanks again
John

Hi John,
no specific advice other than what is described in the opus entry, e.g. the "areas of interest". As you said, best try different habitats and maximise the time spent outside.

Here a good link for a topographic maps for Switzerland: https://map.geo.admin.ch

Best, Florian

Great map Florian - thanks again. J

Hi guys, apologies for hijacking the thread, but...

Florian, I posted a request for more general information on the area around Thonon and Evian, over in the France area forum. Not sure whether you are familiar with this area, but if you have time to reply to my post I'd much appreciate it.

dalat said:

Hi,
Leuk in Valais is probably a good spot: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Leukerbad (and http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Leukerfeld). The three first should be realistic, Hazel Grouse needs a lot of luck.
Cheers, Florian

Click to expand...

I just returned from spending a long weekend in the Leuk and Leukerbad area. I have to say the advice to go there was very good.

I picked up Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush fairly easily where two birds had been regularly reported at Bannwald S near Leuk, just at the logging station. Hohe Brucke was a little quiet but there were quite a few Alpine Swifts in the area. Probably the highlight of the first day was in the Rottensand area near Pfyn where there were 40-50 Bee-eaters performing. I also found two Tawny Pipits here as well as seeing Honey Buzzard. I caught up with Nutcracker the following day on the Leuk - Leukerbad road although this was not as easy as I had imagined.

I spent a night at the hotel Wildstrubel on the Gemmi Pass above Leukerbad so I could target high alpine species. I saw Lammergeier, 4 Golden Eagles, Alpine Chough, Crag Martin and Citril Finch. Wheatear, Black Redstart and Water Pipit were widespread. Mammal sightings included Ibex, Alpine Marmot and Chamois. I didn't get Rock Partridge unfortunately or Alpine Accentor and Wallcreeper in spite of fastidiously checking suitable habitat. It was a very hot day and things went really went 'dead' in the afternoon; it also got quite busy with tourists.

I really liked the area and would recommend it to other birders for the variety of habitats and the scenery.