Advice for Zurich-Vaduz in April (1 Viewer)

Hi!

We are going on a family trip to around Zurich-Vaduz in April.
I still have some lifers missing that would be possible to see in Switzerland or Liechtenstein. If you have any advice of good places where some of these species would be possible during that time of year, I would really appreciate it. Because it's a family trip the places should be quite easily accessible.

Here are the species I would be interested in:

Wallcreeper
Alpine Accentor
Alpine Chough
Citril Finch
Water Pipit
White-winged Snowfinch
Common Rock Thrush
Bearded Vulture
Rock Partridge
Barn Owl

Thanks!

-Finbirder

Hi Finbirder,

Well, all your target species are gettable and April would be a good time for them. However, access is the problem as many mountain areas are still snowed in. Furthermore many cable cars are not running at this time of year.

Some suggestions in the area between Zurich and Vaduz:

Säntis
The Säntis cable car is running in April. The peak is at 2500 m. You will certainly see Alpine Chough up here and with some luck White-winged Snowfinch or even Alpine Accentor. Around Schwägalp (where the cable car starts) you'll find some nice forest. Depending on the snow situtation you might find Citril Finch and Water Pipit here (the latter should be easy). See here: https://saentisbahn.ch/en/

Wildhaus
A good area for Water Pipit, Citril Finch and Alpine Accentor. However the cable cars will stop on April 2nd. If you're there before, take the chairlift from Wildhaus Lisighaus to Oberdorf. There are several marked paths which are held open in winter.

Common Rock Thrush is arriving in the Alps from mid-April, however all breeding grounds I know are usually only accessible from mid-May. Bearded Vulture is difficult in the area. There is a release site in the Weisstannental. The site itself will not be accessible, however if you drive to Weisstannen you might be lucky. And of course they can show up everywhere. Rock Partridge is a difficult bird to see, I know a good site in the Valais in southwest Switzerland. However, you will need at least a day for this and you should be there very, very early to have a chance. It's also a bit early for Wallcreeper. There is a very good site in the Valais as well (http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Leukerfeld) but as said before, it's rather fare from Zürich. Barn Owl has suffered a heavy decline in the last two years (lots of snow), so at the moment they're not easy. There are certainly some pairs in the rhine valley (between Vaduz and the Swiss boarder). Check out barns at twilight.

Hope this helps,

André

Thanks very much Andre for detailed information. Säntis would definitely be a interesting place for us!

For Rock Patridge, You have to come again e.g. middle of June to Ofenpass.
Water Pipit is very common in Alps end of winter and early spring.
I do not know if also in Switzerland, but everywhere in Austrian and German Alps, I have them at skitours.