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Lucerne in December (1 Viewer)

Steve Babbs

Well-known member
Dear all

It seems likely that I will be in Lucerne for non-birding reasons for a few days in late December. Any suggestions for birding in or near the city appreciated please.

Thanks


Steve
 
Steve do you have any targets? I'm not familiar with local hotspots to Lucern so can't advise particularly, but birding in Switzerland is frankly and honestly put, poor. It has its moments and locations but central (non Alpine) CH, outside of migration periods, is dull. If you were looking for some mountain species there will easy access w/ trains and lifts to alpine areas to try for chickens, snowfinch, etc. If you want to look for waterfowl and the like there will be a best local spot I'm sure, and any local woodland patch can turn up the standard characters plus chances for, say, Middle-spotted, Hawfinch, Redwing...
 
I asked a friend and he commented the same - any patch of woods or along the water will turn up expected species, no real notable spots in/around town. In winter on the lake you might luck into an interesting duck, swan, grebe, or gull.

If you travel about 1/2 hour by public transit you can get to Sempachersee, which will definitely be better, if perhaps not amazing.

You can check ornitho.ch just before and while you're there to see if anything interesting gets reported around town or in Sempachersee. It's not trivial to navigate but you can readily see the last few days notable sightings on the home page and click to see a map link.

I am just guessing but from where Lucerne is located and with good train connections you could probably get to a ski / mountain lift in about 45m - 1 hr, and then spending a few hours up at altitude in the right spot would likely net you Snowfinch and perhaps Citril Finch or a Ptarmigan or the like.

Good luck.
 
Thanks for the advice. No real targets. Certainly no 'lifers' for me in Switzerland I just thought I'd check if anything was in easy reach for a few hours birding. I think we will be doing a ski/mountain lift anyway probably at Mount Pilatus.
 
To demonstrate the amazing birding in CH, I went to a new (to me) area in the Alps today, hiked 8 kms in 7 hrs, and had 26 species. A really distant Golden Eagle the best bird, otherwise very mundane stuff.
 
Fortunately, it is one of the best countries in Europe for butterflies ...not in December it has to be said, so little use for Steve
 
I enjoyed a couple of days in August, Nothing amazing but honey buzzard, golden eagle plus quite a few butterflies and some interesting Orthoptera. As I say, I have low expectations in winter. I am going to visit my son, who is studying there, and was just wondering about anywhere in the area to do a quick bit of birding.
 
One spot which is good for birds is Lake Neuchatel, or more specifically the reed beds and wetlands in the SE corner. There's a bird reserve at La Sauge accessible by ferry from Neuchatel, or there are more frequent ferries to Cudrefin and you can walk westwards along the cycle path to the reserve. Just under 2 hours by train from Luzern, then a short trolleybus ride or walk down the hill to the lake for the ferries. Only thing is I'm not sure if the reserve is open in December, although there are other reedbeds and wetlands accessible from the footpaths by the side of the canal at La Sauge.
Locals do say that Neuchatel suffers from fog quite a lot in winter though...maybe check the weather forecast first!
 
...looking at the map (as opposed to trusting my mental image of Neuchatel being due north of Cudrefin) I mean the NE corner of the lake...
 
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