momo's list for switzerland (1 Viewer)

[Momo]

Updated 21/12/2005

1 great northern diver
2 black-throated diver
3 red-throated diver

4 little grebe
5 great-crested grebe
6 black-necked grebe
7 slavonian grebe
8 red-necked grebe

9 cormorant

10 black-crowned night heron
11 little bittern
12 grey heron
13 purple heron
14 cattle egret
15 great white egret
16 little egret
17 spoonbill
18 white stork
19 black stork

20 mute swan
21 whooper swan
22 grey-lag goose
23 bean goose
24 greater white-fronted goose
25 brent goose
26 shelduck
27 ruddy shelduck
28 wigeon
29 gadwall
30 teal
31 mallard
32 pintail
33 garganey
34 shoveller
35 red-crested porchard
36 common porchard
37 ferruginous duck
38 tufted duck
39 mandarin duck
40 scaup
41 eider
42 velvet scoter
43 goldeneye
44 red-breasted merganser
45 goosander
46 smew

47 black kite
48 red kite
49 honey buzzard
50 bearded vulture
51 marsh harrier
52 hen harrier
53 goshawk
54 sparrowhawk
55 common buzzard
56 golden eagle
57 short-toed eagle
58 osprey
59 kestrel
60 perregrine falcon
61 hobby
62 merlin
63 red-footed falcon

64 black grouse
65 rock partridge
66 ptarmigan
67 common quail
68 pheasant
69 water rail
70 spotted crake
71 moorhen
72 coot

73 common crane

74 oystercatcher
75 black-winged stilt
76 avocet
77 collared pratincole
78 little ringed plover
79 ringed plover
80 kentish plover
81 grey plover
82 golden plover
83 lapwing
84 dunlin
85 curlew sandpiper
86 temminck's stint
87 little stint
88 sanderling
89 knot
90 snipe
91 jack snipe
92 curlew
93 whimbrel
94 common sandpiper
95 wood sandpiper
96 green sandpiper
97 marsh sandpiper
98 greenshank
99 redshank
100 spotted redshank
101 bar-tailed godwit
102 black-tailed godwit
103 ruff
104 turnstone
105 grey phalarope

106 black-headed gull
107 mediterranean gull
108 little gull
109 common gull
110 yellow-legged gull
111 caspian gull
112 herring gull
113 lesser black-backed gull
114 greater black-backed gull
115 laughing gull
116 common tern
117 gull-billed tern
118 sandwich tern
119 caspian tern
120 little tern
121 black tern
122 whiskered tern

123 feral pigeon
124 stock dove
125 wood pigeon
126 collared dove
127 turtle dove

128 cuckoo

129 pigmy owl
130 tawny owl
131 eagle owl
132 barn owl
133 long-eared owl

134 nightjar

135 swift
136 pallid swift
137 alpine swift

138 kingfisher

139 european bee-eater

140 hoopoe

141 grey-headed woodpecker
142 green woodpecker
143 black woodpecker
144 greater-spotted woodpecker
145 middle-spotted woodpecker
146 lesser-spotted woodpecker
147 wryneck

148 skylark
149 woodlark
150 shore lark

149 crag martin
150 swallow
151 house martin
152 sand martin

153 meadow pipit
154 tree pipit
155 water pipit
156 yellow wagtail (flava, cinereocapilla, thunbergii)
157 grey wagtail
158 white wagtail (alba, yarelli)

159 waxwing
160 dipper
161 wren

162 hedge sparrow
163 alpine accentor

164 robin
165 nightingale
166 bluethroat
167 black redstart
168 common redstart
169 stonechat
170 winchat
171 wheatear
172 rock thrush
173 blue rock thrush
174 blackbird
175 ring ouzel
176 fieldfare
177 song thrush
178 mistel thrush
179 redwing

180 savi's warbler
181 grasshopper warbler
182 reed warbler
183 great reed warbler
184 marsh warbler
185 sedge warbler
186 melodious warbler
187 lesser whitethroat
188 common whitethroat
189 blackcap
190 garden warbler
191 bonelli's warbler
192 wood warbler
193 chiffchaff
194 willow warbler
195 goldcrest
196 firecrest

197 pied flycatcher
198 spotted flycatcher

199 bearded tit
200 long-tailed tit
201 willow tit
202 marsh tit
203 crested tit
204 coal tit
205 blue tit
206 great tit

207 nuthatch
208 wall creeper
209 treecreeper
210 short-toed treecreeper

211 penduline tit

212 golden oriole

213 woodchat shrike
214 red-backed shrike
215 great grey shrike

216 jay
217 magpie
218 nutcracker
219 alpine chough
220 chough
221 jackdaw
222 rook
223 carrion crow
224 hooded crow
225 raven

226 starling

227 house sparrow
228 tree sparrow
229 italian sparrow
230 snow finch
231 chaffinch
232 brambling
233 serin
234 citril finch
235 greenfinch
236 goldfinch
237 siskin
238 lesser redpoll (cabaret)
239 linnet
240 scarlet rosefinch
241 crossbill
242 bullfinch
243 hawfinch
244 yellowhammer
245 rock bunting
246 reed bunting
247 cirl bunting
248 ortolan bunting
249 corn bunting

 

[Momo]

Collared Pratincole

One I've never seen before here. Could only spare a lunchtime to look for it, in an idyllic spot called Etang de Pré Bovet, which resembles a building site in the middle of a field. However, what with the photographers already out in force, it wasn't so hard to find. Amazing looking thing, which more than made up for missing a squacco heron that had been fishing in amongst a pile of old branches and empty coke bottles just outside Geneva (until I showed up, that is). Excellent views of an old Marks & Spencers' plastic bag, though, which is a rarity for Switzerland.

 

[Momo]

Eagle owl

Second "lifer". Not much merit in this. The nest was included in a bird tour of the alps and I just managed to see (and correctly identify, of course) the bird's head for a few seconds at a distance of about 9 zillion yards. Still, on the list it goes ...

 

[Momo]

I may well have mistaken an ibis for a coot today. Such is life. Sigh ...

 

[Momo]

Third "lifer". This time a shorelark. It was, and maybe still is, hopping around on top of the Suchet, in the Jura mountains, exactly where one was about ten years ago, the last and (I think) only time a shorelark was seen in our Canton. Although it was found yesterday, I only had it and a skylark for company for about two hours early this morning - just a few feet away at times.

 

[Momo]

I have put a picture of the by now almost legendary Swiss shore lark here in my gallery, in case anyone's interested. Looks like I'd have met Wintibirder if I'd stayed on top of the Suchet for another 5 or 6 hours.

 

[Momo]

Grey (red) phalarope

Two of them, in fact, on the lakefront in Yverdon since the end of last week. Lost my gloves, blown away over a wire fence. Could only stand the cold for a few more minutes after that, just long enough for a few snapshots. Here's what I presume to be a juvenile (the other was a grown-up).

 

[Momo]

Brent goose

One juvenile brent goose (may not be a "mega" on the coast, but it is here!), discovered yesterday by someone else in a field about 15 minutes from my house. Apart from the name of the village, I could only find out that it was "in the same field [of winter wheat] as yesterday", wherever that was, and "40 m from two woodlarks", which, needless to say, were not on my map. No worries, you might think - only a complete dill would be incapable of finding a black goose in a snow-covered field. It's just that there were rather a lot of fields, no sign of any other birders and heaps of black ice all over the place. The goose seemed quite approachable when I finally caught up with it, but wasn't ringed, so I presume it was wild. I'll be wild if it wasn't ...

BTW There were also a couple of golden plover, the aforementioned woodlarks and dozens of skylarks milling around in the same field, which is quite unusual in these parts, to say the least.

 

[Momo]

Laughing gull

The first time I have seen one of these here, and it's probably the first to have knowingly been seen in Switzerland. Had to take a four hour lunch break for the pleasure of observing it for about 30 seconds at extremely close range next to a small fishing boat in the port of Merligen (Thunersee), before it suddenly disappeared at around 1 o'clock. Having hung around for about an hour with some other cold-looking people, I searched up and down the lake for a while, then gave up and went to see the greater black-backed gull at Brienz, which was also playing hard to get. Apparently the laughing gull didn't come back until much later. So no photos. There'd have been no laughing gull either if I hadn't run a red light in Thun. Couldn't be fussed to look for a bittern on the way home, so I reckon 249's going to be the final score. Not bad on a tricky wicket, Ian ...

M.