Recently returned from a trip to Switzerland to visit friends and see the
countryside. Though I did not get to spend a lot of time birding, those
binoculars were never far away! Though veteran European birdwatchers will
see this list as pretty basic, common birds, to me they were nearly all new
and exciting! The fun thing about this was that the birds were just
familiar enough that I could put them in family groups (and find them easily
in the guidebook) but differently colored and new just the same. I
especially enjoyed the many different colored tits (chickadees), ranging
from ones that look nearly like our black-capped chickadees to bright blue,
yellow, and green varieties (and one pink and black variety with a long
tail).

The best birding spot we visited was Gorges de L'Areuse (hope I spelled that
right) a gorgeous wildlife preserve outside of Neuchatel. One can take a
train to a small town at the top of the gorge and walk down to the lake,
where you can catch a tram back to your starting point. The walk takes an
afternoon (if you stop to bird constantly) and includes a very pretty river,
great geology, lots of birds, and the leaves were turning. All in all, a
very nice day. The vineyards were all turning colors as well. Saw lots of
raptors from the train, whizzing by too fast to see what any of them were
(though some looked suspiciously like our red-tail without a red tail - and
I'm guessing were buzzards). Other than the above, we visited Lausanne (and
Lake Geneva), Neuchatel, Basel, and Zurich.

Great Crested Grebe
Black-Necked Grebe (Eared Grebe)
Grey Heron
Mute Swan
Mandarin Duck
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Red-Crested Pochard
Common Pochard
Tufted Duck
Common Moorhen
Common Coot
Yellow-Legged Gull
Lesser Black-Backed Gull
Black-Headed Gull
Rock Dove
African Collared Dove
Common Kingfisher
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Grey Wagtail
White-Throated Dipper (I think, the guidebook just listed it as "Dipper",
but it had a white throat)
European Robin
Common Redstart
Eurasian Blackbird
Eurasian Chiffchaff
Long-Tailed Tit
Marsh Tit
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Eurasian Nuthatch
Eurasian Treecreeper
Eurasian Jay
Black-Billed Magpie
Carrion Crow
Common Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch

Teresa Michelsen
temi461 at ecy.wa.gov