Theresa, I did not see the hoopoe on your list. Ive been to western Europe
several times, and have searched specifically for this bird. Even had local
birders tell me where to look, but no soap. I am not sure this bird exists
- Ha Ha.
Stan Ray.At 09:49 AM 11/7/95 PST, you wrote:
>
>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
>
>
Stan Ray
Kirkland, WA