slow birding in Switzerland

For krokusvakantie (winter break), we stayed at oma & opa's house near Zurich, Switzerland and soaked up sun and beautiful views of mountains and lake Zurich. There was little snow for skiing or sledding, which meant more time for birdwatching, and mommy was too thrilled. First new bird was spotted in downtown Zurich by the train station, and what a great bird it was - a RED KITE (Milvus milvus)(all fotos Wikipedia)! The long forked tail and white underwing patches (confirmed by Stijn + Alex) were dead giveaways. Could hardly keep my eyes on the twisty, windy roads - yes, of course mommy was behind the wheel.

Day 2 we took kids to a lakeside park in Richterswil and got new bird #2 - the RED-CRESTED POCHARD (Netta rufina). Stijn parked the car and came back asking if I'd seen red-headed ducks by the train station. Figured he was talking about the feral mandarin ducks and didn't think anything of it. But when we walked back to the car and we saw 2 pairs and 2 males of RCP, I was shocked. Memory will be only lukewarm though, as they were practically begging for food, alongside mallards and coots. Probably just escapees of a captive popn, but they were pretty to look at and will still go on my Euro list!

Day 3 topped em all with 3 new species! Alex and I were taking a lovely stroll in a wooded ravine by oma & opa's house w moss covered boulders and gushing stream when the white throat patch of this WHITE-THROATED DIPPER (Cinclus cinclus) flashed before our eyes. What a pleasant surprise! We spent minutes watching the 2 dippers fly back and forth along the watercourse. A Swiss gentleman came by w his dog and we had a conversation in my very broken German about the dippers and also about some raptors he'd seen, or at least that's what it sounded/looked like with all his hand gesturing/pointing up at the trees. Alex is now motivated to learn German so her mom won't embarrass her again.
Bird #4 was the ALPINE CHOUGH (Pyrrhocorax graculus). We found it by the cafe Holzegg near the Grosse Mythen (steep cliff) in Brunni. In our attempt to find enough snow to make at least 1 snowball we took the gondola up to the top of the BrunniAlp ski resort. Immediately heard unfamiliar bird calls, and perched atop the cafe were 2 black birds (pair?) with red legs and yellow beaks, which flew off as soon as they noticed I was dying to know what they were! While we ate lunch I convinced the kids to put french fries on the picnic tables outside, hoping we'd lure the birds back for another view, but unfortunately we weren't so lucky. Kids beginning to realize they have a strange bird for a mom.
The COMMON RAVEN (Corvus corax) was also hanging around Holzegg. Were 50-100 flying around the peak of the Grosse Mythen, and that was something to see. Have seen ravens in N.A., but this was first encounter in Europe and so will go on my Euro list. Kids enjoyed listening to their loud, clanging sounds.

Best part of birding was watching birds together as a family and also without binoculars, which always seemed to get left behind. This is what I call "slow birding" because it's not so much about how many birds you see but WHO you see them with and HOW LONG it takes you to get there. Now that sounds like another brilliant idea that will get me nowhere.

alex blogs

check out a new blog by exela (stage name for Alex)

signs of spring

Some photos (although not mine) to cheer my snowbound friends in North America who are probably huddling by the fire and doing anything they can just to stay warm. My grandma in Virginia said it was supposed to dip to 16 F while here it hit 16 C! Signs of spring are everywhere as a group of 15 redwings visited our garden a few weeks back, as well as one lone male bullfinch. I wondered if it was the same male that visited our bird table last spring!


The blue tits have been actively checking out my nest boxes for weeks now. It seems that no sooner do i lay down to catch a rest that one of the little guys starts pecking away at the entrance to the nest box. We have 2 boxes - one on our patio and one in a huge conifer. Last year they fledged 5 from the conifer box.


Goldfinches have already made an appearance, although i haven't seen one in the field yet. I don't get them at my feeder like i did the American Goldfinch - what a shame.



The vlinders (butterflies) are already emerging. I think i saw this species yesterday. Seems early but it's been so warm here that it comes as no surprise.

Carnaval

If this shot doesn't break the winter blues, I don't know what will. Here you see Thijs and Phoebe all dressed up for a Carnaval celebration (kick-off party before start of passover) at school. This is a BIG deal here, and the kids/schools invest lots of time and energy into organizing events. Grades 1-6 spent Friday afternoon dressing up and putting on a toneel (theatre performances) in front of the whole school, and Alex seemed to enjoy this very much along with eating 2 times frites!

a fly on the wall

what i would give to be a FLY ON THE WALL

to hear secrets WHISPERED

to see MASKS come down

i think it would be great

to be so SMALL

hats off to PJ

This one's for PJ, otherwise known as Paul, or man of Laura, who learned today that his research paper on something to do with calcium channels somewhere in the brain, was accepted by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This is no little beans, and so we're taking every measure to properly acknowledge its significance, but not as in p value, get it? And while I'm documenting this historic moment, my man Stijn is perfecting the art of pannekoeken maken! Onze kinderen hebben carnaval feest morgen, en wij moeten koeken in de keuken! Got it?

Welterusten

tot volgende keer!

my obit.

Let's keep this short and sweet, shall we? This is how i'd like my obit. to read although hopefully not for SOME time. However, the last part will take more work if we're going to make that happen - that's where my dreams come into play. Here goes. Don't blink or you'll miss it!

She married a dutchman who loved to travel, loved birds more than anything, and died by a salt marsh.

Yes, that's all folks!

Is that simple or what?

Well, actually, the last part runs deeper than it reads. There are lots of ways to "die", so to speak.

The literal translation might have been the first thought that came to mind. And it's not a bad thought since i'd love to live and die by an estuary and have my ashes cast off as the seabirds fly overhead and sing my eulogy. You'd just have to listen to them and drink a toast.

Then there are figurative translations, like "dying in a pose", which means to achieve peace with yourself like when in a yoga pose. When i first heard the expression, "dying in a pose", it struck a chord so deep i couldn't get past it for weeks. I think this is what i was feeling when this phrase came out. I'm getting closer to feeling that inner peace, but we're not there yet. I'm always looking though. Just like the man, i'm always looking ...

There it is.

daydreaming

One of my goals is to capture my children's dreams in artwork so they'll always have something special to remind them of what they used to love. This is Alex trying on pointe shoes and daydreaming about what it would be like to be a real dancer someday. It was my first effort, and although it's not great I like it because you can actually tell it's ALEX!

Sometimes watching our kids chase their dreams awakens a part of us that's lying dormant. That's how i feel, at least. Being so busy w work and family in my former life, there was no time for thinking about anything else. Now thinking about "anything else" has become my preoccupation, and I consider it a real privilege to be able to dream 24/7. Who knows what will come of this, but I'm loving pondering all the options ... like running a birding bed-n-breakfast in the Algarve, for instance. How fun would that be!

assignment no. 1

Seeds of CHANGE

Candles BURNING

A NEW DAY is coming

birds are MY RELIGION

snowbird

This photo made me chuckle when I saw it. The first thing that came to my mind was, "no way, this bird is making a SNOW ANGEL!"

Then I saw this photo, which shows the bird taking a well-deserved break after all the huffing and puffing, and admiring the masterpiece it just produced.
And finally, the redwing perches on a nearby limb to check out whether anyone has been paying the least bit of attention. And he makes plans for the next work of art, which won't just be a 2-dimensional sketch on the ground. No, the next job will be a 3-foot SNOWBIRD!

fun links

If you have time to waste, check out the new links i posted:

BirdLife International is the equivalent of WWW for birds with the goal of conservation of birds around the world. Great articles on birds in local & exotic places and programs that make a difference.

RSPB is a bird conservation group based in Britain. Fantastic bird photo gallery which was my mainstay when first moved to Belgium. When I discovered this organization I wanted to move to England!

FATbirder has great bird resources - anything you want to know about birds or equipment, books you need to find.

Travelling birder has bird trip reports so if you're planning to go to Thailand, for instance, you can download bunches of reports and maybe even find someone to meet up and bird with while you're there!

Responsible travel is an ecotourist travel group that will help you find eco-friendly accomodation and holidays. We found a wonderful guesthouse in Portugal (www.monterosaportugal.com) through them!

Slow travel has been popular in Europe for ages but is slowly catching on with the rest of the world. Visit here to learn about the philosophy, read trip reports and get ideas on how to travel slowly. Awesome!

enjoy!

Zeeland in February

We didn't have this many vogelaars (birders) on our trip yesterday, but at least it gives you an idea of what birding in Zeeland can be like - LOTS of scopes and bird-crazed people! We weren't alone in our search for seabirds, shorebirds, geese and ducks - there were plenty of Dutch license plates and a few Belgian ones too. The sun never stopped shining and the birds never stopped coming - was happy to get 10 new species. Here's the list i kept w 53 species. Why don't we try names in Dutch this time? Welcome to my world. How many did you get?

Roodkeelduiker
Ijsduiker
Kuifduiker
Dodaars
Fuut
Roodhalsfuut
Grote aalscholver
Kleine Zilverreiger
Zilverreiger
Blauwe reiger
Knobbelzwaan
Kolgans
Grauwe gans
Brandgans
Rotgans
Bergeend
Wilde eend
Krakeend
Pijlstaart
Slobeend
Smient
Kuifeend
Eider
Ijseend
Brilduiker
Nonnetje
Middelste zaagbek
Buizerd
Smelleken
Patrijs
Fazant
Waterhoen
Meerkoet
Scholekster
Kluut
Bontbekplevier
Strandplevier
Goudplevier
Kievit
Drieteenstrandloper
Steenloper
Tureluur
Zwarter ruiter
Wulp
Kokmeeuw
Zilvermeeuw
Mantelmeeuw
Kleine Alk - so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Winterkoning
Zwarte Kraai
Kauw
Spreeuw
Ekster