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.