June 28th, 2013: Mount Pilatus and Lake of Lucerne

            Today was easily one of the best days of the entire trip. My aunt was going to bring us to the Swiss Alps, to Mount Pilatus, a well-known tourist magnet. When I found out that this location attracted myriad tourists, my excitement diminished because that usually means that bird activity dwindles. But I brought my binoculars in case, along with my camera, and once again that was very smart of me because we were in for an amazing day of birding. Our original plan was to take the lift all the way to the top of the mountain, but because of the thick overcast, we decided to get off at the penultimate stop, where the fog and clouds were above us and not around us. As we ascended, we were able to get a majestic view of the entire mountain and the surrounding mountains as well. Some were snow-capped, but the majority were covered in rocks and bare ground.

            After a ten-fifteen minute ascent, we arrived at our stop. The second we stepped out of the lift, the chilling air blew onto our skin, adorning it with many goosebumps. It was rather cold, but not as cold as I had expected, which was good because there's nothing worse than holding up your binoculars and shivering from the intense chill. We stepped out of the building and there were many people sitting and eating, talking loudly, which once again discouraged me. But as we began walking, I found a bird that turned the entire day around: my lifer Ring Ouzel! This species occurs in the mountainous regions of Europe, in the Pyrenees and the Alps for example, and is related to the Eurasian Blackbird. I was under the impression that this species was difficult to find, but apparently not seeing how easily I found this bird. It flew onto the lawn and began foraging, while oblivious hikers walked by unaware of the amazing bird they were passing by. This bird was an excellent way to begin our day.

Ring Ouzel
(notice the white chest band, the black body,
and the yellow bill)

          We followed a trail into the forest where I heard a Common Chiffchaff and some unidentified tit species. I was also able to flush my lifer Song Thrush! This thrush is marked with arrowhead-shaped spots on its breast and stomach, with an overall buffy wash. It began singing, but from inside the thickets of a tree which made it impossible to see again. It turned out the trail was a loop and we found ourselves where we started. We started walking down another trail when a very cooperative Common Chaffinch began foraging at the end of a branch, offering exceptional views and photo-ops. 

Common Chaffinch
(notice the blue-gray cowl, the pinkish face,
and the distinctive pattern on the wings)

          I suddenly heard this pretty singing from a bird atop of a tree. This by itself already gave me an idea of what it may have been. Then, it began flying fairly high, and then just floated down, all while singing. This behavior is called "skylarking". Once it landed, I was able to confirm my identification: Tree Pipit. 

  

Tree Pipit
(notice the thick streaks on chest, that thin out
as they reach its flanks)

        This bird may not be particularly spectacular-looking, but it has a phenomenal voice and was a fun lifer to get. But not only was this the most fun lifer because of its voice, but because it was my 500th lifer! This is a fairly exciting milestone for any birder, and it really made this day so much better than it already was!

         I then turned around and saw this raptor soaring high in the sky. This was a Red Kite, a beautiful bird of prey. Suddenly, it was joined by a second bird. I was looking at two Red Kites soaring in unison with undeniable elegance. 

Red Kite
(notice the reddish underbelly, the white underwings,
and its noticeably gray head)

        Unfortunately, these birds had to leave, so we continued. Two European Goldfinches flew by quickly and a family of White Wagtails perched onto a barbed wire fence. I started hearing some interesting sounds coming from up the hill, so naturally I followed it. One call ended up being my lifer Water Pipit, then there was my lifer Mistle Thrush and my lifer Eurasian Linnet, a pretty little finch species.

Eurasian Linnet
(notice the gray face, and the rosy breast and front)

         When I was younger, my grandmother used to always say I had a "tête de linotte", which roughly translates to saying I had the brain of a linnet. She always said this when I would forget something, and the reason for this is because there is a myth that linnets don't have a good memory, and this causes them to forget where their nest is, so they are forced to build another nest. Allow me to debunk this myth. Linnets don't necessarily have a bad memory. They easily remember where their nests are. As a matter of fact, they are migratory in parts of the their range, notably in the northern part, and they'll migrate hundreds of miles each year from the south to the exact same bush or thicket to build or even renovate their old nest. The reason for why they build several nests is to court a female. She needs to find the right nest. So the more nests the males offer, the more likely they are to court the female. This behavior has nothing to do with their memory, but with their hormones. 

          Anyways, there were two linnets that soon after flew off. I neared the treeline, where the open space met the forest, where there seemed to be much bird activity. I found more Mistle Thrushes, Tree Pipits and a very exciting lifer: Citril Finch. This species is localized in Europe and hard to find. So I was happy to flush three individuals that landed briefly on a bush, allowing sufficient time to be studied. I entered the forest a saw my lifer Firecrest, a small and colorful bird related to kinglets. My dad called me saying we had to leave, so we went back to our starting point and sat down for lunch. 

           As we ate, an Yellow-billed (or Alpine) Chough flew onto the roof of the lodge. It seemed remarkably tame and offered superb views. This species of corvid is found throughout various mountainous regions in Europe and Asia. It's a dashing bird when well seen, thanks to its banana-yellow decurved bill, reddish legs and stark black body.

Yellow-billed Chough
(notice the yellow bill, the black body,
and the reddish legs)

          Rather than taking the lift down to the bottom, we decided to hike down. This hike yielded many more birds and lifers. I got to see my first Common Raven of the trip, a remarkably difficult species to see in Switzerland.

Common Raven
(notice the massive body and bill)

        I came across a family of Ring Ouzels, which were just as cooperative as the last bird. Unfortunately, these ones preferred the thick foliage and didn't come out to let me take a picture. Shortly after, I came across two male Eurasian Bullfinches, another lifer! 

Eurasian Bullfinch
(notice the black cap, the pink underparts,
and the gray back)

         There was a whole flock of Firecrests on the other side of a small meadow which were more visible than the last bird. But because of their propensity for never staying still, I only managed to get mediocre shots.

Firecrest
(notice the greenish back, the white supercilium,
and the yellow on the nape)

         A Great Spotted Woodpecker made an appearance, which then led to my lifer Eurasian Nutcracker which was incredible! I thought I had seen one when I was on Mt. Fuji in Japan, but I had terrible binoculars and it was a quick flyby, so I wasn't positive. This bird sat perched atop a tree, making its raspy calls, similar to our Clark's Nutcrackers.

Eurasian Nutcracker
(notice the spots on the brown body,
the white undertail coverts and the large bill)

              As we continued our descent, I came across a family of Goldcrests, two adults with three peeping chicks, awaiting their lunch. The parents cavorted from branch to branch in search of little invertebrates to aliment their young. Once again, their hyper-activity prevented me from taking any decent shots.

Goldcrest
(notice the green body and the namesake gold crest)

              We finally reached the bottom of the mountain. After the long, but entertaining hike, we were rather tired. However, before heading back to the apartment in Basel, my aunt really wanted to bring us to the town of Lucerne, only about 10 minutes from Mount Pilatus. She emphasized on the beauty of town, and we figured it was worth checking out. The town was built around the Lake of Lucerne, so I thought that perhaps I might see some interesting birds. I brought my binoculars just in case. We later arrived, and we were blown away by the beauty. It was a picture-perfect, postcard view. The buildings had this certain rustic feel to them, which added to magnificence of the town. 

Buildings in Lucerne

            However, my eyes quickly diverted from the buildings and the splendid scenery to this orange figure on the water that caught my eye. I grabbed the camera and quickly ran to one of the docks that jutted into the water. 5 feet in front of me was my lifer Red-crested Pochard, a breathtakingly beautiful species of duck. No other duck species looks quite like this one, with its red bill, orange head, black chest and brown mantle. 

Male Red-crested Pochard
(notice the red bill, orange head,
and the black breast)

             What surprised me the most though was the high number of this species present at the lake and their proximity to the people. They outnumbered the Mallards 5 to 1, and paddled by the docks where people would chat and eat, as if they didn't even notice those people.

             Another great bird that I saw shortly after was my lifer Great-crested Grebe, a species found throughout Eurasia, Africa, all the way down to Oceania. There weren't quite as many grebes as there were pochards, and unlike those pochards, they kept their distance, keeping mostly to the middle of the lake. But one individual was brave enough to part from the others a swam under the bridge we were on, which offered good photo ops.

Great-crested Grebe
(notice the sharp tufts,
and the black feathers coming from the back of the head)

               As we walked, I found another bird that wouldn't make any other person (non-birder that is) look twice. It was a Yellow-legged Gull, an abundant species of gull found throughout Europe. This bird was exciting to see for the first time, but I learned quickly how blasé I would become about this species. Throughout the rest of my travels, this species would be abundant. But in the moment, I was excited to get my third lifer at the Lake of Lucerne.

Yellow-legged Gull
(notice the yellow legs, the white at the tip
of the primaries, and the light gray mantle)

                 Gulls are notorious for being difficult to identify. But what renders them most confusing is the wide variety of species and plumages according to age. Fortunately for me, this is the only species of 4-year gull during the summer in Switzerland. So this made identification a piece of cake. All the 1st and 2nd year birds were Yellow-legged Gulls, so I didn't break my neck trying to scrutinize the slight variations in plumage between the various species. 

1st year Yellow-legged Gull
(notice the distinctive pattern on the back,
and the slight white at the tip of the dark primaries)

              Just as we were about to leave, I noticed something flying quickly above us. I then saw many more of these similar birds flying above us. I had trouble trying to put my bins on these birds because of how swiftly they flew, but once I did, my jaw dropped. I was looking at a dozen or so Alpine Swifts flying in and out of their roost, which was the main tower of the Lake of Lucerne. This is a species that I heard was "hit or miss" in Europe. But I suppose when you're birding right by their roost, your odds for hitting are increased ten fold. This is a larger species of swift, with broader wings, a brown back, and a white throat and belly. Unfortunately, these birds were flying too quickly to snap a shot of. However, I did see another individual later in my travels, right outside the city of Nice in France, which I did manage to get a shot of.

Alpine Swift
(notice the broad wings,
and the white throat and belly)

              This concluded my day of birding at Mount Pilatus and Lake of Lucerne, and also my birding in Switzerland. The next day we were off to the Cote d'Azur in southern France where we would spend a few days with the same family we were with in Basel. This day was certainly one of the greatest during my entire month-long trip in Europe. From birding the majestic and awe-inspiring Swiss Alps, to the quaint town of Lucerne, I was glad my aunt brought us out to these locations.