This was a week in Switzerland for nine of our family, six skiing, the rest, including me, sightseeing. Birding was limited to whatever was around the places we visited.
We travelled by train and the outward journey revealed small numbers of
Common Buzzards, a few
Ravens and some
Roe Deer as we sped across France.
We stayed in the village of Wilderswil near Interlaken and on the Sunday morning became acquainted with the common birds;
House Sparrows,
Siskin (about the commonest bird around),
Chaffinch,
Greenfinch and
Blackbird. The skiiers were up on the mountain early and we soon followed to meet them at First above Grindlewald.
Alpine Choughs were common and tame here and came to eat chips from plates at the restaurant. A couple of
Snow Finches and
Ravens were the only other birds but up to 11
Chamois were on the slopes nearby.
On Monday a single
Black Redstart was in Wilderswil. That day Karen and I took the train to Luzern, stopping briefly at the town of Meiringen which has been given a Sherlock Holmes theme thanks to the nearby Reichenbach Falls, which Conan Doyle chose as the location for the final encounter between Holmes and Moriaty. The town itself was buzzing with
Alpine Choughs - easily the lowest altitude I've seen them at - and many appeared to be paired or displaying. A
Grey Wagtail was on the river and
Siskins and
Blackbirds were common.
En Route the Brienzersee (and other lakes along the way) had several
Great Crested Grebe, many
Coot, a few
Black-headed and
Common Gulls and a Sparrowhawk. A few
Chamois were on the hillside on the north side at surprisingly low altitude. A
Roe Deer showed on the climb up to Brünig Hasliberg.
Other species seen en route were
Carrion Crow,
Magpie,
Common Buzzard,
Mute Swan,
Wigeon,
Shelduck,
Tufted Duck and
Cormorant. A
Red Kite was near Sarnen. Luzern produced a
Peregrine terrorizing the
Feral Pigeons, 2
Goosander,
Mallard and
Black-headed Gulls.
Tuesday found us back in the high mountains for a trip up to the 007-themed revolving restaurant on top of The Schilthorn at 2971m. The restaurant featured in On Her Majesty's Secret Service and takes 55 minutes to do a complete turn. The scenery here was quite simply breathtaking and of course there were the inevitable
Alpine Choughs for company as well as a
Raven. We stopped in the village of Mürren on the way up where there were many
Alpine Choughs, 4
Snow Finches and a singing
Alpine Accentor.
Wednesday was another train trip for Karen and me, this time to the capital, Bern.
Little Grebes and
Goosander were on the river in Interlaken, there were 2
Red Kites near Spiez and the usual suspects on the lakes. In Bern a
Short-toed Treecreeper was calling loudly as it made its way up trees around the Casino.
On the way from here to Lausanne we saw our only
Starlings of the trip and our first
Mistle Thrush. Lake Geneva held heoic numbers of
Great Crested Grebes plus other waterbirds like
Gadwall,
Pochard,
Tufted Duck and
Goosander. There were many
Grey Herons in the valley north of Aigle on our return via the new 34.5km Lötschberg Base Tunnel (the longest land tunnel in the world).
Thursday, and we were back in the mountains for some hardcore tobogganing. The route was via Wengen (Alpine Choughs) and the cablecar to Männlichen, where a couple of
Chamois showed. At the top were more
Alpine Choughs and one or two Snow Finches. The toboggan run down to Grindlewald passed through coniferous forest where we saw 2
Nutcrackers,
Willow Tit,
Crested Tit,
Crossbill and a
Great Spotted Woodpecker.
On Friday we decided to return to Mürren for some hiking. 6
Fieldfare were in Wilderwil that morning and a
Dipper showed on the river just above Zweilütschinen on the way up and down. Again the village was packed with
Alpine Choughs and had several Snow Finches and Alpine Accentors. The walk produced more
Siskins,
Mistle Thrushes,
Greenfinches,
Chaffinches and 2
Crossbills but the highlight was a party of c.6 pale
alpestris Ring Ouzels feeding on Rowan.Higher up at Allmendhubel there were a couple of
Ravens,
Snow Finch and
Chamois.
The train journey home was surprisingly productive with
Goosander and
Red Kite near Olten in Switzerland, then many
Great White Egrets, plus a few
White Storks and
Grey Herons, a
Little Egret and a
Marsh Harrier along the Zorn valley between Strasbourg and Saverne in France. There were a few more
Great White Egrets west of the Vosges Mountains but otherwise just a handful of
Common Buzzards were seen for the rest of the trip.
Alpine Chamois
Rupicapra rupicapria rupicapria
Alpine Accentor
Prunella collaris
Siskin
Carduelis spinus
Snow Finch
Montifringilla nivalis
Alpine Chough
Pyrrhocorax graculus
All pictures taken with Canon Powershot SX10
It may also be the theme of his life's work, judging by the simple message it conveys about the importance of the communal aspirations of the peoples of Africa. He uses it several times in various essays in the book, but really drives the point home in the concluding paragraph of the last one, titled "Africa Is People."
one of the seminal works of African fiction, has a subtle, dry voice that makes each of these seventeen essays something to savor and linger over. He makes his points about racial stereotypes, African development, history, and politics, and the African-American diaspora, sometimes with humor, sometimes with biting directness, but always graciously and without rancor. You sense Achebe knows that to rail against injustice is futile; change must come through education achieved one cogent argument at a time.
