Hi,
Just back from the annual Easter ski trip, and (of course!) had the BINs handy just in case anything interesting should happen to be seen....
Actually, we have been to the high Alps quite a few times, and indeed this year's location (La Plagne) previously, so I was pretty confident of seeing some good birds in between the ski-ing etc.
On the lower locations to and from Chambery airport we saw a few bits and bobs - Black Kite, Common Buzzard, Little Egret etc - but it was really the birds up-top that we were interested in and we got our first sightings as we were 'taking on liquids' upon arrival in Belle Plagne. In the bright sunshine, heavy snow on the chalet roof was starting to melt and many Alpine Choughs were coming in to drink from the gutters.
Crag Martins were zooming around our heads, and extremely close views enabled us to see the tail windows very well with the naked eye.
White Wagtails were common and a single Black Redstart was see on another roof.... Not too bad for the first hour or so...
Belle Plagne is just about on the tree line, and the weather was pretty cold and decidedly un-Spring-like when the sun wasn't shining, so it seemed a little odd to hear Willow Warblers singing from many of the stunted trees.
Once we actually got out and about onto the slopes, we started to find some more birds, which often come to the mountain restaurants to scrounge food - there not being much else that isn't buried under deep snow at 3,000m or so. In this way, we were able to get excellent views of Alpine Accentor and Snow Finch.
On some days we skied a little lower and were able to see Ring Ouzel and Nutcracker singing from the top of trees, and quite a few Ravens floating around.
One morning from the chalet, I could hear what sounded (sort of...) like a Green Woodpecker singing. This didn't sound quite right to my ear, but I know that birds singing with a foreign accent are sometimes not quite as we expect here in the UK, but it also seemed a very unlikely place for a Green Woodpecker to be - with the whole landscape covered in thick snow...not too many ants etc, I'm thinking...
So.... question is, is there any other European bird that sounds a fair bit like a GW yaffling, but is likely to turn up in a snowy mountain at 2,000m!?
Anyway - a great trip, and well worth it just for the birds. Of course, if you happen to be a skier/birder then you might think you've died and gone to Heaven! Despite many trips to suitable habitat, and much time spent scanning mountain ranges, Lammergeier remains stubbornly un-ticked!
Did however, manage to fill in a few photo-blanks with the aid of the trusty Panasonic point-and-shoot...
Oh, and yes, I do get some decidedly funny looks when ski-ing around with a pair of BINs round my neck!
All the best.... Ray
[QUOTE=Ruby;1173158]
One morning from the chalet, I could hear what sounded (sort of...) like a Green Woodpecker singing. This didn't sound quite right to my ear, but I know that birds singing with a foreign accent are sometimes not quite as we expect here in the UK, but it also seemed a very unlikely place for a Green Woodpecker to be - with the whole landscape covered in thick snow...not too many ants etc, I'm thinking...
So.... question is, is there any other European bird that sounds a fair bit like a GW yaffling, but is likely to turn up in a snowy mountain at 2,000m!?
[/QUOTE]
Nice report Ray. Did you think it could have been a Grey-headed Woodpecker you heard - quite a different call/song to Green but alarm call is a bit similar - think they can range pretty high too, possibly upto 2000 a.s.l. (Guess you've ruled out any raptor species?)
Thinking about it, can't think of any raptor species that would come close!
If it's any help Ray, Peterson (A fieldguide to the Birds of Britain and Europe) describes the voice and habitat as follows;
'Voice: Call-notes resemble Green Woodpecker but 'laughing' song is much less harsh and becomes progressively deeper and slower.
Habitat: As Green Woodpecker but also occurs locally in deciduous mountain forests up to tree limit'' (p157)
My experience of GHW is limited to a few sightings/calls in Poland, however, to me the alarm call of the GHW sounded similar to yaffle of a GW with a sore throat!