I went on my Gold Duke of Edinburgh Expedition to Vercors in the Alps in early July for a week. I saw plenty of birds, and managed to get a few lifers along the way. Over 5 days of walking 120 miles, I found the following:
(1) FIRECREST (lifer)
on day 3, whilst having lunch, I had an unbelievable view of this bird flitting around some conifers on top of a mountain
(2) ROCK THRUSH (lifer)
surprisingly, a pair of thesewere right by my campsite, giving excellent views, but also several up on the mountains
(3) ALPINE SWIFT (lifer)
only a handful of these, intermingling in the flocks of common swift
(4) NUTCRACKER (lifer)
one with the rockthrushes, and another flying literally right over my head in a coniferous forest
(5) Alpine Chough
only a pair, with lovely yellow curved bills - the last time I saw these were in 1997
(6) Golden Eagle
the first time I have ever seen these in Europe - I last saw them in the Grand Canyon in America
(7) Short Toed Eagle
second time ever, after the Coto Donana in Spain in 2003
(8) Griffon Vulture
last time was in 1998 in the Camargue - this was a flock of 20 birds against the mountain backdrop
(9) Crossbill
second time ever - first time was, coincidentally, on my 2nd practice Gold Duke of Edinburgh Expedition in Snowdonia back in March
(10) Red-Backed Shrike
seen on the drive up to Vercors
(11) Robin
(12) Jay
(13) Jackdaw
(14) Rook
(15) Carrion Crow
(16) Blue Tit
(17) Rock Dove
(18) Great Tit
and possibly a few others...I can't remember...
Great trip - on all my Duke of Edinburgh trips (2 Bronze, 2 Silver, 3 Gold), I have had the following lifers:
FIRECREST, ROCK THRUSH, ALPINE SWIFT, NUTCRACKER, GREY PARTRIDGE, CROSSBILL, DIPPER