Birds of Lake Neuchâtel / Private excursion with Antonio

It is 8 am when I join our participant, Antonio, in the Champ-Pittet car park for this day dedicated to the observation and photography of the birds of Lake Neuchâtel. On February 6, conditions are very special because we are surrounded by a thick fog with slightly yellow-orange hues! This phenomenon is due to the micro grains of sand floating in the air, brought in recent days from the Sahara desert by strong southerly winds.

We start the day at the observatory at ground level, which overlooks a small piece of water surrounded by a thick reed bed.

The wind is absent and the fog still very present, which makes the atmosphere particularly peaceful, almost surreal. After a few minutes of waiting, little cries pierce the silence. Two Little Grebes then storm out of the reeds just in front of the observatory, one chasing the other!

In this season, nesting rituals begin and chases between males and females or the fights of territories are legion. Delighted to watch this behavior, Antonio tries to freeze those little balls of feathers that are spinning at full speed. I take this opportunity to give it a trick to taking advantage of weather conditions, namely slightly increasing the exposure to bring out the whites and colors of the grebe. The scene lasts and the two grebes are soon joined by two other individuals, then by three Eurasian Coots fighting in the middle of the water.

Minutes pass and we revel through the viewfinder or binoculars of the scene offered by the place and its protagonists. As Great Egrets and Gray Herons fly through the mist in flight, it's a blue lightning that suddenly splits the sky. Great, the Common Kingfisher is there! He even decides to come and fish for ten minutes just in front of the observatory. We watch him catch a fish twice, before he leaves for good. A really cool sighting and some great pictures!

After two hours of observation and a final visit by a stealthy Water Rail, we leave for the observation tower which gives an aerial view of the reed bed and the lake. Unfortunately, due to the thick fog, it is impossible to see in the distance and all visible areas appear very calm. After an hour of waiting, our perseverance was rewarded with a small troop of Reed Buntings who had come to feed in the reed bed.

Although the cloud cover is low, the rain is not threatening and we picnic outside, enjoying good local products and a hot coffee. This moment allows us to discuss the superb encounters we had in the morning and the images taken, but it is also an opportunity to answer Antonio's questions about the phenomenon of bird migration.

We then set off for the other end of the lake, stopping along the way in the hope of seeing Long-eared Owls at a roosting place we know. In winter, Long-eared Owls usually roost in the same trees every day, sometimes with around ten individuals. These raptors are nocturnal and sensitive to disturbance, we only allow ourselves a visit when we are in a very small group. No sooner have we arrived than the ground begins to crunch strangely under our feet. This one is strewn with small bones of micromammals resulting from the balls of rejections of raptors which consume it in large quantities. We take 5 minutes to locate the first bird as its camouflage is perfect, then another and finally a third. All are located deep in the tree, and only a few parts of the sleeping birds are visible. I decide to look in the next tree "just in case", but very quickly my gaze, sweeping the tree, freezes. I whisper “Antonio, look! ". An owl, half-asleep, is perched on a branch prominently in front of us. Time stops and we take a few pictures while admiring every inch of this natural wonder.

After 2-3 intense minutes, although we kept our distance, we turned back in order to minimize the disturbance. Antonio looks at me with a smile on his face and admits to being very moved.

This encounter was a childhood dream for him.

Recovering from our emotions, we approach the lake to take a look, the fog having cleared. Several hundred Tufted Ducks and Common Pochards, Red-crested Pochards and Eurasian Coots are gathered on the lake. Most of these birds come from northern Europe, wintering every year on Lake Neuchâtel. A nice spectacle. With the telescope we also see a male of Common Goldeneye, as well as about twenty Mew Gulls perched on stakes.

Around 2 p.m., we reach the Center La Sauge ASPO BirdLife in Cudrefin, the site where we will end our excursion. At this end of the lake, a long tree-lined canal crosses two huge reed beds to flow into the lake. We decide to take the left bank of the canal, which is almost two kilometers long. The start is relatively calm, although we make a few stops to admire a nice group of Greylag Geese and then a few Common Mergansers and Great Crested Grebes actively fishing in the canal.

Arrived at the second half of the canal, hordes of ducks float in the distance on the edge of the reed bed. A glance through the telescope tells us that there are hundreds of Northern Pintail and Eurasian Wigeons, with a group of swans in the middle that catches my eye. Their beaks are not orange, but bright yellow: Whooper Swans! They are superb, a beautiful gift of winter. Lake Neuchâtel is known to harbor a few individuals of the species each year, very rare winterers from northern Europe. We finally arrive at the end of the dike, where we are then flown over by groups of dozens of Eurasian Curlews, a shorebird. Antonio tries to photograph them in flight, a task that requires patience and practice, as you have to anticipate the path of the bird while focusing. These feathered squadrons are sublimated by a grandiose spectacle: the atmosphere charged with particles lets glimpse the disc of the sun in an orange atmosphere!

Antonio detects another shorebird resting on the dike, a Dunlin. We stay for nearly an hour contemplating the lake and its inhabitants, before slowly starting to turn back. As soon as we return to the beginning of the reed bed, a small group of birds approaches us: Reed Buntings. Antonio, after multiple attempts, manages to seize between two reeds an individual. The photo is superb, with a beautiful attitude and harmonious colors. He is delighted because this is an image he wanted to make for a little while, and now the conditions were finally right!

But that's not all. As we marvel at the picture, unique cries make us look up. At a short distance, Whooper Swans in flight! Unbelievable, for a moment we would have thought we were in Scandinavia.

The day ends around 5 p.m. with a final observation of a female Northern Harrier hunting in the meadows. How to better end this beautiful day? With 37 species of birds encountered in one day, Lake Neuchâtel has kept its promises and definitely remains one of the best birding spots in Switzerland for bird watching and photography.

Lucas
Guide Salva Fauna