10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

I slept in hotel in Zurich but didn’t leave the airport or even clear immigration, so I can’t really say I’ve been to Switzerland either. I have caught a bus across Europe, but I can’t really claim to have “been” to Germany or Belgium. It’s arbitrary, but there you go.

Botswana 162

Botswana Birds Lesotho Elephants 162

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Visiting the continent after the end of most of the autumn migration meant that the number of bird species I could see in northern France, Switzerland, southern Germany, and Austria was much reduced. Munich’s Englischer Garten is known to host several east-Asian Bar-headed Geese. Only a pair of Mandarin Ducks !

Austria 122

Austria Switzerland Europe Geese 122

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2017

The standout was the Cape Barren Goose , which not only has an awesome name but is also thought to be the last survivor of a lineage of geese that used to forage the grasslands of Antarctica before the whole place got all icy. Switzerland: The Armchair Tick Award Cause I’m a Terrible Birder Award. I still have no idea.

United Arab Emirates 100

United Arab Emirates Ethiopia 2016 New Zealand 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2018

At least Barnacle Geese are named for an arthropod. Birders there had to invent games to make seeing a scaup interesting: Because of all the places it could have called its winter home, it chose the Rhine separating Huningue and Weil am Rhein, the border triangle of Switzerland, France and Germany.

Ducks 206

Ducks New Zealand France Germany 206