As part of the hotel pricing, they usually give you free or discounted tickets to some of the local attractions which in the case of Arosa is the gondola up to the Wiesshorn peak which sits at 8,700 feet! First up though was some birding around the lake in town which is on the way to the gondola.
Northern Pintail - a north American bird so most definitely some bird enthusiast brought it in. The leg was tagged.
Common Pochard
A punk rock looking Red-crested Pochard
Common House Martin
Tufted Duck
The mountain itself was beautiful but relatively birdless. We took the gondola up and hiked down.
Northern Wheatear
It was a long hike but uneventful.
Back down at the lake I spent some time with the ducks while Melissa window shopped.
Common Swift
Northern Shoveler
Eurasian Coot
Down the hills from the hotel was another reservoir type lake we hiked around.
Common Goldeneye! Another American species that someone brought in and now there is a breeding population here.
I have never seen juvenile Common Goldeneye before so I was confused by this bird. It looked like a Ruddy Duck with a Goldeneye bill.
White-throated Dipper!
Tufted Duck
Tufted Duck
Our time in Arosa came to a close and we had to load up and start driving back to Zurich.
I was scanning the skies as we drove and stopped a few times but they always turned out to be Common Buzzards.
In Zurich we stayed at the airport Hilton to get ready for our flight in the morning and I checked some nearby fields but mostly came up empty.
Eurasian Kestrel
All together, I would say Switzerland is a great country to visit even if the birding was not great in July. The scenery and hiking are unbelievable and make it worth going regardless of your interests.
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