Lucerne, I'm Home (13-14Jul2026)

You have to imagine the title of this post in a Cuban-American accent.  Maybe I am too old and most of you don't get the I Love Lucy reference.  Melissa and I were initially planning a trip to Vancouver for our 24th wedding anniversary but the hotel prices were insane due to the World Cup so we decided to switch to Switzerland which was expensive too, but probably way nicer.   Our flight was a red-eye landing in Zurich.  We were mostly planning a southern route to cool off in the Alps, but it was very early when we landed and too hot to spend time in a city so I convinced Melissa to head a bit north to get some German flavor.  Rhine Falls are the biggest falls in Europe and right on the border between Germany and Switzerland.   Switzerland is kind of like Belgium in the way that it has split identities with a third of the country being German speaking, a third French, and a third Italian.  Romansh is the fourth official language of Switzerland but much less people speak that ancient language which was influenced by Roman invasions.  Although English is not one of the official languages, it is spoken by most and we had no problems communicating.  We picked up our rental car which happened to be a nice Volvo like we have at home and set off for the short drive to Rhine Falls.

Rhine Falls from the side that sits in the Swiss canton of Zurich.  

Melissa loved Switzerland from the get-go. 

I saw a few birds but I can't say it was "birdy" by any stretch of the imagination.  That being said it was hot by the time we got there so maybe most birds were done for the day.

White Wagtails were common all over Switzerland.

This Eurasian Blackcap was the only decent shot I captured and it was in the parking lot on the way out.  July is probably not the best time for birds in Switzerland because many birds are done singing and mostly feeding young and trying to be inconspicuous.  Blackcaps were the exception and consistently singing the whole trip, although rarely seen.  

Rhine Falls was worth a trip and I wish I had a chance to explore some of the German side, but this trip was supposed to be an anniversary trip so I was being careful not to let my birding dictate our agenda.  In fact, I didn't really target any "Hotspots" in eBird and instead just went places Melissa would enjoy.  That being said, birds are everywhere so I did get some good ones.

After lunch it was about time to look for our Hotel which was just out of Lucerne in the hamlet of Kriens.  The Hotel-Restaurant Sonnenberg is a lovely small boutique hotel in the hills overlooking Lucerne.  They have a Michelin starred restaurant which unfortunately we did not get to go to because they were closed the two days we stayed.  Bad luck, but we did end up having really good food elsewhere.

Looking down the road from our Hotel.

This "castle" was in the distance but my telephoto made it look close.  There is a ton of money in Switzerland.  They are most known for banks and luxury watches after all.

Red Kites and Black Kites were intermingling throughout Switzerland and it took me a couple days to ID them reliably.  This Red Kite has a more deeply forked tail than the Black Kites.

Red Kites are almost always seen soaring so I was pleased to find one perched although it was distant.

Lucerne at Sunset.  I think Melissa was already conked out by this time as neither of us slept on the plane.

I woke early in the morning and started out with a quick walk up the hill from the hotel which was in a nice natural wooded area.

Common Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus warblers of Europe at tough ID challenges so it helps that this one was singing and I used Merlin to help ID.

Mistle Thrush - juvenile birds are really hard to ID, but I think I got this one right.  It was not singing or calling.

European Robin - another tricky juvenile but the birds shape is unmistakable.

Great Tit - they were very common throughout the trip.

Short-toed Treecreeper - Merlin picked these up several times but this was the only one I photographed.

European Robin - adult this time.

Mount Pilatus as seen from our hotel.  This would be our destination for the day!

Spotted Flycatcher - a bit of the misnomer as the "spots" are really streaks as the Latin name suggests (Muscicapa striata).  

We drove our car to the Gondola station in Kreins and shot up to the Pilatus summit.  It felt a bit like cheating but we were planning on hiking around the top instead of spending all day hiking up.

Yellow-billed or Alpine Chough greeted us immediately upon exiting the gondola. 

These gregarious Corvids were simply everywhere on the summit and for the first hour I was having trouble finding any other species.  This one perched on a woman's hat.

The summit of Pilatus looking down at Lake Lucerne.

At first I had a bit of vertigo up there, but you quickly get used to the height and exposure.

I can't think of a better way to spend our 24th Anniversary (also Bastille day).

Check out this video of some yodelers that were hanging out at the summit.

We took a bunch of trails on the sunny side of the mountain, which were beautiful  but somewhat birdless.

Alpine Chough - the exception, they were all over.

We took the Gondola but you can approach from the opposite side using this Funicular which I think is billed as the world's steepest working cog railway.

A short video of the Gondola we took up.

If you scroll in closely, you will see hiking trails covering most of the ridge lines.

A juvenile Alpine Chough

Alpine Ibex!!

I ran into a lady taking pictures with a telephoto and asked her if she had seen any Alpine Accentors and she laughed and said they were everywhere.....  This pissed me off because I had been looking for over an hour.  She didn't offer to help point any out so I stormed off and checked out the other side of the mountain.  Turns out they were everywhere on the other side!!

Alpine Accentor!

Google lens is misidentifying this as a Dunnock but it's just a juvenile Alpine Accentor based on the little dots on the covert tips.

We were going to hike downslope to that little church you can see below on the right, but it's a good thing we didn't because a storm moved in and changed from sunny to hail in minutes.  The hailstones were rice grain sized but they hurt like a bitch. 

A church that can only be reached by hiking from the bottom or down from the top.

While we were taking refuge from the hail in the shadow of an overhanging cliff, a couple Rock Ptarmigan had the same idea. 

Rock Ptarmigan 

They did not like the hail and were making some weird noises.

Alpine Accentor 

We made our way back to the hotel and changed for a night out on the town.  Lucerne is a gorgeous town and I quickly regretted not bringing my crusher with me because as we walked through downtown, we found a huge colony of Alpine Swifts coming out from a tower on the river.  Don't worry, we went back the next day and I will post pics in the next post.  

Here is a short video to hold you over.

Lucerne is an absolutely gorgeous city set on the Reuss River which spills out into Lake Lucerne.  It is considered to be in the German speaking part of Switzerland but we heard lots of French being spoken too and the restaurants featured a ton of french style bistros.

Although this restaurant (Les Balances) did not have a Michelin star, it was in the Michelin guide and had many other accolades.  I concur as it was delicious.  I neglected to take a pic of the view which was looking out on the river.