Natural History Journal

Yesterday I wrote about the impressive and somewhat legendary  White Storks  we saw while traveling in Switzerland.   Being most familiar with California birds, the storks were rather exotic to me.  Less conspicuous but no less beautiful were the smaller birds, the songbirds of Switzerland.  At first glance they might not seem very impressive, these little common birds of Europe, but they are still exotic and exciting when seen for the first time.  And certainly these European birds are beautiful no matter how many times one has seen them!   A note: I am a very, very long way from knowing my birds of Europe, and open to corrections of the following identifications!   White Wagtail Pictured above is a White Wagtail ( Motacilla alba ) , a bird that I recognized immediately as a member of the same family as our familiar American Pipit ( Anthus rubescens ).  The big tip-off is this bird's habit of bobbing its tail up and down, a trait strongly associated with pipits and w

One of the main reasons we travel is to experience new things: new places, new sights, new tastes.  And for myself and other naturalists, we are excited by new birds, new wildflowers, new creatures of all sorts.  While traveling in Switzerland this summer, birds I'd never seen before seemed to be everywhere I looked!  Even the coots and gulls were new and exciting!  Our days in Switzerland were filled with traveling, sight-seeing and adventuring, so dedicated birding time was somewhat limited.  But I was not disappointed, and added a good number of birds (albeit "common" birds to European birders) to my life list.  Perhaps the most impressive birds we saw in Switzerland were White Storks ( Ciconia ciconia ).  Being from California, I'm rather unfamiliar with storks; we have native egrets and herons, and cranes overwinter in the Central Valley, but storks are exotic creatures indeed!  (It seems the Salton Sea in Southern California hosts a few visiting Wood Storks 

Eric and I recently returned from three weeks of traveling in beautiful Switzerland - the land of my ancestors!  We visited my family members who live there and took in our fill of historic sites and glorious hikes.  From exploring Roman ruins and Medieval castles (my husband is a history professor, after all!) to hiking in the Swiss Alps (sometimes barefoot), Switzerland delighted us with one incredible experience after another.  For those interested in all that nature has to offer, Switzerland is an ideal place to visit (or live!)  There is no shortage of activities available to the outdoor enthusiast, ranging from more low-key pursuits, like walking and hiking, to daring adventures in paragliding and mountaineering.  Spend a day out with the locals and it will become very clear that the Swiss dearly love their lakes, forests and mountains, as well as their gardens and outdoor eating areas.  The Swiss are a hardy, lively and very outdoorsy group of people!  Walking, hiking, biki