June 8, 2006
Montreux day 2: Rochers de Naye and brush with fame!
On Sunday we took the mountain railway from Montreux to Caux (1000m elevation), and walked up to the summit at Rochers de Naye (a very snowy 2000m altitude). Lake Geneva looked superb in the early morning light.
A walk through some promising-looking pine forest to the ridge crest was pretty quiet bird-wise, perhaps as much of the slope was still in shadow. Here's a crap photo (literally) of a Ring Ouzel (Merle a plastron) and Mistle Thrush (Grive draine).
Further up the trail a vocal Black Woodpecker (Pic noir) gave fleeting views, and Cuckoos (Coucou gris) were surprisingly common. On clearing the tree line we were rewarded with splendid views of a singing Alpine Accentor (Accenteur alpin, only my second encounter with this species). Unfortunately it was flushed by a hiker, one of only two other people we saw on the walk!
This zone turned out to be reasonably birdy, with singing Water Pipits (Pipit spioncelle) and Wheatears (Traquet motteux), and a heard only croak of a Ptarmigan (Lagopede alpin). It was a hard trudge through deep snow to make it to the restaurant/train station at the summit. After the serene solitude of the climb it was something of a shock when a train jam-packed with sightseers arrived to look at the sorry-looking Marmots in cages (and they call this place Marmot Paradise?). Too snowy for many birds except for some inquisitive Alpine Choughs (Chocard a bec jaune). Montreux seemed a long way down...
After some much-needed sustenance in the canteen we took the train down to the lakeshore, which was frequented by a few Red-crested Pochards (Nette rousse) and Tufted Duck (Fuligule morillon).
The rest of the afternoon was spent soaking up the sun at the lakeshore and watching the Black Kites (Milan noir) circle overhead.
Perhaps the most unusual record from the trip was in the departure lounge at Geneva airport - Gerard Depardieu! Given that I would struggle to name ten famous French actors, it was remarkable to spot one of the elite I did recognize.
Here's a record shot, taken at distance in poor light...
