Well back in Sunny (yes!) Manchester after 10 days' walking in the Dolomites, beginning in the Eisacktal/Val Gardena area, and then moving over to the Pustertal/ Sextener Dolomite area. Our walking was of variable seriousness. often but not always getting up into the high woodland or mixed wood/meadow areas first by gondola or chairlift, and sometimes walking up into the proper Dolomitic stony wilderness - but not climbing the awesome and fairytale rock towers!

Like Tim, we found that the lower woodlands often seem devoid of life. There are just SO many trees, and they are so tall, that the birds must be spread very thinly. As you get higher, the very tall firs and pines gradually change to a preponderance of the beautiful Arolla Pine, which is the favourite of the charismatic Nutcracker. We saw perhaps 30 of these over the trip. Great to watch them stripping off the pine cones and flying off with them. Their beaks are powerful bits of kit.

We also discovered that the upper scattered pinewoods are the haunt of plentiful Crossbills. They tended to sit in prominent positions on or among the top branches of the Arolla Pines and sing repeatedly, thus advertising themselves to the non-birding hillwalker very nicely!

There were Snow Finches about, but this time we dipped on the Alpine Accentor - probably too much meadow walking and not enough time up in the real high stuff.

So the non-birding trip birding highlights were:

4 Lifers:
Honey Buzzard
Wryneck (flew into a tree a few feet from our apartment balcony!)
Water Pipit
Serin

Plus the time spent with the Crossbills and Nutcrackers, and the almost mundane everyday occurrence of Black Redstarts around the barns and buildings in the lower meadows. There was a pair with two juveniles around the barn of the farm where our apartment was, so they tended to be around whenever you went outside. Nice!

Alpine Chough in a flock of at least 50 soaring around a peak which we walked up 2 years ago, and saw none!

And a fantastic view of a pair of Golden Eagles circling against the backdrop of the wonderfully improbable and pinnacled Dreischusterspitze (Trei Scarperi in Italian) above Sexten. I am eternally grateful to the croaking Raven who alerted me to this magnificent spectacle, but eternally sorry I didn't have my long lens!!

Sadly, no Black Woodpecker.

For a non-Birding trip it was pretty good birding, but I'd agree with Tim that you sometimes see a lot less than you expect.

cheers Iain

I'll bear that in mind for a future punt. Never been skiing mind!

Tim

Tim,

I've seen both Alpine Chough and Snow Finch in Germany, at the top of the Zugspitzer. Its Germany's best Ski resort. The Alpine Chough are easy, just go to the top of the mountain via a very comfortable cable or the more historical mountain train and hang around the cafe/ restaurant especially at lunchtime!!!

The snowfinch were at the top of one of the runs, which you could get the cable car up and walk down! Better to board tho

Also seen Alpine Chough at the top of other ski resorts.

Earlier this week after a work trip I spent 2 days walking in the foothills of the Italian Dolomites busting my legs in the most fantastically beautiful countryside around Bolzano/Bozen and Merano/Meran - 2 names for everywhere for here Italy becomes Austrian speaking and they really do go round in felt hats and ledderhosen! First day last Sunday I went up nearly a kilometer in height by cable car - ears popping like in a steep plane takeoff. Then a long round walk through the woods on fairly well signed paths up to the nearest high point at 1616m but although it was quite cold there was no view and I was still surrounded by trees. That's higher than Ben Nevis. This whole Alpine mountain climbing thing was quite new to me. I thought it would be like popping up Pendle Hill but I'd be surrounded by glaciers and Snow Finches. How naiive. I also expected the woods to be full of Black Woodpeckers and Nutcrackers on lookout at every single pine tree. No such luck and most of it was dead apart from parties of Coal Tits - by far the most numerous bird in these woods followed by Jays which were far more common than Magpies. Hooded Crows few and far between - mostly odd ones down in the valley. GS and Green Woodpeckers fairly abundant though. Second day walking up from the Adige river at Meran through orchards groaning with apples the size of grapefruits ( I bought one off a farmer and it was quite strange - very juicy to start with but hard in the middle. They are not eaters but grown for the fruit juice trade). I didn't get much above 800m and the treeline is way beyond that at over 2000m but the lower hills were dotted with cuckoo-clock houses with small holdings of chickens and goats and hay being made traditionally. If you wanted to imagine a Z-guage railway mountain paradise it would look like this. Except we would sprinkle it with birds. Mostly the same as the day before - tits, Jays and Green Woodpeckers calling but finally I added a splendid lifer - well 4 of them actually: CRAG MARTIN. What fantastic acrobats these birds are. I had superb views for nearly an hour off and on: folding up their wings and diving like Choughs; sometimes zooming low over the espaliered apple orchards, sometimes flying way up high. The characteristic white windows on their tail feathers clearly visible close in. They are quite chunky and big; like supercharged House Martins (which were also flying about for comparison). So not worth a full birding report but a lifer is good on any journey. Any advice on where to get Alpine Chough, Wallcreeper, Snow Finch, Hazel Grouse, Nutcracker etc. without serious Alpine trekking much appreciated for future reference.