Snow Bunting
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) is one of those birds that just get me salivating but, unfortunately (or maybe as a consequence of) it is a rarity in Austria and I had only seen it once, just down the road from work last year where a local birder and friend (Paul) found one in a mixed flock of birds in the snow.
Morning mists on a side-pond of Lake Constance. Those are nesting platforms for terns.
A couple of weekends ago, Paul, Sergej and I had headed out to Bodensee / Lake Constance – a wonderful prealpine lake shared by Switzerland, Germany and Austria – to see what waterfowl and other birds were about. Waterfowl were in their thousands (mainly Tufted Duck, Mallard and Pochard) with a few Ferruginous Ducks (aka Fudge Ducks, Aythya nyroca), Red-crested Pochards (Netta rufina), and Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus), amongst others, to keep things interesting.
The looong arm of the Rhein channel that projects out in to Lake Constance
But the highlight was – yup you guessed it – a Snow Bunting:
What a beauty!
Snow Buntings have a lovely yellow bill in winter.
The lovely clear chestnut facial markings and bib suggest this is a male, but the relative lack of white on the coverts and the sharp pointed tail feathers suggested a young bird (1st winter). If anyone has more experience with Snow Buntings and can deduce more about it, I would be interested to hear from you.
looking a little scraggly after bathing just 5m from us!
The Snow Bunting happily approached us and fed between us without any concerns. He got spent a fair amount of time about 5m from us - incredible.
Sunset on the lake
X marks the spot
The sheer beauty of this bird, and how approachable he was, made this one of my top 3 bird experiences this year. Moving. Wonderful.
Happy birding,
Dale