DECEMBER SCENE
December 29th
A couple of days ago the thermometer crept above 0 deg C for the first time in several weeks, the sun was out and the sky was blue so I took the Telinga and my Sony PCM 10 a walk up into the Jura behind my village. I climbed up along the forest edge, the snow had melted off the trees and the dripping water and warm sunshine had left a cleared strip of grass by the trees. Looking back down the way I had come, I could see the French alps in the far distance and low cloud hanging over the Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) basin. This cloud often forms at this time of year as cold air sinks into the valley and becomes trapped below sunny warmer air above, creating an inversion layer at about 600m asl - below it is cold and grey, above it can be 6 degrees warmer and bright sun, and at the junction of the two a dense cloud forms.
View over the Lémanique basin with the French Alps in the distance, Mt Blanc on the right
Roe Deer - chevreuil (Capreolus capreolus) were around the forest edge, probably making the most of the newly exposed vegetation and they were alarmed at my approach, there were several scattered at different distances, including one very close and they kept me well entertained for several minutes even though I did not see any of them ! (The following is a long file so wait for it to load):
In the background there you maybe heard some small contact calls and wing beats, these were mostly Coal Tits (Parus ater) with a few Great Tits (Parus major) mixed in:
The last few strident calls starting at 24s in that piece were the Great Tits. The mixed flock was working the sunny side of the forest really hard, constantly flying around, sometimes coming down to the exposed grass to pick seeds, but also scrambling about in the pine trees pecking at cones and maybe chasing the few insects that had awoken in the unexpected warmth of the sun. It was as though the whole air around my head was filled with the sound of their wings in the clear cold air:
Mont Blanc: 4,808m above sea level
I sat in a sheltered warm corner and ate a sandwich and made good use of my thermos and admired the stunning view of Mont Blanc (the highest mountain in W Europe) nearly 90kms away as the crow would fly it. I found the day invigorating with so much going on in such glorious weather and decided to continue up the hill to a place I call "Lynx valley" having been lucky enough to record a European Lynx (Lynx lynx) there a few years ago. The forest was very quiet on the way up, very little moving in its cold interior. I emerged into the valley with ears alert (I am an optimist !) but there was no sound from the biggest predator we have in these parts - no surprises there though.
A few birds were active though, and a lone Raven (Corvus corax) called out a high-pitched note whilst a Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) "choinked" away in the background, the Raven settled into its more familiar “kaarrk” call and a couple of Marsh Tits (Parus palustris) gave their "pitchooee" call :
Casting around I did find some tracks in the snow, but they were several days old and had become fuzzy and half-filled in with wind-blown snow but the size and the length of stride seemed right for Lynx and I followed them to a dry-stone wall that it had leaped over - good to know there is still activity in this area.
I was now knee-deep in the snow and the going was hard work without snow shoes, but I was rewarded by yet another small flock of tits - once again Coal Tits (the high-pitched "tzee") but this time mixed in with Willow Tits (Parus montanus) who were giving their diagnostic nasal "chee-chee-chee" scolding calls, at first rather distant but then flew in close by:
As I descended the sun was setting and I caught a glimpse of the alps across the valley whose peaks were just catching the last warm rays. A fairly quiet but relaxed walk to finish the year.
“Les Dents du Midi” - 70 kilometres distant and 3,257m at their highest peak
