Max and her old partner on the next, Sunday 28 February 2010 (photo © 2010 Heidi Buergermeister)
Updated 14:00 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The snow is still there but you have to go higher in the mountains to find it, temperatures were above 10C over the weekend in Geneva, Max the white stork was fighting with her boyfriend and now that her old partner is back in town things are heating up. Meanwhile, the moon put on a spectacular show over Lake Geneva early Monday. Call it the first hints of Spring.
Max, a banded white female stork, is the world’s longest satellite-tracked animal, now in her 12th year of tracking by the Natural History Museum and University of Fribourg. The tracking project was set up to learn about dangers for migrating birds: water towers in the south of France were one discovery, and the government moved to make them safer as a result.
Max returned from the south of Spain last week, arriving at her nest in Tuefingen on the German side of Lake Constance 21 February after a short pause at the zoo in Zurich. In Tuefingen, she promptly met up with a male, not her usual partner, who chased her from her nest. The two were seen later that night, side by side, hunting for food. He returned alone to the nest that night, which she has called home for 12 years.
No sign of Max the next day, but the male bird hung around the nest all day – and suddenly, in the evening, the two of them were spotted at the nest. The two were spotted coupling Sunday, says the museum, but the relationship was off to a stormy start before the two began to clatter their bills and preen, as white storks do when starting to mate.
Max’s old partner, who usually returns to the nest later than Max, suddenly reappeared Sunday. The two males fought and Max’s old beau,the father of her offspring, skulked away – only to come back later in fine form. It now appears that he’s chased away the interloper and he and Mac once again have a relationship and are sharing the nest. So much for Max’s faithfulness, notes the museum.
Meanwhile, the full moon which rose spectacularly Sunday night also gave people around Lake Geneva who were going to work between 06:45 and 07:15 1 March a beautiful setting moon, shortly before sunrise, over the lake. Welcome to Spring and shorter nights, longer days!
Traffic and weather forecasts, history of skiing show, horses on ice, motorcycle fair and other good train deals, horses on snow, giant greeting card
Plenty of snow in the Jura! February 2010 (photo: Shirley Curran)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – This weekend it is Geneva residents who head for the ski slopes en masse, with school holidays the week of 22 February. Expect crowds in all Swiss and nearby French resorts.
History of skiing and extraordinary collection of old skis – don’t miss it!
Conthey history of ski exhibit, Coop centre
Ski collection of Laurent Donze, more than 2,000 skis showing centuries of history
The newly redone large Coop in Conthey, two minutes off the autoroute in the heart of a large shopping complex, is home to an extraordinary collection of skis until 28 February. This is a must-see exhibit which recounts the history of skiing from ancient times, put together by Laurent Donzé, who has been president of the Swiss Cross Country Ski Federation. He told GenevaLunch he began collecting skis more than 30 years ago and he now has over 2,000 skis in his collection.
If you think downhill skiing began with the arrival in Switzerland of the British, you might find history shows it is a bit more complicated than that. The exhibit is well documented and illustrated, but the skis themselves offer a reminder of how the need for skis and their designs have changed.
Weather forecast
Rain mixed with snow Friday afternoon on the plain. Snow down to 700 metres in Alpine and Jura areas. Saturday: gradually clearing on the plain, with highs of 4-5C,. Snow Saturday in the Alps, with highs of 9C in the Alps due to warming foehn winds. Winds moderate on western edge of the Alps.
Traffic forecast
Geneva begins its vacation, but so do 10 other cantons Friday 19 February, so TCS warns that traffic will build during the afternoon. The area around Lausanne and heading towards Valais, around the Glion tunnel, are expected to be the worst-hit areas. List of expected heavy traffic areas and time, TCS. For current traffic advisories: TCS in French and the federal truck site in English. Reminder for drivers leaving Geneva: expect delays around Nyon and Gland due to roadworks that continue until 25 February.
Alpine resorts
Max and her partner, nesting, summer 2009
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Max, the white stork who has been tracked for longer than any other bird of her kind, 11 years, may have completed her winter migratory trip, and she is now 110 km south of Madrid.
Max and mate, June 2009, © Heide Bürgermeister
Lunel, France (GenevaLunch) – Max, a white stork born in 1999 and tracked via radio signals in a ring around her leg that are picked up by satellite, is underway again on her yearly migration.
She left her nest in Tuefingen, Germany near Lake Constance last Thursday 27 August, and after a slow start, crossed Switzerland Saturday 29 August and spent the night 30 August in Lunel in the south of France, a flight of 450 km in a day, thanks to northerly winds down the valley of the Rhone.
photo © 2009 H Buergermeister
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The family of Max, the Swiss white stork that has been tracked by the Natural History Museum of Fribourg for the past 10 years, is growing up: the three offspring born 20 April near the German-Swiss border are learning to fly.
Max the white stork and partner, 2009 (photo ©H Buergermeister)
Tuefingen/Salem, Germany (GenevaLunch) – Max the white stork has a new family, with little heads popping above the top of the nest where the 10-year-old mother has been sitting on her eggs. For the time being the number of new little ones is unknown, but between 2002 and 2009 Max has given birth to 20 offspring. She was born in May 1999 near Avenches, in Switzerland, but she and her regular partner meet up and build a nest each spring on the north side of Lake Constance.
Life in the nest has heated up since this 22 February shot of Max (photo © Heide Buergermeister)
Fribourg and Tuerlingen, Germany (GenevaLunch) – High-drama near the Swiss-German border: the saga of Max the stork’s mating lifecontinues. Max, the world’s longest living satellite-tracked bird, spent Monday morning cleaning out and building up her nest with her new beau keeping her company. They copulated several times, reports the Museum of Natural History in Fribourg, which follows Max.
Max and her new beau, 1 March 2009 (photo © Heide Buergermeister)
Updated 3 March, 09:00 Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Max has a new beau! But what will happen, asks the Museum of Natural History in Fribourg, when the father of her young for the past three seasons shows up at the nest?
Young Max with her mother, 1999, in their Avanches nest (photo: Natural History Museum, Fribourg, Switzerland)
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The high winds that tore through Switzerland, Italy, France and Portugal at the end of January caused enormous damage. They also unsettled a bird who has been followed by thousands: Max the Swiss stork.
Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (Tribune de Geneve/ats, Fre) – If you feel like summer is ending you are not alone: Max, a stork born in Avenches, Vaud in 1999, has just headed south from his summer home in Lake Constance. He is the longest-living satellite-tracked bird in the world and his previous nine migratory trips have been followed closely by the public. In 2006, researchers put satellite tracking devices on 26 storks in Switzerland, of which only 12 are still alive with functioning GPS transmitters.
He left Thursday and slept the night in Vaud before continuing over Lake Geneva and south down along the Rhone River, covering 500 km in one go thanks to strong winds. He flew past Nîmes and on to Narbonne, where he spent last night. He will likely continue his trip via Spain, crossing to North Africa at the Straits of Gibraltor.
- Max’s flight map
- Museum of Natural History, Fribourg: excellent site on migratory bird research in Switzerland
