Wintering waterbirds on the lakes: Fanel, Klingnau, Untersee, Léman

Tufted duck, pochard, red-crested pochard (Léman, Untersee), goldeneye, pintail (Klingnau), goosander, great crested grebe, coot; whooper swans; bean geese; gull roosts. Lake Neuchâtel (Fanel), Klingnauer Stausee (Aargau), Untersee (Ermatingen), Lac Léman (Préverenges), Switzerland.

Best time: 1 Dec – 31 Jan (December to January). Where: BirdLife-Naturzentrum La Sauge and the Fanel tower (Cudrefin), BirdLife-Naturzentrum Klingnauer Stausee, Ermatinger Becken (Untersee) (Switzerland). Time of day: Gull roosts lift in the 30 min around sunrise.

• You can go on your own
• Free
• Telescope recommended
• Sound 3/5

Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.

When is the best time?

Peak: 1 Dec – 31 Jan. December–January (international waterbird count mid January)

Active from 1 Nov to 10 Mar (November to March) in a typical year.

Time of day

Gull roosts lift in the 30 min around sunrise; rafts and whooper swans through the first 2 h of light; swans call again at night in the Ermatinger Becken.

• Dawn: 30 min before sunrise → 2 h after sunrise
• Evening swans: 30 min before sunset → 90 min after last light

What will you hear?

Diving-duck rafts and wing-whistle, whooper swans in the Ermatinger Becken, bean geese at Klingnau, pintail whistles, coot squabbles, gull roost lift-off; church bells across the lake.

Binoculars?

Telescope recommended. Rafts of tens of thousands are 200 m to 2 km out; scope from the Klingnau and Fanel towers, binoculars minimum.

Where to go

• BirdLife-Naturzentrum La Sauge and the Fanel tower (Cudrefin) — Fanel was Switzerland's first Ramsar site; observation hides on the trail, tower key for BirdLife Bern members. Map
• BirdLife-Naturzentrum Klingnauer Stausee — Reservoir on the Aare; 10 m tower; 3% of Switzerland's wintering pintail; new visitor centre. Map
• Ermatinger Becken (Untersee) — Up to 40,000 birds in the shallow basin; whooper swans call at night; lakeside path from Ermatingen. Map
• Préverenges beach, Lac Léman — Red-crested pochard and grebes close to shore; Lausanne noise but easy. Map

How to go on your own, and what it costs

Fanel/La Sauge: the trail with hides from the La Sauge centre (Cudrefin) is free; the tower key is for BirdLife Bern members. Klingnau: the tower and dam path from the BirdLife centre, free. Ermatingen: lakeside path (free, open at night). Préverenges: the beach.

Cost: Free; BirdLife centre exhibitions optional: La Sauge CHF 8 adult, Klingnau CHF 8 adult (2026).

Field-recording notes

Swiss lakes are quiet in winter — boats are laid up and the reserves ban shooting — but every shore has a railway or road: Klingnau has the Aare power station and a road on the dam, Fanel has the Broye canal and Cudrefin road, the Untersee has the German railway on the far shore. Fog (Nebel over the Mittelland) in December is an acoustic gift. Reed and shoreline core zones are closed; towers and hides are the access. Hydrophones are pointless (rafts are far out); a long shotgun or a parabolic from the tower is the tool.

Sources

• BirdLife Schweiz – La Sauge reserves
• BirdLife-Naturzentrum Klingnauer Stausee
• Ala – Fanel reserve

Similar spectacles

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More: all spectacles in Switzerland · winter geese, swans and ducks · January · December