Bird-Watching and a Unesco Heritage Site at Lake Greifensee near Zurich

January 10, 2018 --  Often we travel many hours to find sunshine up in our beloved mountains, but sometimes we just don't feel like going that far, so we have to take what we get close by: Sometimes that means walking in the flat-lands or in the fog.

But fog has its own charm, especially when the sun is trying hard to get through. Just one hour travel from our home is a lake near Zurich called lake Greifensee, which is about 20 km total to walk around, and almost the entire circumference is reeded shoreline and nature conservation area. So we made this a bird observation day (although at this time of year it's just standard swans, coots, gulls, ducks, herons, and STORKS), and I rather enjoyed it, except toward mid-afternoon when the fog lifted, but the clouds moved in.... then it got cold!

We were surprised at the end of our hike to see that we had done 14 kilometers in just over 3 hours.... I guess you can walk way faster when there are no ascents and there's a cold wind blowing! We covered the southern half of the lake and will go back in Spring for the northern half.

One point of interest especially: According to a billboard on one of the wooden piers into the reeds, this area was one of several sites in Switzerland where ancient lake-dwellers had established communities about 5000 years ago. Under lakes such as these, archeologists have found remains of stilt-houses, and these sites were declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2011. It's always a thrill to come across these sites.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_pile_dwellings_around_the_Alps

Our walk started in the village of Greifensee, same name as the lake. This town had the quaintest little old core with an unusual church and small castle.

The town of Greifensee on Lake Greifensee has the cutest little old core by the lake.

Castle in Greifensee. Mostly used for seminars and exhibitions

Fog at the lakeshore

The sun trying to get through the fog creates a lovely lighting.

 

In this area, early settlers built stilt houses about 5000 years ago.

Stilt houses were probably not built right in the lake as sometimes assumed, but rather near the water, on stilts for the times when the lake water was high.

This rock is called a "foundling", a rock left behind by a retreating glacier, beyond the margins of Alpine glaciers.

The ferry that crosses between Uster and Maur on Lake Greifensee

Lakeshore reed landscape

Various birds we observed as we walked around the lake

Uster Castle

At the South end of the lake

I am always thrilled to find storks along the way

A coffee break with the last rays of sunshine this afternoon.

Church tower in Maur, our destination after 14 km of walking. 

From Greifensee via Uster to Maur, this is about halfway around the lake although we walked a total of approx. 14 km in 3 hours, 15 minutes.