The Tour of the Bernina. Gillian Price

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      Old farm huts on the edge of thick conifer forest at Forbesina (AVV, Stage 3)

      Birds

      Where Arolla pines dominate the forest, you can be sure there will also be nutcrackers. As the name suggests, these brown-white spotted birds are experts at cracking open the pine nuts, and are in fact responsible for the tree’s survival. This voracious – and forgetful – bird hoards kernels in secluded rock crannies where they sprout and grow. What’s more, from their perches at the very top of the trees, nutcrackers act as lookouts for forest dwellers, their piercing squawk a clear warning of danger.

      Another treat is the charming, pale brown-cream treecreeper that climbs up tree trunks in spirals, searching for food. Rarer and more showy is the wallcreeper, which utters a shrill, piping call. Its outspread black wings reveal flashes of red panels and white dots as it flutters at high-altitude rock faces on its quest for insects, which it captures with a slender down-turned beak. Over meadows the summer sky is alive with swarms of darting crag martins with short wings and white bellies.

      On a larger scale, birds of prey such as the magnificent golden eagle may be spotted gliding high overhead. With a wingspan exceeding two metres, this alpine giant visits many a valley in the course of a single day’s hunting for mammals such as hares and young marmots (although they do not disdain birds and small ungulates). In winter the eagle has been known to scavenge carcasses of animals such as chamois that have been the victim of avalanches, putting the bird in direct competition with the successfully re-introduced bearded vulture.

      In springtime the lammergeier, as this vulture is also known, keeps an eye out for birds dropping from exhaustion during the demanding migration flights north. Its diet is composed of 80 per cent bones, which it cracks open by dropping them from a height onto rocks. With a wingspan up to 2.8m and a body of over one metre long, the bearded vulture is easily recognised, especially as its eyesight is not the best, meaning it often flies close to the ground.

      Animals

      A young chamois

      The vast woods around the Bernina are home to shy, majestic red deer, and pretty roe deer can occasionally be seen flitting through tree cover. Loftier rocky terrain is preferred by nimble-footed chamois – a mountain goat with a striped face, crochet-hook horns and an amazing lack of concern for precipitous cliffsides. Stocky ibex, with massive grooved horns, can be spotted above the high refuges; they are inquisitive and unbothered by humans. Alpine hare are not unusual, their outsized ears a giveaway. However, it’s likely you’ll see more of all the above on restaurant menus than you will in nature, as hunting (strictly controlled) is a common practice.

      An adult marmot

      The adorable alpine marmot is by far the easiest wild animal to see and observe at length. A bit like a beaver or ground hog in appearance, it lives in large underground colonies but spends daytime hours romping in meadows and devouring flowers, along with the occasional insect. A community sentinel is always on guard for the approach of predators such as foxes or eagles, and if threatened it will emit a shrill, ear-splitting whistle that inevitably sends young and old alike scampering down the nearest burrow. Marmots hibernate from October to April, waking but once a month to urinate. Now protected, they were once hunted for their skins and fat, and paraded in street fairs.

      Darting, elegant ermine or stoat live under rocks but venture out towards dusk in search of dinner, which will sometimes consist of scraps from a refuge kitchen.

      Snakes are not uncommon, however the viper or adder is the only venomous one. Tawny brown, it has a diamond-shaped head and distinctive zigzag markings down its back and it grows up to 70cm in length. Vipers are commonly encountered on open terrain in the vicinity of abandoned huts, where they hunt small rodents. They sun themselves to raise their body temperature so may seem sluggish if disturbed, reacting with a threatening hiss in self-defence. Step back and give them time to slither away. In the extremely unlikely case that you are bitten, waste no time calling for help and in the meantime immobilise the bite area with a bandage. If possible stay put. Attacks are rarely fatal, although it’s best to get expert medical assistance as quickly as possible.

      The huge nests constructed by the red wood ant house hundreds and thousands of workers

      Lastly, a humble ant deserves a mention. Enormous conical nests, towering up to two metres in height, are constructed by the red wood ant in conifer woods, which they protect by devouring damaging parasites. The nests are home to hundreds of thousands of workers, which live to the incredible age of 10 years, and queens that can survive to the ripe old age of 20!

Getting there

      The Tour of the Bernina

      For the trek start of Pontresina in southeast Switzerland, the country’s most convenient airport is Zurich (www.zurich-airport.com, 200km/3hr 30min by train via Chur). There’s also nearby St Moritz (www.engadin-airport.ch), although flights from overseas destinations are limited. East across the border in Austria is Innsbruck (www.innsbruck-airport.com, 190km/5hr by train). Other good options are the Italian airports of either Malpensa or Linate on the outskirts of Milano (www.sea-aeroportimilano.it, 175km/4hr 30min by train via Tirano, otherwise train to Chiavenna and then a Swiss bus via Maloja) or Bergamo (Orio al Serio: www.sacbo.it,145km/4hr 30min by train via Lecco and Tirano).

      The Alta Via Valmalenco

      The СКАЧАТЬ