Whatever other family history there has been, my father has had the good taste to retire to a quaint village in Provence and his guest room is always open. This alone absolves him of much.
I visited once before as a birder, in late March. Ill-prepared, I found the experience quite frustrating and managed to scratch up about a dozen lifers. Not this time. Though arriving too late for migrants, the breeders were enough -- 62 lifers, many of which were found within walking distance of my father's house.
My father lives in Villes-sur-Auzon. It's a charming village of about 1100, due east of Carpentras, the nearest town of size. It's as one would expect. A small downtown quickly gives way to vineyards, cherry and apricot orchards, and olive groves. The tiny stream known as the Auzon winds through it all.
The first afternoon relaxing in my father's garden produced four lifers: Serin, Goldfinch, Black Redstart and Common Swift. The town itself held House Martins and a Scops Owl that called at night from the sycamores.
Daily walks took me not only through the fields but up into live and scrub oak. The tangles turned up Melodious and Sardinian Warblers, Whitethroat, Stonechat and Whinchat, Redstart and Nightingale. I found Blackbird (a thrush), Bonelli's Warbler, Cuckoo, Turtle Dove, Jay, and Great Spotted Woodpecker in the woods. Buzzard and Sparrowhawk soared overhead.
But the best bird by far was a resident Hoopoe, the only one I would see.
Side trips led to sightings of two flying Little Bitterns at the pond at Monieux and Great-crested Grebe and Common Tern from the blind at the reserve on the Durance River at Merindol.
I know a lot of these birds are common to you folks in Europe, but that's the beauty of it. They weren't common to me, and therefore a thrill. I bet you'd be impressed with our cardinal the first time you saw it.
France provided such wonderful birding overall, but you really have to prepare. The delights are tucked away, and I bet there are many more rarities than get reported, as there are so few birders compared to the extent of the habitat.
Posted by MadMonk at June 4, 2004 02:22 PMExcellent - you saw some great stuff! Some of the birds you saw (Little Bittern, Black Vulture, Citril Finch) elude many visiting birders. Don't worry about Black Woodpecker and Alpine Accentor - in 26 years of living in Europe I saw neither!
Posted by: rjhall at June 4, 2004 05:52 PM