A Brit abroad

Nooooo!

You may have noticed that it's been a while since my last posting. Here's why:

I'm taking the scope to be repaired in Paris tomorrow (assuming the train's are still running), and in the mean time will have to make to with my battered old Kowa that my parents retrieved from a dusty corner of the loft.

My parents' visit prevented me from birding last weekend (not that you'd have wanted to given the shocking weather), but a visit to the Eiffel Tower yielded a vocal Short-toed Treecreeper (Grimpereau des jardins) in trees just adjacent - maybe of interest to Brit birders dragged to central Paris by a non-birding spouse....

Otherwise, spring seems to be finally here - it feels much warmer (if not much drier), Chiffchaffs (Pouillot veloce) are literally everywhere and the first few Blackcaps (Fauvette a tete noire) are in song too. A small flock of Bramblings (Pinson du Nord) was a garden tick - I had to smile when CA birding buddy Marcel told me he was off to Oregon to chase one this weekend - no doubt I'd have joined him if I'd been around!

Up close and personal in Provence

This weekend Andrew and I did a whistle-stop tour of several towns in Provence. Although not technically a birding trip (sorry, Andrew) I pushed my luck and managed to see two new species and a variety of interesting birds from the region. The highlight for me was amazingly close views of Alpine Accentors (Accenteur Alpin) at Les Baux de Provence. The birds were completely unconcerned by my presence as they fed in the grounds of the castle, and I was able to see lots of feather detail in good light through the scope.

You lookin' at me?

Also around the village several Black Redstarts (Rougequeue noir)...

... and Blue Rock Thrush (Monticole bleu) were singing.

Crag Martins (Hirondelles de rochers), Sardinian Warblers (Fauvette mélanocéphale), and Alpine Swifts (Martinet à ventre blanc)were present in good numbers. Disappointingly (to say the least) I failed to find a Wallcreeper (Tichodrome échelette), in spite of running into another Brit who cheerfully informed me one had been showing well just before my arrival. Grrrr.....

I'm shamefully bad at plant ID - anyone know what this orchid is?

I managed two other birding stops - the grassy fields at Mas Chauvet yielded my first Richard's Pipits (quite distant and elusive in a fenced-off field, so no photos I'm afraid) and loads of Black Kites (Milan noir) . A visit to the western Camargue was cut short by strong winds, but we managed to see a few of the specialities, including my closest-ever views of Greater Flamingos (Flamant rose) feeding by the roadside - judging by the brightness of their plumage I guess they were coming into breeding condition.

Marsh Harriers (Busard des roseaux) were also hard to miss - this one was battling it out against the wind.

For the culturally-enlightened among you, continue reading for pictures of various man-made attractions of the region...

Place de la Comédie, Montpellier, by night.

The Roman arena in Arles looks all the more impressive after a glass (or two) of wine...

Street in Les Baux de Provence.

A swift's-eye view of Les Baux.

Palais des Papes, Avignon

The Pont du Gard (lots of Alpine Swifts at this site too).

Aix-en-Provence

Spring...

The sun's been shining for three days now (my mother tells me there's still snow in SE England - hah!), and spring is definitely in the air. I opened my apartment window to photograph this Nuthatch (Sittelle torchepot),

... and in flew this rather fearsome-looking bee.

This morning I visited the Etangs de Saclay, and saw my first Swallow (Hirondelle rustique) of the year. Nothing else too exciting, Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer (Bruants de des roseaux et jaune) were both in song, one each of Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Goelands leucophee et brun), and a large feeding flock of Shoveler, plus a few Gadwall (Canards souchet et chipeau).

Back on campus I ran into several Marsh Tits (Mesange nonnette), many of which were in song.

I'm still struggling to obtain a decent Crested Tit (Mesange huppee) photo, but I thought this one had amusement value - the cheek spots and crest combine to make a 'face' not dissimilar ot that of a Montezuma Quail!

Now that the ground has thawed, the thrushes have switched from berries to worms, and I was able to get close to this Mistle Thrush (Grive draine)...

... and Blackbird (Merle noir).

I was extremely pleased to spot a Water Vole (Campagnol aquatique) in the Yvette - these are extremely hard to see in Britain now, having been extirpated by escaped Mink (Vison).

The vole seemed pretty nervous, perhaps due to the proximity of this Kestrel (Faucon crecerelle).

After work I paid the now customary visit to the 'finch spot', where this Brambling (Pinson du nord) was showing well.

This male Bullfinch (Bouvreuil pivoine) was very bright, but its 'feeble' call suggests it is of the regular European form.

Notice how the Hawfinch's (Grosbec casse-noyaux) bill colour has become much darker now that the breeding season approaches.

As dusk was approaching I followed up a hunch and was delighted when this male Black Woodpecker (Pic noir) came in to roost - always a good bird to end the day on!

Campus birding

Today started out bright and sunny, so I decided to do a bit a pre-work birding on campus. I checked out a spot where Black Woodpecker (Pic noir) has bred in previous years and luckily, I soon heard a male giving his 'kleeeee' call.

Darned branches!

I've started working on the backlog of common European birds I don't have photos of. Today's targets were this male Blackbird (Merle noir)...

... a Starling (Etourneau sansonnet)...

... and a Chaffinch (Pinson des arbres).

In the evening I spotted this female Hawfinch (Grosbec casse-noyaux), who appeared to have mottled white feathers on the back, wings and rump - is she a partial albino or is this just part of moult?

Lac du Der and around

This weekend I headed east with Stephane Maquinay to bird around the Lakes of Temple, Amance and Der. Rain was the order of the day on Saturday. Along with Yves Massin and Olivier Laporte we searched for Grey-headed Woodpecker (Pic cendré), with partial success. We heard a few birds doing their feeble version of a Green Woodpecker's song, and Stephane and I had c. 2 seconds' worth of flight views - definitely a better view desired! We were able to muster a few other species of woodpecker here (including Middle Spotted and Black, pics mar et noir), and a few other woodland species until persistent rain led us to give up.

Birding around the Lac d'Amance from the van was a little drier, and produced a few more species of interest, including a Peregine (Faucon pèlerin) interacting with two Common Buzzards (Buse variable), and this mixed flock of White-fronted and Greylag Geese (Oies rieuses et cenrdées).

This White-front was particularly boldly marked (an old male?)

After a quick scan through the wildfowl at the Lac du Temple (my first Wild Boar, or sangliers, was the highlight), we said goodbye to Olivier and Yves and headed for the villages of Prunay-Belleville to search for the adult male Pallid Harrier (Busard pâle). No luck with that, but really great views of male Hen Harriers (Busard Saint-Martin), a Merlin (Faucon émerillon), Grey Partridges (Perdrix grise), Corn Buntings (Bruant proyer) and Crested Larks (Cochevis huppé). This was perhaps my first day of speaking French all day - I did ok save for an amusing misunderstanding (it turns out that the French word for to have a wee sounds exactly like their pronunciation of Pipit!).

We spent a very cold night in the van at the edge of the Lac du Der - at first I thought two years of California sunshine had made me over-sensitive to the cold, but apparently it was -6C! In the rising sun, a viewing blind allowed us to get very close to these Greylags and wild swans (based on size I think they were Bewick's but they never woke up, and in the subzero temperatures I wasn't too keen on waiting around to find out).

Stephane kindly put me on to 5 Velvet Scoters (Macreuse brune) in flight. While he scanned the lake I went for a walk which yielded the first of many Great White Egrets (Grande Aigrette) and Common Cranes (Grue cendrée). At the lake's edge I was able to get close to a Tree Sparrow (Moineau friquet)

and a feeding flock of Goldfinches glowing in the morning light (Chardonneret élégant).

This pair of displaying Great Crested Grebes (Grèbe huppé) was a sure sign of impending spring.

A welcome stop for coffee in Eclaron also produced this pair of White Storks (Cigogne blanche), looking decidedly worse for wear after deciding to tough it out all winter in the frozen north.

Soon after we came across a small feeding flock of Common Cranes, just about close enough to digiscope.

Around lunchtime, the east side of the lake proved very productive for raptors, including an enormous but very distant White-tailed Eagle (Pygargue à queue blanche), a Red Kite (Milan royal) and a Marsh Harrier (Busard des roseaux).

For me, the highlight of the weekend was the spectacle of hundreds of Common Cranes thermalling over the lake to gain altitude for their northbound migration. I got very snap-happy with this large flock.

In the late afternoon we decided to try for better views of the Grey-headed Woodpecker, but in spite of 3 hours of searching, we didn't even hear one call. Highlights of a rather quiet afternoon were my first French Willow Tits (Mésange boréale), a Firecrest (Roitelet à triple-bandeau) and a calling Chiffchaff (Pouillot véloce) - winterer or early migrant?

Pretty church near Lac d'Amance.

Sunset at the Lac du Temple

Trompetteur enfin!

This morning it wasn't raining, so I decided to take the bus out to the Etang de Saclay. The Smew and geese had apparently moved on in the milder weather, while the Great Crested Grebes (Grebe huppe) and Grey Herons (Heron cendre) were starting to display. A pair of Eurasian Wigeon (Canard siffleur) were present amongst the many Shoveler (Canard souchet). Luckily, David Rousseau had stopped by to check the lake and gave me a ride back to campus. I decided to walk along the Yvette, where two singing Firecrests (Roitelet a triple bandeau) were my first on campus. Shortly after I heard a completely unfamiliar two-note, nasal metallic call. The culprit was kind enough to show herself - my first female Northern Bullfinch (Bouvreuil de Komi/Trompetteur)! I managed to snatch these two photos of her drinking before a jogger flushed her.

The extremely distinctive call didn't sound exactly like Trumpeter Finch to me, although it had a similar 'artificial' quality, and exactly matched these recordings of a Northern Bullfinch call. Apparently the different subspecies are not safely separable in the field, although good supporting evidence comes from the large white wing bar, silvery-grey nape and relatively large size (although the bird was alone so this is subjective).

I was also pleased to get close enough to a Jay (Geai des chenes) to get some decent shots.

Now I have to run to a meeting in Paris!

A weekend in Provence

This weekend I took the TGV down to Montelimar to stay with friends in the north of Provence. This was our humble abode for the weekend...

... and here are the views we had.

After the grey, cold winter of Paris, eating outside was a welcome novelty!

On Sunday, however, we had our first taste of the Mistral, the cold, strong north wind said to drive people mad if they stay out in it too long. Walking was difficult, especially if one has a pushchair in tow!

Birding wasn't really on the agenda, but we saw several Woodlarks (Alouette lulu), a singing male Black Redstart (Rougequeue noir) and I got a crappy digibinned shot of this singing Cirl Bunting (Bruant zizi).

Any ideas what this attractive beetle is?

Back in Orsay, I was able to grab a few shots of some Bramblings (Pinson du Nord) enjoying the afternoon sun.

Hawfinch soiree

The snow had all but melted away by this evening, and the sun was still shining, so I returned to the Hawfinch (Grosbec casse-noyaux) roosting spot on campus. At least 5 birds present today, with one male and one female giving outrageously good looks.

Il neige!

March 1st: last year in Davis, the almond trees were in blossom weeks ago, the first Swainson's Hawks had arrived and frost was a distant memory. Not so in Orsay! This is the view that greeted me when I got out of bed this morning:

On my walk into work I slipped and slid almost as much as the figure skaters in the last winter Olympics - everything looked great with a dusting of snow though.

I spent a little time around the bird feeders on campus, and managed some photos of Coal and Blue Tits (mésanges noires et bleues).

A mixed finch flock was feeding in the understory, including this Siskin (Tarin des aulnes)

... and Brambling (Pinson du Nord).

This lunchtime I returned to the Etang de Saclay with Romain - today we saw 8 White-fronts (Oies rieuses) and 2 redhead Smews (Harles Piettes), but no sign of any other goose species.

Looking forward to summer!