March 9, 2006
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!
Posted by rjhall at March 9, 2006 12:09 PM