May 21, 2006
Weird weather and wonderful warblers
On Friday evening I returned to my local Melodious Warblers (Hypolais polyglotte) so see if I could get better photos. The sun was shining and this individual was in full song.
This male Black Redstart (Rougequeue noir) was making the most of the glut of green caterpillars that seem to be falling from every tree.
Any thoughts of birding on Saturday were dashed by extremely strong winds and rain - in fact, I didn't leave the house! Bad news for the Woodpigeon (Pigeon ramier) and Magpie (Pie bavarde) nesting in the garden - both nests appear to have been blown away. Still plenty of time to rebuild though....
Sunday's weather looked more promising, so after stopping off for some delicious Greek goodies at the market in Gif, I headed to the Coupieres Basin.
To my great surprise I found a singing Marsh Warbler (Rousserolle verderolle) - only my second ever! I watched the bird on and off for a good 2 hours, during which I heard it mimic Great Tit, Linnet, Wren, Chiffchaff and Blackbird amongst others. Here are the best shots I managed of this bird.
The weather ranged from torrential downpours to brilliant sunshine. During one of the showers, this crazy Moorhen (Gallinule poule-d'eau) decided to climb into one of the trees!
I had great views of this Turtle Dove (Tourterelle des bois) preening and drying off in a sunny period.
Other birds seen and heard here included many Cuckoos (Coucou gris), Nightingale (Rossignol philomele), a female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Pic epeichette), and two 'reeling' Grasshopper Warblers (Locustelle tachetee). I managed to find and (poorly) digiscope this one distant bird.
Nearby in the Bures Basin, at least 2 Fan-tailed Warblers (Cisticole des joncs) were giving their incessant 'chip, chip' song-flight. I saw several of this fish sp. in the river Yvette - it seemed to be about 20-25cm long. Anyone know what it is?
I had a few other firsts for the year, including my first Spotted Flycatcher (Gobemouche gris) on campus, a Painted Lady and this female Banded Demoiselle.
I got back home just before the next weather front hit Orsay... roll on summer!
