A Brit abroad

Baby boom

Everywhere I look right now I see (and hear) fledglings. Whilst waiting for a Grasshopper Warbler (Locustelle tachetee) to show, I snapped off some pictures of this year's new recruits. House Sparrows (Moineau domestique) may be declining in much of the UK, but they seem to be doing just fine on my local patch.

Here's a family portrait of pa, ma and junior (one of three) Stonechats (Tarier patre).

This rather grainy image of a Black Redstart (Rougequeue noir) was taken in the very last of the daylight.

IT'S HERE!!!

3 months after the breaking of my beloved Leica spotting scope, the brand spanking new replacement has arrived - yippee! Naturally I wanted to 'christen' it with a good bird, but being slap bang in the middle of the nesting season makes that rather difficult. Nonetheless, I was pleased with the results of this purring Turtle Dove (Tourterelle des bois) a short walk away from my house.

Yesterday birding novices Philippe and Virginie joined me for a walk around the Bures Basin. An unseasonal flyover Lapwing (Vanneau huppe) was about the most remarkable sighting, but the newbies were more than content with their first scope views of a confiding Goldfinch (Chardonneret elegant) and Greenfinch (Verdier D'Europe).

Closer to home I finally managed to get a couple of photos of a retiring Grasshopper Warbler (Locustelle tachetee). They can really throw their voices which makes finding them a nightmare!

I was pleased to discover that my local fields harbour at least 3 singing Corn Buntings (Bruant proyer), Grey Partridge (Perdrix grise) and large numbers of Skylarks (Alouette des champs). Unfortunately, this is about as close as they get!

Macrobatics

Earlier in the week a cool, overcast morning provided an ideal opportunity to get close to some insects which are usually much flightier. All of the below were taken with my Nikon CoolPix 4300 in macro mode. First up is a Red Admiral from above...

...face-to-face...

... and extreme close-up!

Several of these teneral Common(?) Darters were in evidence at my local pond.

A glorious male Banded Demoiselle.

Anyone know what kind of cricket this is?

Little Bittern babies

It's that time of year again, the lull between spring and autumn migration when one turns one's attention to flowers, insects and baby birds - and they don't come much cuter than these Little Bitterns (Blongios nain)! Thanks to Thierry Fournet for showing me these great birds at the leisure base in St Quentin-en-Yvelines. There were in fact two nest sites in close proximity. The older of the two had apparently produced 6 young, though only 3 were visible to us at any time.

Adopting a classic bittern posture:

These chicks are likely to be independent soon, and this one was seen wing-stretching and attempting to catch damselflies at the water's edge.

In the second nest, four downy chicks were just about visible, but being somewhat more vulnerable tended to lurk deep in the undergrowth.

Parental visits were much more frequent to this nest, and surprisingly the male seemed to spend much more time feeding the young than the female.

Other birds of note included Turtle Dove (Tourterelle des bois), Black Tern (Guifette noire) and Common Tern (Sterne pierregarin). We were also lucky enough to have great views of a Lesser Purple Emperor, my first, as it fed on a dead fish(!). The irridescent purple sheen on the upperwings was striking, though unfortunately it didn't perform for the camera.

I also saw my first of year Comma

and Black-tailed Skimmer (both digibinned).

Certainly beats a Friday afternoon in the office!

Lausanne and around

Last Friday before my departure I conducted some last-minute internet research on 'things to do around Lausanne when there's thunder in the Alps'. Via the Swiss birding website ornitho.ch, I found out about a breeding colony of Bee-eaters (Guepier d'Europe) in a quarry in the neighbouring town of Penthaz. The local birders have worked hard to ensure the welfare of the birds (by putting police tape and explanatory signs around the quarry) while also providing garden chairs at a viewing platform - great job! The Bee-eaters gave fantastic views in flight and perched during my visit.

This one seemed to have a penchant for Golden-ringed Dragonflies!

Other birds giving good views here included Black Kite (Milan noir), Turtle Dove (Tourterelle des bois) and Sand Martins (Hirondelle de rivage). A Roe Deer came in to drink in the quarry base....

... and this Marbled Fritillary was another butterfly lifer.

Back in Lausanne, I took an evening stroll to the Chateau Saint-Maire in the old town.

The Lonely Planet waxed lyrical about its 'haughty turrets' - I was more impressed by the crippling views of the Alpine Swifts (Martinet a ventre blanc) which nest and roost there.

Next day we took the ferry across Lake Geneva to the French spa town of Evian-les-bains.

The lakeshore enabled some close encounters with waterfowl including Eurasian Coot (Foulque macroule - US birders take note of the shape of the facial shield)

some cute Mute Swan (Cygne tubercule) cygnets

and a gaudy male Red-crested Pochard (Nette rousse).

I also came across this bizarre-looking female Blackbird (Merle noir). The head and breast sides were ash-grey, and the bird had a white throat with pronounced streaking and malar stripes. Is this within the normal range of variation for female Blackbirds, or could it be a hybrid (kind of resembles a Fieldfare from the neck up)?

The rest of the day was spent birding, sunbathing and swimming (brrr!) from a pedalo in Lausanne Harbour - Black Kite (Milan noir), Yellow-legged Gull (Goeland leucophee) and a pair of Goosander (Harle bievre) being the avian highlights.

Lac des Joux: flowers, insects and not many birds

This weekend's plans for hiking in the Alps (read Wallcreeper search) were changed when the weather forecast predicted thunderstorms over the whole weekend. Instead I headed back to the Vallee des Joux in the hope of finding Scarlet Rosefinch (Roselin cramoisi), a scarce breeder here. I didn't. In fact, bird activity was generally pretty low, perhaps due to the fairly strong wind blowing through the valley. One bird which did oblige was this smart male Serin (Serin cini).

The breeding colony of Fieldfares (Grive litorne) was noisy as ever, although the birds were tricky to see foraging in the long grass.

I came across some wonderful flowers around the lakeshore, including several Military Orchids.

Sadly flower ID is not my forte, so not sure about the identities of the next two. Is this some sort of Marsh Orchid?

These blue iris(?) were striking.

Insects included my lifer Chequered Skipper

a well-camouflaged Pine Hawk Moth

and a smart Four-spotted Chaser.

This fresh-looking Small Tortoiseshell chose a rather unsavoury perch on this dead Carrion Crow (Corneille noire).

Here's a somewhat healthier-looking individual!

Hot birding

On Saturday afternoon I met up with Stephane, with whom I had previously birded around the wonderful Lac du Der, for a trip to the Fontainebleau Forest. It has been 16 years since my last visit to this site, on my first ever foreign birding trip with our school bird club (Wood and Bonelli's Warblers as lifers on the same day!), so it was well and truly time for another visit. On a beer stop in a nearby village I took the opportunity to photograph this House Martin (Hirondelle de fenetre) nest-building.

Our destination was the scenic Plaine de Chanfroy, where we took an evening stroll again in the hope of Nightjars (Engoulevent d'Europe). The Nightjars started singing relatively early (10pm and still very light), and there were more of them than at the Angevilliers site. Indeed, this evening we succeeded in seeing two individuals rather distantly in flight. The full moon was large and extremely bright, and we cast a long shadow on our path back to the van.

We camped in the car park in Stephane's trusty Citroen Jumpy - fortunately a little warmer than our -7C camping spot by the Lac du Der in March! I fell asleep around midnight to a chorus of churring Nightjars, and woke up shortly after 5am to a singing Golden Oriole (Loriot d'Europe) - cool place!

We repeated our walk around the plain for diurnal species, and I was pleased to see good numbers of flowering Lizard Orchids all along the path.

Bonelli's Warblers (Pouillot de Bonelli) and Cuckoos (Coucou gris) were singing all over the place, along with smaller numbers of Melodious Warbler (Hypolais polyglotte), Nightingale (Rossignol philomele), Tree Pipit (Pipit des arbres), Redstart (Rougequeue a front blanc) and single Wryneck (Torcol fourmilier) and Black Woodpecker (Pic noir). This is one of many Red-backed Shrikes (Pie-grieche ecorcheur) we saw during the morning.

This Stonechat (Tarier patre) was banded, but it was impossible to read the ring in bright sunlight.

We were able to get very close to this Woodlark (Alouette lulu) with its beak crammed full of grubs.

While our 530 start time seemed early, by 830am it was hot and bird activity was already petering out! Stephane had a treat in store for us - a nearby quarry held a breeding colony of beautiful Bee-eaters (Guepier d'Europe). Unfortunately by this stage it was swelteringly hot (32C) and heat haze put paid to any hope of a decent photograph. Still, this shot gives you an idea of how outrageously colourful these birds are.

Fly-by Honey Buzzard (Bondree apivore) and Hen Harrier (Busard Saint-Martin) were good day birds, and a purring Turtle Dove (Tourterelle des bois) perched close enough to photograph.

Not long after 11am we decided we couldn't take the heat, so I returned home for gazpacho and a siesta... still, not a bad morning's birding!

Odds and ends

Last week I participated in the Orsay Nature Nightjar (Engoulevent d'Europe) watching excursion to Angevilliers. While heading to our departure point I stopped to photograph the stunning Bee Orchids on campus again.

I was extremely surprised to see this monstrous Coypu emerge from the river Yvette.

As dusk approached we were repeatedly buzzed by this dragonfly sp - it resembled a Downy Emerald, which is seen in similar heathland habitats in the UK.

In spite of good, warm weather, Nightjars were heard only. However, we had some great fly-pasts from roding Woodcock (Becasse des bois) - we were even able to hear the low grunting notes between the squeaks. It was a good night for astronomy too - Jupiter and its moons, and Saturn's rings were clearly visible through my 30x scope.

Yesterday an evening trip to the Etangs de Saclay didn't produce the hoped-for Little Bittern (Blongios nain), but a couple more surprises - a Little Tern (Sterne naine) with a couple of Commons (pierregarin) was on show for all of 5 minutes before disappearing. I also got my lifer Lesser Emperor dragonfly!

While waiting for the bus home I was able to catch this singing Black Redstart bathed in the evening light.

This morning while taking a shower I had almost as much of a shock as Janet Leigh in Psycho when this huge Hornet appeared from behind the curtain! It appears to be a queen based on size and posessing 6 (rather than 7) abdominal segments.

I gingerly trapped it in a wine glass and released it back into the great outdoors after obtaining this mug shot.

Closer to home

Summer has finally arrived in Orsay! After three days of unbroken sunshine, I decided to take a walk around the block with my camera. A Tree Sparrow (Moineau friquet) finally posed out in the open for me to digiscope - not bad for an 8 year old bottom of the range Kowa!

Along the same wall, this Melodious Warbler (Hypolais polyglotte) posed with a freshly-caught spider.

Perhaps best of all was a couple of Slow-worms just 50m from my front door - only the second time I've ever seen them!

The larger (male?) individual had a firm grasp on the tail of the smaller, and was being dragged around after it - is this part of courtship or seeing off a rival?

On campus, I managed to digibin this singing Serin (Serin cini).

The late spring flowers are finally coming into bloom, including this Pyramidal Orchid...

... a beautiful Bee Orchid...

... and a Foxglove that was practically as tall as me!

A couple of cool links

Two great things I found while trawling the internet today. First off, in celebration of Sir David Attenborough's 80th birthday, the British public was asked to select their favourite moment from his outstanding wildlife shows. Some 13,000 people voted for this clip of a Superb Lyrebird's mimicry-filled display - makes you want to jump on the next plane to Australia! Sir David has been something of a role model to me, and has inspired a love of the natural world in millions of homes worldwide - happy birthday!

Next up, the amazing spectacle of a flock(!) of California Condors feeding on a beached Gray Whale along the Big Sur coast - these incredible pictures actually show the condors walking inside the whale's mouth.

Aren't birds cool...

Montreux day 2: Rochers de Naye and brush with fame!

On Sunday we took the mountain railway from Montreux to Caux (1000m elevation), and walked up to the summit at Rochers de Naye (a very snowy 2000m altitude). Lake Geneva looked superb in the early morning light.

A walk through some promising-looking pine forest to the ridge crest was pretty quiet bird-wise, perhaps as much of the slope was still in shadow. Here's a crap photo (literally) of a Ring Ouzel (Merle a plastron) and Mistle Thrush (Grive draine).

Further up the trail a vocal Black Woodpecker (Pic noir) gave fleeting views, and Cuckoos (Coucou gris) were surprisingly common. On clearing the tree line we were rewarded with splendid views of a singing Alpine Accentor (Accenteur alpin, only my second encounter with this species). Unfortunately it was flushed by a hiker, one of only two other people we saw on the walk!

This zone turned out to be reasonably birdy, with singing Water Pipits (Pipit spioncelle) and Wheatears (Traquet motteux), and a heard only croak of a Ptarmigan (Lagopede alpin). It was a hard trudge through deep snow to make it to the restaurant/train station at the summit. After the serene solitude of the climb it was something of a shock when a train jam-packed with sightseers arrived to look at the sorry-looking Marmots in cages (and they call this place Marmot Paradise?). Too snowy for many birds except for some inquisitive Alpine Choughs (Chocard a bec jaune). Montreux seemed a long way down...

After some much-needed sustenance in the canteen we took the train down to the lakeshore, which was frequented by a few Red-crested Pochards (Nette rousse) and Tufted Duck (Fuligule morillon).

The rest of the afternoon was spent soaking up the sun at the lakeshore and watching the Black Kites (Milan noir) circle overhead.

Perhaps the most unusual record from the trip was in the departure lounge at Geneva airport - Gerard Depardieu! Given that I would struggle to name ten famous French actors, it was remarkable to spot one of the elite I did recognize.
Here's a record shot, taken at distance in poor light...

Montreux day 1: botanising and butterflying

Last weekend a good weather forecast seemed like a good excuse to return to the Alps, so I decided to do a couple of the walks described in the 'Where to watch birds in Switzerland' guide. The birding at both sites was pleasant if underwhelming; however the multitude of wildflowers, butterflies and stunning scenery more than compensated for this. Our first walk started from Leuk train station, following the River Rhone before a fairly steep ascent to Feschelbach gorge and down again. Just outside of the station I spotted the first of many Hummingbird Hawkmoths gathering nectar - always a pleasure to see.

Butterflies down at this level included Black-veined White...

... and my lifer Glanville Fritillary.

This insect with dragonfly-like wings and long antennae was pretty common, though I have no idea even what family it belongs to. ID, anyone? (It's an Ascalaphid - Libelloides coccajus - thanks Dean!)

The Cruella DeVil-style coats of these goats was distinctive.

Birds heard on this section of the walk included Bonelli's Warbler (Pouillot de Bonelli), Golden Oriole (Loriot d'Europe), Rock Bunting (Bruant fou) and Nightingale (Rossignol philomele). My first of year Honey Buzzard was a treat as well.

The ascent up to the gorge added Adonis Blue....

... and this impressive large green beetle sp to the insect list (This is a Rose Chafer or Goldsmith Beetle, Cetonia aurata - thanks to Anne-Caroline for the ID).

The view wasn't bad either!

My ulterior motive for walking to Feschelbach gorge was to look for Wallcreeper, which can apparently give marvellous views here, but not today! A Swiss birder/photographer on site reckoned it was more regular in winter here, so maybe I'll plan a return visit.... amazing views of Crag Martin (Hirondelle de rochers) was some compensation though.

Up on the plateau, the display of wildflowers was amazing...

... and included this Burnt Orchid.

Heading down through a small wooded area yielded my lifer Wood Whites....

... and an incongruous-looking satellite station.

A couple of fly-by Hoopoes (Huppe fasciee) and a heard-only Ortolan Bunting (Bruant ortolan) were the avian highlights. We passed through an attractive village

and made it back in good time to see the sun set over Lake Geneva from Montreux.

Back in love with Leica

Well, it took just over two months of negotiating, but finally Leica customer services came through with a better result than I could have expected. Today, a very nice bloke called Gerald emailed to tell me that instead of repairing my damaged scope they are replacing it with a shiny new one free of charge! So thank you Leica, my faith in your customer service is restored. Now I just hope the new scope makes it through the French postal system! :-)

Unseasonable cold weather has resulted in not much bird (or birder) activity. During the brief appearance of sunshine earlier in the week, I spotted this smart male Beautiful Demoiselle...

... and these Wall (?) Lizards were basking on the platform of my nearest train station.

Last Saturday a visit from a Finnish friend saw us visiting the rather creepy Catacombs, where thousands of bones from Parisian cemeteries were deposited to make room for more buildings - not recommended for a first date!