A Brit abroad

Rain in the south

My Kiwi pals are heading back to the other side of the globe next month (take me with you!), so we decided to visit Andrew in Montpellier for a whistle-stop tour of the south of France incorporating the Camargue and Arles to the east, and Narbonne and Carcassonne to the west (an adult pale phase Booted Eagle - Aigle botte - was the highlight of the long journey to the latter site). What we weren't counting on was the formidable amount of rain that bucketed down for the whole weekend; however, we did a pretty good job of dodging the rainclouds and saw some good birds in the process.

A Caspian Tern (Sterne caspienne) brought our car to a screeching halt on the east side of the Etang de Vaccares, though the Kiwis were understandably more interested in their lifer Greater Flamingos (Flamant rose). In the mean time I managed a couple of pics of an approachable Little Egret (Aigrette garzette).

This large group of Coots (Foulque macroule) was preening and swimming in a tight circular formation - anyone know why?

The Salin de Badon was much quieter than my last visit, although we had excellent views of a hovering Osprey (Balbuzard pecheur), and the ubiquitous Coypus.

Another out of place exotic, this Geranium Bronze butterfly hails from South Africa.

We visited the Tour du Valat for the first time, which paid off when we discovered 4 Black Storks (Cigogne noir) flying in to feed at the lake (the black blob in the left of this picture is one of them).

The supporting cast of birds here included 3 Black-necked Grebes (Grebe a cou noir), and Whiskered and Black Terns (Guifettes moustac et noire). After a much-needed coffee break in Salin de Giraud, we birded the Baisse de 500 Francs, where in strong wind we picked out another Osprey and my first French Red-necked Grebe (Grebe jougris). This Caspian Tern on the nearby beach dwarfed the surrounding Common and Sandwich Terns (Sternes pierregarin et caugek).

An adult Yellow-legged Gull at close range.

Back in Andrew's flat, we weren't the only ones sheltering from the rainstorms!

I rather gingerly trapped it in a plastic cup and released it a safe distance from the apartment.

Gulls of Lisbon

I got a chance to re-visit beautiful Lisbon for a long weekend. Birding wasn't really on the cards, but I couldn't help but bring my bins along... On arriving in Lisbon, we headed straight for Belem to eat the fantastic pasteis. Lots of gulls were wheeling around the monastery...

... and soon alighted in a large fountain to drink and preen. Most were Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Goeland brun), with smaller numbers of Yellow-legged (leucophee) and Black-headed Gulls (Mouette melanocephale). I took a bunch of shots of the Lesser Black-backs as they plunge-dove and preened.

The birds were displaying a variety of plumages. Here's a second-winter...

... and I'm guessing the bird in the foreground is a third-winter by its distinctive three-toned bill.

Just adjacent on the Tagus River, a shoal of fish swarming around an outflow pipe was attracting the attention of several Sandwich Terns (Sterne caugek)...

... and Mediterranean Gulls (Mouette melanocephale).

Other interesting sightings were Sardinian Warblers (Fauvette melanocephale) doing a surprisingly good job of hiding in the manicured hedges of Belem, oodles of Pallid Swifts (Martinet pale) overhead and a vocal male Tawny Owl (Chouette hulotte) in a city square.

DIY and Camargue birding.

It's not often that I get to boast that I spent the best part of the weekend screwing! Andrew has just moved to a new unfurnished flat north of Montpellier, and injured his back in the process, so I was put in charge of assembling a dinner table and chairs, a coffee table, a desk, office and bedroom drawers, comfy chairs etc etc. In light of this, and having to endure Ikea on a Saturday, I was treated to a half-day's birding in the Camargue. Lots of Rollers (Rollier d'Europe) still adorned the wires by the roadside, but frustratingly never in a good place to pull off and photograph. Our late morning arrival in the north of the Camargue paid off with a close view of a thermalling Short-toed Eagle (Circaete Jean-le-Blanc).

After checking in at La Capelliere, we decided to head to Salin de Badon in light of several interesting reports. On the entrance trail we had good views of a female/imm Pied Flycatcher (Gobemouche noir) - about the only passerine we saw here! The majority of the bird activity was from one hide: this feeding flock of Spoonbills (Spatule blanche) immediately caught the eye.

Careful scanning amongst the mass of Spotted Redshanks (Chevalier arlequin) and smaller numbers of Black-tailed Godwit (Barge a queue noire) yielded this Marsh Sandpiper (Chevalier stagnatile). It spent most of its time asleep, only occasionally turning its head to allow us to admire its needle-thin bill.

A mediocre lunch in the town of Salin de Giraud was compensated for by the sight of thousands of shorebirds at the Baisse des 500 Francs. Distance and lighting made observation a little tricky, but it was great to see summer-plumaged Dunlins (Becasseau variable - believe it or not, a French tick!), a few moulting Curlew Sandpiper (Becasseau cocorli)...

and many Little Stints (Becasseau minute).

Heading on to the beach, we were treated to a bathing flock of Sandwich Terns (Sterne caugek)...

... which were happily joined by this immature Slender-billed Gull (Goeland railleur).

On the drive out we enjoyed the spectacle of a massive Caspian Tern (Sterne caspienne) fishing by the roadside - a nice reward for a weekend of hard labour!

Birds, bats and bugs

Yesterday evening Romain, Sandrine and I headed to the Etangs de Saint-Hubert in light of some good birds reported there recently. On first sight, the lake appeared to be empty! However, once we found the right vantage point, the good birds started to appear, if a little distantly. I can probably convince you that the birds under the left hand arrow are two Great White Egrets (Grande Aigrette), though you may find it harder to believe that under the right arrow is an Osprey (Balbuzard pecheur)!

We drove around to another vantage point where the birds were much closer but in awful light.

During this visit we picked up a number of other interesting species, including Common and Green Sandpipers (Chevaliers guignette et culblanc), Hobby (Faucon hobereau), Marsh Harrier (Busard des roseaux) and heard only Cetti's Warbler (Bouscarle de Cetti) and Water Rail (Rale d'eau). An insistent chipping, reminiscent of a Black Phoebe or Evening Grosbeak, alerted me to the presence of two Kingfishers (Martin-pecheur) - perhaps this was the begging call of a youngster! This grainy picture was taken at dusk and a loooong way away, but just to show American readers what a REAL Kingfisher looks like!

We stayed around just long enough to admire the sunset before hunger got the better of us.

After a sumptuous dinner chez Romain, he pointed out a Grey Long-eared Bat that had taken to roosting outside his door.

Back at mine, a bug that looked suspiciously like a cockroach ran in front of me. Fortunately on closer inspection it turned out to be a much more innocuous House Cricket.

The recent spell of sunny weather has resulted in a surge of bird (and birder!) activity. I finally added Black Woodpecker (Pic noir) to my garden list, and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Pic epeichette) seems to be calling again.

Visible migration

It's been a while since my last entry. This is part lack of motivation after birding my brains out in the US, partly down to the abysmal weather (rain every day since I got back), and mostly due to catching up with sleep and work! Last week I joined an unsuccessful twitch of 2 Caspian Terns (Sterne caspienne) at St Quentin-en-Yvelines (I was seeing hundreds a couple of weeks back!), but was rewarded with several Black Terns (Guifette noire) among the hordes of Black-headed Gulls (Mouette rieuse). Migrants included abundant Chiffchaffs (Pouillot veloce), hirundines and a lone Common Swift (Martinet noir). Many White Wagtails (Bergeronnette grise) were hanging around the wooden docks, including this calling adult and juvenile.

Yesterday morning I did my usual walk around the block, and was pleasantly surprised by a visible passage of at least 10 Yellow Wagtails (Bergeronnette printaniere) overhead. Other patch ticks included a very vocal Hobby (Faucon hobereau) and this female Hen Harrier (Busard Saint-Martin) (yes, I know it's an awful shot but I was frankly amazed to even get an image of this distant bird).

At least 20 Grey Partridge (Perdrix grise) were looking rather like lost sandgrouse in the middle of a feshly ploughed field (I caught them as they were running for cover).

A family party of at least 6 Stonechat (Tarier patre) was still on territory - here's one of the juves...

... which soon came to feed on the roadside with a flock of Greenfinches (Verdier).

It felt good to get back out there, and to see that migrants are evidently on the move, even in my local spot. Who knows what surprises the next couple of months will bring?