March 3, 2007
Weekend in the Baie de Somme
Last weekend I headed out with Orsay Nature to look for wintering birds in the Baie de Somme. We experienced a mixed bag of weather, from howling wind and rain, through to a picnic on the beach in brilliant sunshine.
The bay holds large numbers of wintering Curlew (Courlis cendre), Oystercatchers (Huitrier pie) and is an internationally important site for wintering Shelduck (Tadorne de Belon).
Other shorebird species were thin on the ground (our visit was at low tide so the birds were very dispersed), but included Dunlin (Becasseau variable), Avocet (Avocette elegante) and a single Grey Plover (Pluvier argente). A few wintering Rock Pipits (Pipit maritime) and a singing Cetti's Warbler (Bouscarle de Cetti) provided passerine interest. At the nearby Hables d'Ault, unfortunately hunters abounded (even though the season is officially closed), and consequently the plastic hunting decoys outnumbered real ducks. Bathing gulls at this site included a couple of Yellow-legged (Goeland leucophee). A beautiful female Hen Harrier (Busard Saint-Martin) treated us to an overhead fly-by, while passerines included a few Stonechat (Tarier patre) and a Water Pipit (Pipit spioncelle).
My personal highlight of the weekend was the excellent views of Fulmars (Fulmar boreal), which were already frequenting their nesting cliffs at Ault.
You can see why they're called tubenoses!
They often seemed to be jostling for the available ledge space.
A late afternoon seawatch was rewarded with a distant flock of Common Scoter (Macreuse noire), Red-breasted Merganser (Harle huppee) and a few Red-throated Divers (Plongeon catmarin), but many in the group were happier with close-up scope views of a singing Song Thrush (Grive musicienne).
After a raclette, red wine and nutella crepe-fuelled evening, we spent most of our Sunday in the Marquenterre bird reserve. The park has a large collection of tame wildfowl, living alongside their wild counterparts.
Personally, I dislike this part-zoo, part-reserve mixture. The mixed flock of White-fronts and Greylag Geese (Oies rieuses et cendree) feeding with the Lapwings (Vanneau huppe) and Golden Plovers (Pluvier dore) were probably wild, but the lone Whooper Swan (Cygne chanteur) on the 'wild' side of the fence? The caged Night Herons (Bihoreau gris) looked none too happy either. Nevertheless, the reserve preserves a great area of wetland habitat, and was packed with wild birds including fly-by Spoonbills (Spatule blanche) and Great Egrets (Grande Aigrette). Shorebird highlights were wintering Spotted Redshank (Chevalier arlequin) and a large flock of Black-tailed Godwits (Barge a queue noire). Amongst the throng of ducks were a handful of Goldeneye (Garrot a oeil d'or), and best of all, a close female Common Scoter (Macreuse noire) sheltering from the savage winds battering the Bay.
This groggy-looking frog came out of hibernation just a little too early.
Before heading back to Paris, we took our lunch break in the tree-lined car park, where a mixed tit flock contained a wintering Chiffchaff (Pouillot veloce).
Posted by rjhall at March 3, 2007 3:56 PM