A Brit abroad

After the storm

Following a short but intense thunderstorm, I decided to spend the last of the light in the field where I saw a hunting Long-eared Owl (Hibou moyen-duc) last week. This time I was treated to even more spectacular views as the bird landed not too far along the fence line from me, and proceeded to sit there for a good 10 minutes (drying out?), bathed in the evening sunlight. Magic!

Sunset over the owl field.

My route home was strewn with carcasses, including a Slow-worm and this (House?) mouse.

Gruissan on foot

Last weekend I birded an area of the Aude coast centred on Gruissan, mostly by foot. At the end of May I expected hot sunshine and a host of Mediterranean bird specialities, but in reality was greeted by threatening rainclouds, strong gusts of winds, and a few bird species that should have been much further north by now! An undoubted highlight of the weekend was eye-popping views of migrating Honey Buzzards (Bondree apivore), all flying relatively low in poor weather.

I counted 150 or so throughout the day, including this thermalling group of 41 birds.

The garrigue of the Ile Saint Martin held a singing Subalpine Warbler (Fauvette passerinette) and a pair of Black-eared Wheatears (Traquet oreillard) - my first in France.

In spite of the wind, several butterflies were out and about including Western Marbled White and Clouded Yellow.

The lower elevation meadows hosted a single Tawny Pipit (Pipit rousseline) and this confiding Corn Bunting (Bruant proyer).

After lunch I decided to seawatch from a sheltered spot on Gruissan plage, noting a few Gannets (Fou de bassin) and large numbers of Yelkouan Shearwaters (Puffin yelkouan) passing relatively close inshore.

Walking north to the Etang de Grazel produced a real surprise, when an adult drake Eider (Eider a duvet) swam past me at point blank range!

Just across the road, a couple of pairs of Little Terns (Sterne naine) were nesting on a protected part of the beach.

Later in the afternoon, birding around the Etang de Campignol produced a jammy Great Spotted Cuckoo (Coucou-geai), and I thought my luck was in when I spotted this feeding pelican, only to be told that it was one of several free flying Pink-backed Pelicans (Pelican gris) which had escaped from the nearby African reserve... Here it is trying to swallow a big fish.

Without too much hope of success, I birded an area of the marais Narbonnais which had recently held Black-winged Pratincole, Buff-breasted Sandpiper and an eastern Olivaceous Warbler. The best I could come up with in worsening weather was a lone White Stork (Cigogne blanche) and 3(!) Sacred Ibis (Ibis sacre) on the entrance road to Grand Castelou.

I finished the day close to the Etang de Pissevaches, which was a write-off in the now unbirdable wind, though I did see a few Pallid Swifts (Martinet pale) in Saint Pierre la Mer, and good decent views of some nesting Bee-eaters (Guepier d'Europe) along the road.

The next day dawned much brighter, so I decided do a walk from the hotel in the massif de la Clape.

This Dartford Warbler (Fauvette pitchou) was skulking in a roadside bush, but never ventured out into the open.

If you stare long and hard at this photo I may be able to convince you you're looking at a hovering Short-toed Eagle (Circaete Jean-le-Blanc)!

I spent a good part of the afternoon exploring the salt pans adjacent to Gruissan.

Shorebird pickings were slim, but did include a lone Red Knot (Becasseau maubeche), another French tick for me.

Two Greenshank (Chevalier aboyeur) and a bunch of probable (i.e. tiny blobs in the heat haze) Little Stints (Becasseau minute) were the only other signs of migration, though breeders included many Black-winged Stilts (Echasse blanche), Avocets (Avocette elegante) and Kentish Plovers (the ridiculously long named Pluvier a collier interrompu).

Shelduck (Tadorne de belon) babies are very cute!

The locally abundant race of Yellow Wagtail (Bergeronnette printaniere) seemed much darker-headed than many Blue-headed Wagtails I've seen in Britain - perhaps they are intergrades with Iberian Yellow Wagtail here?

Meanwhile, back in Montpellier, I found myself an orchid lifer - this stunning Woodcock Orchid.

Quiz time: can anyone tell me what this orchid is? Answer: it's a Pyramidal Orchid which just doesn't happen to be pyramid-shaped - thanks Gwenael!

How about this colourful critter?

(answers to rjhall_AT_surfbirder.com)

Seek and ye shall find

There have been a flurry of recent reports of breeding Long-eared Owls (Hibou moyen-duc) from the Saclay plateau, all of which are a considerable walk from Orsay (and since the owls typically appear after 9pm, the walk back would be mostly in the dark). Given the glorious weather, I decided to check my local patch, la Troche. The air was full of the sound of singing Skylarks (Alouette des champs), Grasshopper, Melodious and Fan-tailed Warblers (Locustelle tachetee, Hypolais polyglotte, Cisticole des joncs), Grey Partridge (Perdrix grise), Stonechat (Tarier patre), Reed Bunting (Bruant des roseaux) and Meadow Pipit (Pipit farlouse) - magic.

To cap off an already splendid evening, I was amazed when a Long-eared Owl actually appeared over a promising-looking field, at the realtively early time of 8:45pm. I enjoyed fantastic views of this bird over the next 30 mins, hunting and perched. The flight shots were taken without the aid of a scope!

Comments to rjhall_AT_surfbirder.com

And then there were three...

Black Woodpecker babies

Oh my god, I'm a mother!

I'm very pleased to announce that 'my' Black Woodpeckers (Pic noir) are the proud parents of two hungry chicks. In the handful of visits to the nest I've made, the pattern seems to be that one of the parents lands on a nearby tree, makes a Northern Flicker-like 'keow' and takes a good look around before proceeding to feed the young at the nest-hole. After feeding, the parent disappears inside the nest-hole (to collect a faecal sac, I suspect) before flying off - the whole process taking about 90 seconds. I haven't been there enough to know the average time between feeds, but it can be less than once an hour in the middle of the day. The canopy is closed, leaving not too much light for photography. Here are the best results so far, no doubt more to follow...

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A sunny day

In contrast to April's unseasonably warm weather, May has been somewhat damp and miserable. This morning, however, the sun was shining, so I took a stroll around the plateau. The male Redstart (Rougequeue a front blanc) was still singing constantly in the woods, but remained out of sight in the treetops. A couple of male Linnets (Linotte melodieuse) were singing from the same tree; this bright individual...

... and a duller (young?) bird.

A Melodious Warbler (Hypolais polyglotte) was also making itself heard.

The local Stonechats (Tarier patre) seem to be thriving, with 3 different adult males on a relatively small territory. This bird showed extremely well.

Grasshopper and Fan-tailed Warblers (Locustelle tachetee, Cisticole des joncs), and an active Spotted Flycatcher (Gobemouche gris) eluded the camera, but this Garden Warbler (Fauvette des jardins) was too busy singing its heart out to pay me any attention.

By the time I arrived at work, the sky had turned grey again, but I was pleased to find a small colony of Greater Butterfly Orchids growing just across the road from my office.

Any comments?

Seems like the comments section on this site hasn't worked for a while, so if anyone has any comments (preferably non-abusive), opinions on/corrections to IDs, RFIs etc, please email them to rjhall_AT_surfbirder.com - I'll try to remember to check this account from time to time.

A red Red Phalarope!!!

I didn't intend to go birding this weekend, really I didn't. But when news broke of a breeding-plumaged Red Phalarope (Phalarope a bec large) at Saint-Quentin, what was I to do? The bird was fairly mobile over the two hours I watched it, and was something of a nightmare to photograph (distance, poor light, strong wind - all the usual excuses), but still looked pretty stunning through the scope. Here are the best (or should I say least bad?) shots that I managed.

Flycatching

Off she goes

Although it stayed far from the shore, it certainly wasn't shy around the armada of sail boats!

Digibinning in Nancy

At rather short notice I was sent off to Nancy in eastern France, to give a progress report to the people who fund me. Given the shortness of the visit, I left the scope at home, but packed the bins 'just in case'. After a morning of listening to incomprehensible microbiology talks, labmate Gwenael and I snuck off for a spot of urban birding. First stop was the Parc de la Pepiniere, home to an enormous rookery, and an eclectic assortment of captive birds, including Demoiselle Crane.

Ring-necked Parakeet (Perruche a collier) and White Stork (Cigogne blanche) both nest in the park, though I suspect both may have originated from the collection. Our attempt to find the nesting Peregrines (Faucon pelerin) was unsuccessful, mainly over confusion as to which big church they were nesting in, but we did see several Black Kites (Milan noir) over the city centre. Following the road out east from the cathedral, we found a productive birding spot where the Meurthe widens into a lake. This pair of Black Redstarts (Rougequeue noir) were extremely inquisitive about us - perhaps they had young nearby?

This singing Melodious Warbler (Hypolais polyglotte) was my first of the year.

In the evening we were invited to a swanky reception at the city hall in Place Stanislaus.

The champagne flowed freely, and the cuisine was, um, innovative - chocolate-covered foie gras, anybody?

Walking back to the hotel in the early hours of the morning allowed me to see my first fouine - known variously as Beech, Stone or House Marten in English. This smart mammal is absent from the UK, but apparently is quite at home in cities and gets up to much the same mischief as racoons in the US.

As early as we could manage next morning, we headed for the Foret de la Haye, easily reachable by bus or foot from central Nancy. A decent selection of woodland birds were seen, the best of which was stunning looks at a couple of singing Wood Warblers (Pouillot siffleur) - a species I haven't seen in many years.

A few Bird's-nest Orchids were seen along the forest trails.

In the scrubby areas outside the forest we heard several Lesser Whitethroats (Fauvette babillarde, inexplicably absent from my part of France), and Gwenael spotted this Lizard Orchid from a moving tram!

Stringing in the rain

The nature reserve at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines only opens to the public very sporadically, so in spite of the gathering clouds, I decided to brave the 3 trains and a 20 min walk to the reserve entrance. During the latter I came across a Rook (Corbeau freux) with a very odd bill.

By the time I reached the reserve entrance, the first flashes of lightning were already illuminating the ever-darkening sky, but it was too late to turn back now.... fortunately the reserve has several hides, one of which I was stranded in for over 2 hours with a bunch of soggy birders. A decent selection of shorebirds was on view, including LRPs (Petit gravelot), Ruff (Combattant varie), and both Common and Green Sandpipers (Chevaliers guignette et aboyeur).

This fox appeared between hail showers...

... forcing this drake Garganey (Sarcelle d'ete) out of hiding .

In the midst of the storm, a big gull landed in front of us.

The bird seemed heavily-built, pale-headed and -breasted with a pink bill base. After consulting the 'Guide ornitho (Collins guide in the UK)', the consensus in the hide was for Great Black-backed Gull (Goeland marin). Given their scarcity inland, I reeled off a few photos before the bird departed. On reviewing them at home, I started to have some doubts, and consultation with some larophiles on BirdForum confirmed that it was indeed 'just' a Yellow-legged Gull (Goeland leucophee) - oops.

After the storm, I decided to check out the now-flooded Coupieres Basin. Nothing outlandish, but a Nightingale (Rossignol philomele) singing relatively out in the open was a treat...

... as was this territorial Grey Wagtail (Bergeronnette des ruisseaux).

This Beautiful Demoiselle was my first dragonfly of the year.

Up on the plateau, a male Common Redstart (RQFB) seems to be holding territory not far from last year's bird, and the local Stonechat (Tarier patre) babies have already fledged.