May 13, 2007
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!
