A Brit abroad

Bird ringing in Fontainebleau

I attended my second ever bird ringing/banding session in Fontainebleau forest, a prime spot for woodland and heathland birds just SE of Paris. After 4 hours of broken sleep, we arrived on site to the sound of churring Nightjars (Engoulevent d'Europe), one of which circled our heads as we unravelled the mist nets. The very first bird we caught in the pre-dawn gloom was a female Red-backed Shrike (Pie-grieche ecorcheur)!

Next up was a juvenile Nightingale (Rossignol philomele).

This is a plumage I'm not at all familiar with, though identification was made easier by the rusty-red tail.

Short-toed Treecreeper (Grimpereau des jardins) - a bird I prefer to identify by call!

One of the highlights of the morning was catching this (the first of two) Wryneck (Torcol fourmilier).

In the hand it lived up to its name, continually turning its neck to improbable angles.

Close-up, the head is not dissimilar to a Roadrunner's!

A male Yellowhammer (Bruant jaune) provided a welcome splash of colour.

Juvenile Great Tits (Mesange charbonniere) were far and away the most numerous birds we caught, though none of them took too kindly to being handled.

By contrast we only managed a single juvenile Redstart (Rougequeue a front blanc).

This male Red-backed Shrike was a real beauty, but had a fiery temper - my note-taking pencil was used to deflect the hooked bill from tearing chunks out of our fingers.

We probably managed to capture an entire brood of Tree Pipits (Pipit des arbres), while the parents looked on anxiously.

This beast was the surprise find of the morning - an angry male Hawfinch (Grosbec casse-noyaux)!

Weighing in at 49g, he was the heaviest catch of the day, though a relative lightweight for a species which can reach 62g.

He positively dwarfed this dainty female Chaffinch (Pinson des arbres)...

... and female Goldfinch (Chardonneret elegant).

Warblers were relatively thin on the ground, with a single Blackcap (Fauvette a tete noire), a couple of Whitethroats (Fauvette grisette) and this Melodious Warbler (Hypolais polyglotte) being caught.

Other birds in the vicinity included singing Bonelli's Warbler (Pouillot de Bonelli), Woodlark (Alouette lulu) and Hoopoe (Huppe fasciee). Towards midday bird activity trickled to a halt, just as the weather turned nasty, but the bird-banders' spirits remained high during the picnic lunch.

Birders' birds

This weekend I visited the Causses Aumelas west of Montpellier, home to some of mediterranean Europe's most spectacular birds - Hoopoes, Bee-eaters, Rollers... and yet I found myself searching for little brown birds. A prime example is the Rock Sparrow (Moineau soulcie), differing little to the casual observer from a regular female House Sparrow (Moineau domestique).

And yet it is a sought-after bird by many birders, since its patchy and local distribution in the mediterranean makes it difficult to find (this is only the third time I've come across the species). Some bird books even call it Rock Petronia to add to its appeal (genus tick!). I guess part of the fun of birding for me is picking out these fine differences, finding variety and beauty in something that appears mundane to the untrained eye. These birds have a fine set of humbug-stripes along their flanks...

... and a head-pattern not unlike some American sparrows or female grosbeaks.

The song itself is more nasal and synthetic than the House Sparrow, and what they lack in colour, they make up for in attitude - this male sang incessantly, fanning his tail and occasionally revealing a glimpse of his butter-yellow throat patch.

Another drab denizen of the causses is this Tawdry Pipit (Pipit rousseline).

Woodchat Shrike (Pie-grieche a tete rousse) - now that's more like it!

Several Short-toed Eagles (Circaete Jean-le-blanc) flew close overhead.

The day before I went canoeing (without optics, obviously) along the Gorges de Herault, and saw a fun selection of riparian birds - Common Sandpiper (Chevalier guignette), Little Ringed Plover (Petit Gravelot), Kingfisher (Martin-pecheur), Dipper (Cincle plongeur) and Grey Wagtail (Bergeronnette des ruisseaux). Musical accompaniment was provided by the omnipresent Nightingales (Rossignol philomele) and my first cicadas of the year.

Corncrackers

Last weekend, having nothing better to do, I decided to get the TGV to Angers in the hope of hearing Corncrakes (Rale des genets). The wet meadows to the north of the city hold about 1/3 of the French population.

Given the birds call mostly towards dusk, I was somewhat surprised to hear one in full song on my arrival mid-afternoon! Calling at the same time in an adjacent field was a Quail (Caille des bles) - I have never seen either of these species. I decided to walk the network of gravel trails through the fields, seeing many of the characteristic breeders of this habitat, including Whinchat (Tarier des pres)...

... Reed Bunting (Bruant des roseaux)...

and some smart 'Blue-headed' Yellow Wagtails (Bergeronnette printaniere).

These birds definitely appeared to have a paler head pattern to birds I saw in Aude last month.

Over the course of the afternoon, I heard a total of 5 or 6 Corncrakes calling with differing degrees of enthusiasm. I followed up on one of the more regularly calling birds, and almost jumped out of my skin when one started up surely just a few metres from the path. I froze, peering intently into the vegetation, but despite its proximity I couldn't get on the bird. I decided to retreat a little and sit on the path in the remote hope that the bird would appear (I had several hours to kill after all). Time ticked by, the bird continued calling on and off, and I started to frazzle in the hot afternoon sun.... but suddenly, there it was, a stonking Corncrake in the middle of the path! As always, I had the camera in hand, and managed to get a single shot before the bird charged into the vegetation opposite. Yippee!

After such unexpected success, I decided to start the long hike back to Angers. Just ahead of me, another bird ran out onto the path, but after a moment of irrational panic realised it was 'just' a Skylark (Alouette des champs).

I heard and saw several glimpses of Kingfisher (Martin-pecheur) along the river, but none posed out in the open for a photo - evidently harder to photograph than Corncrake :-)

Having finished up so early, I had time for a spot of tourism around Angers.

Clouds of shrieking Common Swifts (Martinet noir) were nesting in the castle.

I'd envisaged tucking into a tin of manky tuna salad sitting in a field that evening, but decided to celebrate the day's success with chocolate and cointreau ice cream crepe instead.

The price I paid for my Corncrake vigil was a horribly sunburnt neck setting off my binocular strap-mark nicely.... much to the amusement of my co-workers. Ils sont fous, les ornithos!

Stag fight!

It turns out the male Stag Beetle I saw close to my flat recently was no fluke - on a particularly warm and humid night I discovered a laurel bush literally crawling with them, and several males fighting it out on the adjacent pavement.

And the winner is...

This wee chappie wisely decides to run away.

As you can see, some of the males were pretty hefty.

Here's what they're all fighting for. Her mandibles may be smaller, but she's more likely to give you a nip if you get too close...

Scarce local birds, orchids and insects

A couple of walks around my local patches proved fruitful last week. Marsh Warbler (Rousserolle verderolle) has returned to the same spot in the Coupieres Basin as last year, the only spot I know of to find them locally.

In the fields bordering the Bois de la Hacquiniere, a found my first Cirl Bunting (Bruant zizi) for the area, a singing male. Sadly I only had my bins with me, so this shot hardly does the bird justice.

Another surprise here was a pair of Hawfinches (Grosbec casse-noyaux), a tricky bird to find at this time of year.

In the woods I found this sorry-looking Twayblade.

This territorial Red Admiral took a liking to my rather sweaty hands.

On campus, many orchid species are in flower, including the abundant Bee Orchid...

... a few Lizard and Pyramidal Orchids...

... and a single Heath(?) Spotted Orchid.

After the lousy weather in May, we're just starting to see good numbers of damselflies (Azure Damselfly and Common Bluetail pictured here).

Banding for dummies (Baguage pour les nuls)

When I received an email about the possibility of joining a bird banding/ringing session on the campus last Sunday, I jumped at the chance... I was somewhat less excited when I heard about the 5am rendezvous!

CRBPO ringer Fabien Martayen and his brother had got up even earlier to set up the 11 nets beforehand. Myself and another couple of newbies watched and learned during the first two rounds, and later on, got to try out many of the tasks ourselves. I didn't do too badly at extracting the birds from the nets, though my knot-tying skills leave much to be desired! Needless to say I was fairly trigger-happy with the camera, so here are a selection of photos of the 15 species we bagged.

The first step is to remove the birds from the nets (Dunnock/accenteur mouchet pictured here).

We usually started with the feet, then the wings, and technically the net should then just slip over the bird's head. This young Winter Wren (Troglodyte mignon) managed to get into a tangle.

The bird (young Robin/Rougegorge) is then fitted with an appropriate-sized ring and its species (first three letters of the scientific names, so that Robin = ERIRUB and so on) noted in the log book.

As far as possible, the bird is aged and sexed: the extensive yellow on the face of this Blue Tit (Mesange bleue) clearly mark it out as a 1st year bird.

In other cases the distinction is more subtle: here are an adult female (foreground) and young Blackcap (Fauvette a tete noire). The female's crown is a touch more rufous, and contrasts more with the greyish tones of the body than the drabber young bird.

I was surprised at just how much bare skin is revealed on the birds by simply blowing the feathers aside - this often enables determination of the sex (all depends on the size of your cloaca!), fat reserves and breeding condition - this female Blackcap shows an extensive brood patch.

The wing length is noted (Bullfinch/Bouvreuil pivoine)...

... and the bird is weighed. For small birds this is done by placing the bird head-first into a cardboard cone, but larger birds such as this Blackbird (Merle noir) are cradled in a piece of cloth.

Identifying birds in the hand seems an entirely different ball-game to field ID. For example, Willow Warbler (Pouillot fitis, pictured here) was obviously bigger and bulkier in the hand than Chiffchaff (Pouillot veloce).

Another difference between the two is the number of flight feathers showing 'bumps' along their outer edge: five for Willow (FITIS=5 letters)...

... and six on Chiffchaff (VELOCE=6).

The highlight for me was extracting a Melodious Warbler (Hypolais polyglotte) from the net and enjoying some close-up views.

Note the short primary projection!

Garden Warbler (Fauvette des jardins) and Whitethroat (Fauvette grisette) completed the warbler line-up.

Bullfinch vying for most attractive catch of the day.

While most of the birds remained remarkably calm during the handling process, there were some exceptions. It seems size is inversely proportional to viciousness, and this Marsh Tit (Mesange nonnette) repeatedly tried to take chunks out of our fingers!

This Song Thrush (Grive musicienne) had a hissy fit when I tried to handle it, projectile-pooping over the net and my hands - nice!

This isn't a bizarre photo of the conga, we're just trying to avoid the shoulder-high stinging nettles!

I learned a lot over the course of the morning (thanks so much, Fabien), and hope I'll get another opportunity to try this again soon.

Saint-Quentin soiree

I recently joined Thierry Fournet for some late afternoon birding around Saint Quentin en Yvelines. Spring migration seems to have trickled to a halt (though one Black Tern/Guifette noire was lingering), and nesting has begun in earnest, with the first young Black-headed Gulls (Mouette rieuse) and a tiny humbug of a Black-necked Grebe (Grebe a cou noir) chick making an appearance. No chicks yet for the local Little Ringed Plovers (Petit Gravelot)...

Marsh Warbler (Rousserolle verderolle) and Turtle Dove (Tourterelle des bois) are back in, and a male of the latter species gave great views as he purred and preened in the evening sunlight.

This pair of Garganey (Sarcelle d'ete) were inseparable during their brief visit.

A good number of Common Teal (Sarcelle d'hiver) were also hanging around - will they breed?

Yellow-legged Gull (Goeland leucophee) and rabbit.

A big surprise was the appearance of a group of Wild Boar, about as good a view as I've had of this species.

Fox meets boar (and runs away shortly after).

In the last of the daylight we visited the Toussus Aerodrome for a chorus of singing Quail (Caille des bles), Grey Partridge (Perdrix grise) and Corn Buntings (Bruant proyer), while a Long-eared Owl (Hibou moyen-duc) hunted in the distance. To cap off an excellent evening for mammals, a Beech Martin sat in the road in front of us for a good few minutes before disappearing into the fields.

Stag night

This beast jumped out at me on my way home - impressionnant!