June 15, 2007
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!
