A Brit abroad

Brittany trip part 3 - Ouessant scenery

Even without the birds, Ouessant is one of my favourite places in France for its wild clifftop scenery (not to mention the beers and crepes!). Sunrise while waiting for a Dusky Warbler to show.

The bustling metropolis of Lampaul

The iconic Phare de Creach by land...

... by sea...

... and by night.

View across the bay to Lampaul

Porz Doun

View from Cape Kadoran

Porz Arland

Looking east from Creach

The sun goes down over Lampaul...

... before setting at Creach.

Brittany trip part 2 - Ouessant birds

Since we were over in western Brittany, it seemed rude not to hop over to Ouessant for a couple of days. A lone Great Skua (Grande Labbe) was the most interesting bird on the ferry crossing, plus the usual Gannets (Fou de bassan).

Just like last year, the weather was gorgeous, which meant that just like last year, there were very few rare birds present, and indeed, the most unusual species present was - as last year - Dusky Warbler (Pouillot brun)! The skulker never came out into the open for more than a couple of seconds - if you look really hard into the middle of this picture you may be able to make out its eye and supercilium...

I never tire of seeing the Choughs (Crave a bec rouge) here.

As on the mainland, Siskins were absolutely everywhere, inlcuding several flocks feeding on the short grass around the clifftops.

The typical rocky coastline birds were present, including Great Black-backed Gull (Goeland marin) and Curlew (Courlis cendre).

Ruddy Turnstones (Tournepierre a collier) were well-camouflaged as the fed in the kelp.

This distant Purple Sandpiper (Becasseau violet) was another overdue French tick.

Oyks (Huitrier pie) in flight.

Many Marsh Harriers (Busard des roseaux) were patrolling the island, and a couple of aerial clashes were observed.

Marsh Harrier being mobbed by Meadow Pipits (Pipit farlouse) against the backdrop of the Phare du Stiff.

Britanny trip part 1: Primel

To celebrate my lab-mate Agnes' birthday, 5 of us headed out to Primel in NW Brittany, a coastal town with a headland that just screams 'migrants!'.

We got up at dawn to watch the spectacular sunrise; I left the 'real' men to their fishing to look for migrants.

There had clearly been a large arrival of thrushes; many Song Thrush (Grive musicienne) and dozens of Redwings (Grive mauvis) were present with Blackbirds (Merle noir) and a few Mistle Thrush (Grive draine), the latter two species presumably a mixture of locals and migrants.

2 or 3 Wheatears (Traquet motteux) were also present.

Several small groups of Siskins (Tarin des aulnes) were flying around the point and in town, but a lone flyover Hawfinch (Grosbec casse-noyaux) was the real surprise. Oodles of Rock and Meadow Pipits (Pipits maritime et farlouse) were feeding on the headland, but try as I might, I couldn't pick out a Buff-bellied...

The bounty of passerines attracted this hungry Merlin (Faucon emerillon).

Other resident passerines out enjoying the sunshine included Dunnock (Accenteur mouchet) and Fan-tailed Warbler (Cisticole des joncs).

On the ocean itself, Gannets (Fou de bassan) were streaming past with smaller numbers of Common and Sandwich Terns (Sternes pierregarin et caugek). Several Shag (Cormoran huppe) and Med Gulls (Mouette melanocephale) frequented the calmer waters of the harbour. Brent Goose (Bernache cravant) filled one of the most glaring gaps in my French list (Short-eared and Little Owls, plus Bluethroat are the other obvious omissions). The rocky shoreline allowed some close encounters with Herring Gulls (Goeland argente), Oystercatchers (Huitrier pie) and Little Egrets (Aigrette garzette).

Our humble abode for the weekend.

Agnes pops the champagne a little prematurely, as the England rugby squad go on to thrash France in a gripping semi final!

morning migration and maladies

For a couple of weeks now mornings in Orsay have dawned crisp and sunny, just perfect weather for getting out and about. Unfortunately for me, I've been working non-stop writing a research grant, preparing for a job interview (in bonny Scotland) and to top it all off, I was diagnosed with tonsillitis a few days ago! French doctors don't leave things to chance, and I had a veritable shopping spree in the local pharmacy. All this for a sore throat!

In my carefree days a couple of weeks ago, I recorded the first Redwings (Grive mauvis) of the fall, while Coal Tits (Mesange noire - mostly a winter visitor locally) and Chaffinches (Pinson des arbres) increased in number on campus. Robins (Rougegorge familier) are ubiquitous.

Visible migration was in full swing on the plateau: lots of Skylarks (Alouette des champs), a smattering of Woodlarks (Alouette lulu), all three wagtails, the odd Yellowhammer (Bruant jaune)...

... and hordes of Meadow Pipits (Pipit farlouse)...

... amongst which were a good few Tree Pipits (Pipit des arbres).

Abundant finch flocks contained the odd Siskin (Tarin des aulnes), but only Greenfinch (Verdier) and Goldfinch (Chardonneret) posed for the camera.

Blue Tits (Mesange bleue) and blue sky.

The resident Marsh Tits (Mesange nonnette) have been making the most of windfall crab apples.

All four woodpeckers have been active and vocal recently. This Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pic epeiche) sat in the same treetop for about 10 minutes, making the most of the early morning sun.

This Grey Heron (Heron cendre) has been regularly visiting a pond on campus towards sunset.

Coming soon: tart's ticks and siskins galore in Brittany.

More camera practice

Some random wildlife from a wander around Orsay. Mmmm, blackberries.

Wall Lizards - 2 differently-coloured adults (is this an age or sex difference?) and a tiny youngster.

Half-eaten Speckled Wood

Mustelid sp - Stoat or Weasel?

Here be dragons

The clear skies and sunshine have resulted in a resurgence of dragonfly activity locally, after a poor summer season. This Common Darter had seen better days.

A Southern Hawker was surprisingly difficult to detect against the autumn leaves.

The new camera allowed me to get an (albeit blurry) flight shot of a patrolling male Migrant Hawker.

Face to face.

I spotted this pair ovipositing...

... just before they were spooked by a carp, and took shelter in some nearby reeds.

New toy!

Digiscoping works a treat for photographing large, distant, or perched birds, but for fast-moving passerines or flying birds it's pretty much impossible. Digital SLRs are ideal for this, but if one is already lugging around a scope and tripod, the addtional weight and bulk is too much for me (plus they're waaaay out of my price range). However, there is a third way:

A new generation of compact cameras with 12x zooms and image stabilisation at relatively cheap prices was sorely tempting, and with the prospect of another work trip to New Caledonia looming (yippee!), I took the plunge. I'm still learning the ropes with this camera (the manual's in French!), but so far, the results in bright sunlight have been pleasing...

... while motion blur seems to be problematic in low light.

More to follow soon!

Storks and stuff

I headed down south this weekend in the hope of escaping the endless Parisian rain. The first surprise of the journey was 2 White Storks (Cigogne blanche) in a field, barely 15 minutes outside of Gare de Lyon - a TGV tick! Unfortunately the bad weather followed me down, culminating in a huge rainstorm and a sleepless Saturday night. Sunday dawned cloudy but dry, so I headed down to the Camargue. The best bird of the day was seen before we even reached the Etang de Vaccares - a migrating Black Stork (Cigogne noire).

The rain held off but it was extremely windy, so I didn't waste too much time searching for the Lanner which had been reported loafing around pylons at Le Grenouillet. Grilling the shorebirds at the Baisse de 500 Francs yielded a few Curlew Sands (Becasseau cocorli) and Little Stints (Becasseau minute).

The most numerous birds were probably Kentish Plovers (Gravelot a collier interrompu)...

... followed by Ringed Plovers (Grand Gravelot) and Dunlin (Becasseau variable), many of which were still retaining a vestige of breeding plumage.

A brief seawatch from the Plage de Piemanson produced several Gannets (Fou de bassan) and several Sandwich Terns (Sterne caugek) came into bathe. Unfortunately, I didn't find out about the 2 Pectoral Sandpipers about 10km from this site until I got home that evening. Oh well...

In the afternoon I birded a couple of sites around the Crau, but found few birds. At Mas Chauvet, 5 Northern Wheatears (Traquet motteux) and 2 Whinchats (Tarier des pres) were the only signs of passerine activity.

Mewing Common Buzzard (Buse variable) digibinned through the car window.