October 26, 2007
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!
