April 30, 2008
Camargue, Crau and Narbonne whistle-stop tour
Following a productive morning at the Etang de Scamandre, I went looking around the flooded rice fields in the Camargue. Many were devoid of birds, but those with the right water levels were teeming with gulls terns and waders (mostly Wood Sandpipers, chevalier sylvain). Mediterranean Gulls (Mouette melanocephale) were abundant and noisy.
Among them were a couple of Gull-billed Terns (Sterne hansel) - the answer to the recent 'quiz tern' entry.
Whiskered Terns (Guifette moustac) performed aerial acrobatics.
In the mid-afternoon heat a search for Spectacled Warbler at the Salin de Giraud was unsurprisingly fruitless, but I did come across about 40 Little Stints (Becasseau minute) feeding with the Kentish Plovers (Gravelot a collier interrompu).
A drive to Mas Chauvet (the wintering site for Richard's Pipits) yielded flight views of a Little Bustard (Outarde canepetiere), though the now howling wind made it impossible to hear my target Calandra Lark. 5 Wheatears (Traquet motteux) were sitting close together in the adjacent rocky plaine.
Last stop of the day was the Peau de Meau reserve, where a couple of Southern Grey Shrikes (Pie grieche meriodionale) were perched prominently.
Believe it or not, the big orange 'rock' in the centre of this photo is a male Lesser Kestrel (Faucon crecerellette).
The next morning was spent birding around Gruissan, unfortunately still in howling wind. In a sheltered spot on the hillside I got excellent views of a Tawny Pipit (Pipit rousseline).
Greater Flamingo (Flamant rose) flock with the impressive Narbonne cathedral in the background.
Pissevaches was pretty quiet save for oodles of Yellow Wagtails (Bergeronnette printaniere), a large flock of Sandwich Terns (Sterne caugek), 2 Little Terns(Sterne naine) and 5 Slender-billed Gulls (Goeland railleur).
An attempt to scan the beach for Audouin's Gull was aborted when I realised it was a nudist beach (shudder).
En route to Carcassonne airport, the viewpoint over the old citadel yielded a confiding White Wagtail (Bergeronnette grise).
Carcassonne from land...
... and from the air.
