April 29, 2008
Herons galore at the Etang de Scamandre
Last weekend I paid my first visit to the Centre de Scamandre, an excellent (and free to enter) nature reserve at the south end of the Etang de Scamandre. It has recently come into the spotlight for hosting a growing breeding colony of Glossy Ibis (Ibis falcinelle), formerly a scarce nonbreeding visitor to the Mediterranean coast. The buildings aroung the visitor centre have breeding Tree Sparrows (Moineau friquet), and I was entertained by a pair of Hoopoe (Huppe fasciee) chasing each other around the rooftops.
Several dragonflies of the Gomphus persuasion were out and about, but I didn't have my field guide with me and am not sure the angle of this photo allows the ID to be clinched.
A Purple Heron (Heron pourpre) glowed in the bright sunlight as it flew past.
Halfway around the trail I began to hear the chatter of a heronry, which from the footpath appeared to be dominated by Cattle Egrets (Heron gardeboeufs)...
... with smaller numbers of Little Egret (Aigrette garzette).
The viewing platform nearby was a good vantage point for watching birds commuting to the colony, and I soon glimpsed the first of several Glossy Ibis...
... a single Night Heron (Bihoreau gris)...
... and a Brucie bonus flyover Caspian Tern (Sterne caspienne).
On the road running north to Gallician, I added Great White Egret (Grande Aigrette), Squacco Heron (Crabier chevelu) and a booming Bittern (Butor etoile) to the heron list. Lots of Grey Herons (Heron cendre) were feeding at the edge of the road. I surprised this bird as it was trying to digest an eel.
It flew to a safe distance, only for a second bird to fly in and attempt to steal its catch.
