Wed 29 Apr 2009
I drove over to David Lovegrove’s house, where Steve Cload was due to pick us up at 8.00pm. David was very excited, I think he had been ready and eager to go since the morning. Once all our gear was safely loaded into Steve’s car we made our way over to Cholsey to pick up Alan Strachan.
An uneventful drive down to Portsmouth to catch the 11.00pm Brittany Ferry sailing to Ouistreham on the Mont St Michel. We stayed on deck as we sailed out of port, but it was very cold and we soon adjourned to the restaurant for cups of tea (and a meal for Steve). Our cabin soon beckoned as we all wanted a good night’s rest before the early morning start. Unfortunately, even though the cabin was very comfortable and it was a very calm crossing, none of us had a really good night as the vibration from the engine was very disturbing.
Thu 30 Apr 2009
An early rise for breakfast of croissants and tea, and then back to the car ready for the off.
The ferry docked in Ouistreham at 6.30am (5.30am BST) and we were soon on our way to the Beaugillot Nature Reserve in Normandy (at Utah Beach) via Caen and Bayeaux. An excellent start to the birding and a few species of note were cuckoo (calling from a nearby tree), yellow wagtail, marsh and hen harriers. A coypu was seen from the first hide. It was not long before we had our first new tick with a zitting cisticola (aka fan-tailed warbler). Distinctive behaviour from this bird was the repeated “zit” call in display flight. We scanned the beach looking for Kentish plovers, but without success.
A short drive back to Pont D’Ouves, a reserve near St. Côme-du-Mont with a nice visitor centre (that was not quite finished). On entering the reserve our first bird was a white wagtail. We were to see many white wagtails over the next four days, but no plain vanilla pied wagtails. A white stork in a nest with three chicks was the next new species for me.
Walking around the reserve we came across the warden who explained to us where to find the bluethroats (there were three pairs on the reserve apparently). We had to wait till 1.30pm before the gate to that part of the reserve was opened. Although we had a good hunt we did not manage to locate any bluethroats. It also began to rain on us at this stage.
The weather was still rather grey as we began the long journey south to Champs d’Oeuf. A brief stop at a supermarket in Argentan to get provisions broke up the journey. An overflying stone-curlew spotted by Steve just north of Tours was a good addition to the list. The roads were very clear and we made good time, arriving at our destination as predicted at 7.00pm. Sue was outside to greet us and we arranged for dinner at eight, giving us time to shower and settle in our rooms (picked by drawing straws). We dined with Sue and Chris in their house (as we were to do every night).
Fri 1 May 2009
An early morning walk by Steve & I around the lanes of Champ d’Oeuf produced several good sightings including black redstart and turtle dove (within 20m of our gîte), and the nightingale which had sung throughout the night. No sign of any little bustards though. As we were preparing to set off, Alan and I saw a pair of birds flying over that we could not identify. After a quick look in the Bird Guide it was decided they could possibly have been stone curlew.
The drive to La Maison de Nature at Cherine began as soon as we had had breakfast, but took longer than expected as we kept stopping to look at birds en-route e.g. spotted flycatcher on telephone wire and black terns at one of the etangs (man-made lakes). A small white tailed bird of prey flew across the road in front of us and into some woodland which we could not identify. We met Tony Williams (as planned) in the car park of La Maison de Nature and asked him about this bird. He suggested short-toed eagle. This was possible, but I was not convinced (could it have been a goshawk?).
Tony let us into the hide (reserve was not yet open) and, whilst we viewed the lake, briefed David on the birds about and where best to see them. He then very generously took us back to his office and gave us all a coffee. Notable birds seen here – black-winged stilt, black kite, melodious warbler and gadwall. Sadly no sign of the little bittern.
We moved on to Etang Ricot where we walked along a track with views over the lake from a couple of hides. Cirl bunting was soon found in the hedgerow, before we got to the first hide. A brief glimpse of an over flying purple heron and then even better, a night heron. The lake produced black-winged stilt, cattle egret, great white egret, black tern, redshank and spotted redshank amongst others.
After a fantastic hour or two’s birding we had just got back to the car and loaded our 'scopes into the boot when we saw a bird of prey. I watched it in binoculars as it stooped - diving rapidly with half folded wings with its feet extended forward. We located it in the top of a tree and viewed it in Steve's 'scope and decided it was a buzzard. After the trip I had misgivings about this ID and did some reading up. Various bird books I have say that the booted eagle stoops like this to catch its prey. Collins Bird Guide also says that it is similar in size and shape to a buzzard, and hunts with a spectacular stoop. I can't find any references to buzzards doing this, nor can I recall ever seeing a buzzard do this. Guide books show that a perched booted eagle can look very similar to a buzzard, especially as they are so similar in size, but the stoop clinched it as a booted eagle for me. After presenting these facts to all the others it was generally accepted that this was in fact a booted eagle and not a buzzard.
We moved on and arrived at another etang with a camp site and with the hope of finding some lunch (but without success). We saw two or three lizards sunning themselves near the lake, and in the trees adjacent to the camp site we heard a bird singing which Steve called as a wood warbler. I was not convinced (though the call was similar to the opening phrase of a wood warbler’s song). We managed to find the bird and Steve was still happy with his ID, but I did not think it looked right for a wood warbler (no yellow, or white belly). After mulling it over for a while I went back to the car and dug out my Bird Guide. Looking through it with Steve I came to the conclusion it was a Bonelli’s warbler. We all then went to try and locate the bird again, which was still singing from the same area. We eventually found it and all had a good look at it. We were all happy with the ID of Bonelli’s warbler, or to be more specific Western Bonelli’s warbler.
Moving on we drove through the Foret de Lancosme on what was little more than a forestry track. We left the car for an exploration of the woods. Steve found a crested tit which we were watching as it sat with a beak full of nesting material when Steve caught sight of a yellow bird flying overhead. It was a golden oriole, but we all only got a brief glimpse of it.
We moved on to the small chapel of St. Sulpice, another location within the forest. We heard what sounded like a large woodpecker drumming in the distance. We tried to summon it closer by attempting to mimic the drumming sound by beating sticks on a tree trunk – it didn’t work! A flower growing in profusion on the forest floor was identified on our return as St. Bernard’s Lilly. Another golden oriole was heard, and we split up as we all tried to locate it. We all thought we got close to the bird, but none of us actually saw it. Willow warbler and wood warbler were heard as well.
After our evening meal with Sue and Chris we went for a quick dusk walk around Champ d’Oeuf. The nightingale was singing, as were marsh frogs in the ditches. A little owl was spotted on a telephone wire.
Sat 2 May 2009
Another short early morning walk around Champ d’Oeuf produced tree pipit, turtle dove, yellow wagtail and a singing yellowhammer. In the trees/shrubs next to our gîte a melodious warbler was found. The song is very much like a common whitethroat, but continuous rather than just the short song of the former.
The first destination this morning was the supermarket in Leblanc to get provisions. A redstart was added to the list whilst we were waiting for the supermarket to open (at 9.30am). Whilst Alan and I were still inside, David and Steve met with Tony Williams. He had some exciting information to pass on – dotterel in a field near Champ d’Oeuf. So as soon as we had returned with the groceries we were off looking for the field Tony had indicated.
As we were searching in the car for the field an excited cry from David of “Stop!” rang out. He had spotted a Montagu’s harrier. It was a magnificent sight as it floated effortlessly in the spring sunshine. We moved on and found the field described by Tony. We scanned the bare earth of the field with binoculars for ages but could not find any sign of the dotterel. David decided to walk along the edge of the field, believing they would be found in the far corner. A satnav equipped car with French plates pulled up and its occupants had a quick look across the field before driving off (French birdwatchers – a rare species, or maybe they had rifles!). While David was away making his search we all got our ‘scopes out to give the ground a closer examination. Steve soon announced “I think I’ve got a dotterel”. Indeed he had, and between us we located seven of them, around 150m away. They seemed very nervous as they kept crouching down very low to the ground, possibly our presence or that of the nearby Montagu’s harrier. Whilst we were watching them we could hear quail calling from the oil-seed rape crop on the other side of the road. There was also a yellow wagtail perched in the crop and a corn bunting singing nearby. An idyllic scene in the warm sunshine.
The Montagu’s harrier approached fairly close to the dotterel and suddenly they had taken flight. We immediately saw that there were in fact eight of them. They circled around, getting higher and higher, and eventually set off in a northerly direction to continue their migration. Possibly next stop for them Bury Down in Berkshire.
The rest of the morning was spent exploring around the lanes and lakes. We had a brief glimpse of a flying hoopoe and a golden oriole was heard. Purple heron, black kite and hobby were also seen, and a reed warbler right in front of a hide at another lake. Nightingales singing from every other bush, it seemed.
After returning to the gîte, the afternoon was spent with a walk around the lanes of Champ d’Oeuf. Two male Montagu’s harriers were found around a crop of oil-seed rape. Steve found a crested lark on the roof of a farm house and David located a whinchat on a telephone wire. We all were checking across the fields for stone-curlew and little bustard. No success with little bustard, but I found two stone-curlew at the edge of a bare freshly tilled field.
Sue and Chris had extra guests who dined with us for this evening’s meal – a group of trainee doctors who had recently taken their final examinations.
Sun 3 May 2009
Off to Neons-sur-Creuse today in expectation of seeing the bee-eaters. As had become the norm, we stopped at several locations en route in search of more birds. At one small lake we found greenshank and common sandpiper, and Steve found another stone curlew in the bare earth of the field behind the lake. Nightingale were heard wherever we stopped, and melodious warbler and Cetti’s were also heard.
No luck with the bee-eaters at Neons-sur-Creuse (we were a week or so too early), but we did hear a golden oriole and get occasional sightings of it as it patrolled up and down the river marking out its territory and singing from the tops of poplar trees. A grasshopper warbler was also heard.
Travelling back to Brenne we stopped off at Etang de la Mer Rouge, and almost as soon as we were out of the car Steve spotted a bird which we never actually managed to identify before it flew off. A woodchat shrike was considered as the ID but eventually discounted as the bird was much too small. Within seconds of this bird disappearing Steve had found a red-backed shrike though. We hang around for ages watching this bird, and Steve took several pictures as it very obliging posed in the top of a large shrub for several minutes. A cirl bunting also put in an appearance here.
Another small lake produced red-crested pochard and a hoopoe (which was only seen by David). A female broad-bodied chaser dragonfly also posed nicely for a photograph.
Moving on to another large lake (again I can not remember which one) we watched a purple heron eat a very large frog and saw many whiskered terns. Another location and another unidentified bird of prey – was it a booted eagle, honey buzzard or black kite?
After a drive through the Foret de Lancosme on a rough forestry road we stopped for another exploration in the woods. Alan was the first to get a brief sighting of a black woodpecker as it flew across the path. David and Alan had another brief view and we all heard it calling. Eventually we all managed to get a fleeting view of this bird as it perched at the edge of a forest ride before it flew off into the woods.
Mon 4 May 2009
A very early start today as we wanted to get away by 6.30am for our journey north so that we could get some more bird watching done around the Caen area. We left on schedule and our first stop was in Châtellerault to fill up with fuel and check the tyre pressures (one of the tyres was slowly losing pressure, but Steve had not known about this until just before we began our trip). Then on to the A10 toll motorway heading north. We saw our first rook of the trip; up to this time we had seen lots of crows but no rooks. A stop for a sandwich and coffee at a motorway service area around mid-day was the only break in the journey.
En-route we debated where we would go for the final session of bird watching. We decided on an area near Putot-en-Auge to the east of Caen. Sadly there was not much of note about, best was a little egret and a grasshopper warbler (heard only). So we moved on to Cabourg and eventually found a spot on the sea front from where we had a walk along the beach. A black redstart was seen on the roof of some flats and there were lots of whimbrel on the sandy banks of the River Dives.
We moved on along the coast towards Caen and stopped again for another short walk near Sword Beach. Oyster catcher, shelduck, zitting cisticola and turtle dove were seen by all. David found a curlew and Steve a Brent goose.
Crossing the river over Pegasus Bridge, we continued on to Ouistreham to await the ferry crossing. Our vessel for the return was the Normandie. We stayed on deck for some time, but the only birds seen on the crossing were gannets. When it became to cold to bear any longer we decided to go to the restaurant to have an evening meal. The rest of the crossing was spent looking around the onboard shops, snoozing and completing the newspaper crossword (I can’t remember which one, but it was not the Telegraph).
We docked in Portsmouth on schedule at 10.00pm. Passport checks took much longer getting back into the UK than when we arrived in France, but once through our journey back home was uneventful (apart from the wally in the white van who tried to side swipe us as we joined the M275 from the ferry port).
The Bird List
| Mute Swan | Canada Goose | Brent Goose |
| Shelduck | Wigeon | Gadwall |
| Teal | Mallard | Garganey |
| Shoveler | Red-crested Pochard | Pochard |
| Tufted Duck | Red-legged Partridge | Quail (h) |
| Pheasant | Little Grebe | Great Crested Grebe |
| Black-necked Grebe | Gannet | Cormorant |
| Night-heron | Cattle Egret | Little Egret |
| Great White Egret | Grey Heron | Purple Heron |
| White Stork | Honey-buzzard (?) | Black Kite |
| Short-toed Eagle | Booted Eagle | Marsh Harrier |
| Hen Harrier | Montagu's Harrier | Sparrowhawk |
| Buzzard | Kestrel | Hobby |
| Moorhen | Coot | Oystercatcher |
| Black-winged Stilt | Stone-curlew | Little Ringed Plover |
| Ringed Plover | Dotterel | Lapwing |
| Sanderling | Dunlin | Black-tailed Godwit |
| Whimbrel | Curlew | Common Sandpiper |
| Spotted Redshank | Greenshank | Redshank |
| Black-headed Gull | Common Gull | Lesser Black-backed Gull |
| Herring Gull | Great Black-backed Gull | Whiskered Tern |
| Black Tern | Common Tern | Feral Pigeon |
| Woodpigeon | Collared Dove | Turtle Dove |
| Cuckoo | Little Owl | Swift |
| Kingfisher | Hoopoe | Black Woodpecker |
| Green Woodpecker | Great Spotted Woodpecker | Crested Lark |
| Skylark | Sand Martin | Swallow |
| House Martin | Tree Pipit | Meadow Pipit |
| Yellow Wagtail | White Wagtail | Wren |
| Dunnock | Robin | Nightingale |
| Black Redstart | Redstart | Whinchat |
| Stonechat | Wheatear | Blackbird |
| Song Thrush (h) | Mistle Thrush | Cetti's Warbler (h) |
| Fan-tailed Warbler | Grasshopper Warbler (h) | Sedge Warbler |
| Reed Warbler | Melodious Warbler | Blackcap |
| Garden Warbler (h) | Whitethroat | Western Bonelli's Warbler |
| Wood Warbler (h) | Chiffchaff (h) | Willow Warbler (h) |
| Goldcrest | Spotted Flycatcher | Long-tailed Tit |
| Blue Tit | Great Tit | Crested Tit |
| Marsh Tit | Nuthatch | Treecreeper |
| Golden Oriole | Red-backed Shrike | Jay |
| Magpie | Jackdaw | Rook |
| Carrion Crow | Starling | House Sparrow |
| Chaffinch | Greenfinch | Goldfinch |
| Linnet | Yellowhammer | Cirl Bunting |
| Reed Bunting | Corn Bunting | |
| Total 137 | (h) heard only |
Insect List
| Orange Tip | Brimstone | Wood White |
| Large White | Small White | Green Veined White |
| Green Hairstreak | Holly Blue | Painted Lady |
| Speckled Wood | Dingy Skipper | Grizzled Skipper |
| Small Copper | Sooty Copper | Brown Argus |
| Red Admiral | Small Tortoiseshell | Peacock |
| Wall | Scarce Swallowtail | |
| Burnet Companion moth | ||
| Broad Bodied Chaser |
Flowers we noted
| Early Purple Orchid | ||
| Western Marsh Orchid | ||
| St. Bernard’s Lilly |
