(or Three go off to France to escape the royal wedding)
Thu 28th April 2011
David, Steve and I decided to take the opportunity of the royal wedding/May day bank holidays to get in a few days bird watching in Brittany (and of course avoid the wall-to-wall coverage on every TV, radio and newspaper of the event). So Thursday evening found us waiting at Portsmouth for the 20.15 sailing of the Bretagne to St. Malo. Once on board we headed for the restaurant for a cup of tea and a snack, then went out on deck to watch as we sailed out of port. A relaxing pint in the lounge bar before heading to our cabin to turn-in.
Fri 29th April 2011
The ferry docked at 08:15 local time and we were soon on our way south. Our first destination was the Forêt de Rennes where we hoped to find various species of woodpecker. Nothing much seen en-route other than woodpigeon, starling and house martin. It took little more than an hour to get to our chosen spot in the forest – a point on the D528 where several tracks converge.
As we wandered through the woods birds were heard, but as is usually the case in woodland, they were difficult to see. I thought I heard and glimpsed a willow tit, but I was not confident enough to claim it as a definite. A tree pipit was seen well as it delivered its song from a dead branch high up in a pine tree. Cuckoo were heard in the distance but the only woodpeckers heard were green and great spotted. A treecreeper was seen as we neared the car. Although the song sounded like Eurasian, the distribution maps show that it is short-toed that are present in Brittany. As both species are known to be able to do the other’s songs we were unable to say for sure which flavour this was.
Moving on, we travelled west on the N24 to the Forêt de Paimpont, where, after an exploratory drive on the minor roads in the forest, we stopped by the Étang du Pas du Houx. A white wagtail was on the road in front of us. As we scanned the water a bird of prey was spotted over the trees on the far side of the lake. It immediately stooped and disappeared behind the trees. Within seconds it re-appeared along with a second bird, being mobbed by crows. Our first booted eagles for the trip.
Still beside the car, we heard what sounded like a firecrest in the top of a pine tree. We only managed to get brief glimpses of the bird in the dense foliage so could not confirm this. In an adjacent tree a family of tits were calling. We think these were either marsh or willow tits, but again they did not show well enough to be certain. Oh to be a more skilled birder!
We walked eastwards along a track (part of the GR37) past the southern edge of the lake and into the forest. Species added to our list included grey wagtail, nuthatch and jay. Crested tit were again seen well, and pochard were present on the lake when we returned to the car.
We stopped for sandwiches at Brocéliande services on the N24 as we continued south to our next destination, Marais de Pen en Toul near Larmor-Baden on the Golfe du Morbihan. 
This is an area of old saltpans that is now managed as a nature reserve. Access is not permitted during the breeding season, but it can be viewed from the entrance and the road.
A good selection of birds seen here, including common tern, little egret, grey heron, cormorant, lesser and greater black-backed gulls, whinchat and stonechat. The common terns approached very close as we viewed from a wooden footway. A walk in nearby woodland produced nuthatch, long-tailed tit and more crested tit.
After a long day travelling and birding we headed for our B&B in Arradon, where we were greeted by Catherine Sadek, one of the owners. Just time to dump all our gear in our rooms and have a quick shower before walking the short distance to the restaurant that David had booked for our evening meal (L’Auberge d’Arradon). And a very nice meal it was too.
Sat 30 Apr 2011
Breakfast at 8.00am, served by Richard Sadek, our host. A traditional French affair of croissant, bread, jams, yoghurt and tea/coffee. No time to hang about as we wanted to get away as soon as possible to the La Grande Brière, a journey of 75km.
Our first port of call was Île de Fédrun. This turned out to be a bad choice as there was nowhere that we could walk, only trips on punts, which none of us were keen on. So we drove back a short distance through St. Joachim to get a better view of some sacred ibis we had passed earlier. Black-winged stilt, lapwing, marsh harrier, little egret, and grey wagtail were also seen here as we scanned over the marsh from the side of the road.
With traffic speeding past, our viewing point did not feel very safe, so we moved on to 
our next destination, Rozé. This turned out to be a very productive area. Serin were in the top of a pine tree in a garden next to our parking spot. We crossed the canal and began the walk to the hide. Scanning over a field with a few cattle, song and mistle thrush were found, and white stork could be seen circling high in the distance. Suddenly Steve called out that he had found a bluethroat. Woohoo! It was perched on a fence post about 50m away. A first for all of us.
Our exploration of this site produced over 50 species, notably zitting
cisticola, turtle dove, cetti’s, marsh harrier, white stork, yellow wagtail, black and whiskered tern, sacred ibis, cattle and great white egret, bar-headed goose, black-winged stilt, garden warbler, and cuckoo. As we neared the hide they were just locking up for the day! On the walk back a Camberwell beauty and swallowtail butterfly were nice additions, along with one other butterfly that David thought may have been a pearl-bordered fritillary.
All-in-all a very nice birding spot (Steve remembered that he had been here before – and the hide was closed on that occasion too!).
Time to move on – our next destination was La Chaussée Neuve. Black kite, marsh harrier, zitting cisticola, booted eagle and kestrel were spotted as we slowly made our way there.
A viewing mound at La Chaussée Neuve provided some height to look over the surrounding marshes. New additions to our list here included Mediterranean gull, black-tailed godwit, whitethroat, yellow wagtail and purple heron. Dark and threatening clouds began to approach so we returned to the car, arriving just as the rain began.
The rain stopped
soon after we arrived at the our next port-of-call, Breca. Yellowhammer, a distant black kite and a brief view of a flying garganey here. The rolling of thunder and a few spots of rain caused me to retreat back to the car, which meant I missed the booted eagle seen by David and Steve, but we all saw the overflying spoonbill. We also found a loose-flowered orchid and what I thought was a male broad-bodied chaser here.
Time was getting on and we decided we had better make tracks back towards our home base, but there was still time left to visit a couple of sites on the Golfe du Morbihan. The thunderstorm continued as we drove back to the gulf, but luckily it had cleared by the time we arrived. We parked up on a headland just north of St. Colombier. Whimbrel and curlew were seen together, allowing us to compare the size difference between these two species. Bar-tailed godwit and grey plover in breeding plumage were a fine sight, and a few Brent geese could be seen off-shore (tens of thousand of Brent over-winter in the gulf).
A short drive brought us to our last site for the day, the beach at Chateau Suscinio. 
Pools held several species of wader (avocet, black-winged stilt, redshank, dunlin, bar-tailed godwit and little ringed plover). Skylark and zitting cisticola were performing their singing display flights and we watched a cuckoo feeding on caterpillars in a small bush.
Returning to our b&b quite late in the day, we showered quickly before walking the short distance to Les Logoden crêperie for another delicious evening meal (washed down with Bonnet Rouge local beer and a couple of jugs of the local cider).
Sun 1 May 2011
We awoke to a wet morning and at breakfast Richard informed us that the forecast was for a rainy day. We finished breakfast quickly so that we did not waste any time before setting off on the 80km drive to the Guérande saltpans.
Turning off the D774 at Saillé, we stopped at the first available parking place on the narrow road through the 
saltpans. Luckily the rain had stopped when we arrived. We thought we could hear the song of a bluethroat from nearby bushes and it was not long before it obligingly showed itself. This is one of Steve’s digiscoped photos of it (© Steve Cload).
We continued to explore in the car, stopping at several locations to wander around. Another bluethroat was found at one such place, and also a zitting cisticola gave good views as it perched on a small shrub.
About 50 species were seen in this area, but only a couple of new ones to our list – turnstone and a heard only grasshopper warbler which we failed to find. It fact it went silent as we searched around for it.
We stopped at a pâtisserie in Le Croisic for a pain au chocolat to sustain us, before heading back to the Golfe du Morbihan for an afternoon visit to the Réserve Naturelle des Marais de Séné. This is an area of old saltpans that has been restored as a nature reserve.
As we arrived we had great views of a turtle dove purring away from a wire. As we wandered around
the reserve visiting each of several hides in turn we accumulated another good list of species. Wheatear and greenshank were new ones for the trip, and another bluethroat (our eighth!).
As David and I were trying (unsuccessfully) to persuade a mole cricket out of its burrow in the path, Steve located a melodious warbler. It was singing well, but it was very coy about showing itself and we only had brief views of it. In the last hide we watched a couple of cuckoos feeding on the hairy caterpillars in the bushes, and the visit was crowned by two spotted redshank in full breeding plumage, which none of us had seen before.
After returning to our b&b we walked to Les Logoden crêperie again for our evening meal as we had enjoyed it so much the previous night. (Ok, we admit that it was the pretty French waitress that spoke so good English that was the main attraction!). This time we just kept to the cider and gave the beer a miss.
Mon 2 May 2011
An early breakfast today so that we could leave by 7.00am for the drive back to St. Malo. An uneventful journey and we arrived in plenty of time for the 10.30 sailing of the Bretagne back to Portsmouth.
Sea watching from the deck was disappointing as all we saw were a few gannets, cormorants and gulls. There was a fairly strong north-easterly wind which hit us as we rounded the Cherbourg peninsula. We went back out on deck as the ship pitched into the waves with lots of spray breaking over the bow. David and Steve saw a petrel (probably a storm) which I was miffed not to have seen. With nothing much to see, we returned inside and installed ourselves in the restaurant and watched the waves breaking over the bow. Soon after it was announced that the outside decks were off-limits for the rest of the voyage due to the conditions.
We docked in Portsmouth about 18:30, slightly later than scheduled due to the sea conditions. An uneventful drive back to Oxfordshire and the long weekend was all over.
Steve and I would like to express our thanks to David for making all the arrangements and driving us safely around (we will gloss over the incident when DL attempted to drive off with Steve half in/half out of the car!).
The Bird List | |
| Mute Swan | Greylag Goose |
| Brent Goose | Bar-headed Goose |
| Shelduck | Mallard |
| Garganey | Shoveler |
| Pochard | Tufted Duck |
| Pheasant | Great Crested Grebe |
| Petrel (Storm ?) | Gannet |
| Cormorant | Cattle Egret |
| Little Egret | Great White Egret |
| Grey Heron | Purple Heron |
| White Stork | Sacred Ibis |
| Spoonbill | Black Kite |
| Booted Eagle | Marsh Harrier |
| Buzzard | Kestrel |
| Hobby | Moorhen |
| Coot | Oystercatcher |
| Black-winged Stilt | Avocet |
| Little Ringed Plover | Grey Plover |
| Lapwing | Knot |
| Dunlin | Black-tailed Godwit |
| Bar-tailed Godwit | Whimbrel |
| Curlew | Spotted Redshank |
| Greenshank | Redshank |
| Turnstone | Black-headed Gull |
| Mediterranean Gull | Lesser Black-backed Gull |
| Herring Gull | Great Black-backed Gull |
| Whiskered Tern | Black Tern |
| Common Tern | Woodpigeon |
| Collared Dove | Turtle Dove |
| Cuckoo | Swift |
| Green Woodpecker | Great Spotted Woodpecker |
| Skylark | Swallow |
| House Martin | Tree Pipit |
| Meadow Pipit | Yellow Wagtail |
| Grey Wagtail | White Wagtail |
| Wren | Dunnock |
| Robin | Nightingale |
| Bluethroat | Redstart |
| Whinchat | Stonechat |
| Wheatear | Blackbird |
| Song Thrush | Mistle Thrush |
| Cetti's Warbler | Zitting Cisticola |
| Grasshopper Warbler (h) | Sedge Warbler |
| Reed Warbler | Melodious Warbler |
| Blackcap | Garden Warbler |
| Whitethroat | Wood Warbler |
| Chiffchaff | Goldcrest (h) |
| Firecrest (h)? | Long-tailed Tit |
| Blue Tit | Great Tit |
| Crested Tit | Willow Tit (h)? |
| Marsh Tit | Nuthatch |
| Treecreeper | Jay |
| Magpie | Jackdaw |
| Rook | Carrion Crow |
| Starling | House Sparrow |
| Chaffinch | Serin |
| Greenfinch | Goldfinch |
| Linnet | Yellowhammer |
| Reed Bunting | |
| Total 117 species | |
The Insect List | |
| Swallowtail | Camberwell Beauty |
| Pearl-bordered Fritillary ? | Large Copper |
| Mole Cricket | Broad-bodied Chaser |
Others | |
| Coypu | Unidentified Lizard |
