Birding in the Brenne II – Spring 2010

Sun 09 May 2010

After last year’s successful trip to the Brenne, David, Alan, Chris and I eagerly set off for a repeat trip to the same area. The first leg of the journey was an evening drive down to Portsmouth to catch the 22:45 ferry to Ouistreham. This was a change of plan as originally we had booked the following morning’s sailing to Cherbourg, but this had been cancelled at short notice. Sadly, this meant no sea-watching to kick start our list. After a cuppa in the restaurant we adjourned to our cabins in the hope of getting some sleep before the early morning start.

 

Mon 10 May 2010

We rose early for breakfast at 5.00am, then down to the car deck ready to disembark. Once off the ferry we soon had our first bird – a herring gull! The early start gave us the opportunity to visit a couple of sites in Normandy before the drive south to the Brenne, so our first destination was the museum at Utah Beach.

 

The monotonous “dzip… dzip… dzip…” song of a fan-tailed warbler could be heard coming from the bushes next to the car park. The bird was difficult to locate, but eventually it gave a brief display. The beach was devoid of birds, probably because of the sand-storm being whipped up by the wind. We moved a couple of kilometres along the coast to the Beaugillot Nature Reserve.  An hour or so’s birding here found, amongst others, great white egret, black swan, marsh harrier, and a small flock of spoonbill. A coypu was in front of one of the hides.

 

Next, a short drive to the nearby Ponts D’Ouve reserve. Sadly no sign of any bluethroats, but we did manage to get a brief glimpse of a Cetti’s warbler as it flew across the river. A white stork was in its nest with young, a grasshopper warbler was heard, and another spoonbill was seen from the hide. Raptors included hobby, marsh harrier and kestrel.

 

The journey south was quite long, but fairly straightforward as it was mostly on motorways (A28/E502, A10/E05), which were very quiet compared to British motorways. A short rest stop at Alençon services for fuel and coffee and then we continued on our way. The only bird of note seen on the journey was a harrier, but from the car we could not be certain whether it was a Monty’s or hen.

 

As we neared Champ d’Oeuf David remarked that a clearing on the D14 through the Forêt de Preuilly looked an ideal place for nightjars (more on this later).

 

Not far from our destination there were piles of hail stones by the side of the road, and as we passed through wooded areas the road was covered with leaves. A thunder storm had recently passed, but luckily we had not driven through it. The storm could be seen to the south when we arrived at our gîte. The sky was very black, punctuated by flashes of lightning and the accompanying rolls of thunder.

As last year, we  were staying at La Confiance, owned and run by Sue and Chris Mooney. Sue was there
to greet us as we arrived, and as we unloaded the car a nightingale burst into song to greet us as well.

There was plenty of time to sort out our things and have a shower before walking around to Sue and Chris’s dining room for our four-course dinner.

 

Tues 11 May 2010

A short walk around the lanes of Champ d’Oeuf before breakfast found turtle dove, melodious warbler and a singing nightingale. After we had all breakfasted the first destination was the Chérine Nature Reserve near St. Michel-en-Brenne for a meeting with Tony Williams. He has lived and worked in the area for many years and is the best source for all the latest info. Although it is only a short drive, it took longer than expected as every “bird on wire” had to be investigated, and a marsh harrier held us up for several minutes. We had a good sighting of a water rail from the viewing window in the visitor centre whilst waiting for TW, and Alan spotted a reed warbler. Also black tern, little egret and marsh harrier.

 

TW’s info included the news that there were black woodpeckers nesting in a pine tree next to the restaurant at Étang de Bellebouche, so that was added to today’s itinerary. Also that the bee-eaters were no longer at Néons-sur-Creuse but had re-located to nearby Tournon-St-Martin.

 

The rest of the morning was spent thoroughly exploring the area around Chérine. First the Tower Hide at the north-east corner of Étang Ricot. Nightingale and blackcap were singing well in the wooded area surrounding the car park and a golden oriole was heard from the hide. Common tern, marsh harrier and black kite were also seen from the hide.

 

A few hundred metres further along the D17 there is a small parking area overlooking Étang de Monmélier. There was not much on the water, but a black-winged stilt flew over. (Note for next time: There is a track starting here that leads past Étang Miclos – this is worth checking out).

 

A track from the small parking area on the D44 leading past the north-western end of Étang Ricot through the Chérine Nature Reserve produced great birds last year, so we eagerly set-off along this path. A good number of species were seen including stonechat, cattle egret, great white egret, black kite, cuckoo, nightingale, gadwall, whiskered tern, red-crested pochard, melodious warbler, sand martin and cirl bunting. The reeling of a grasshopper warbler was heard as well.

 

On the drive to Bellebouche we got our first red-backed shrike and another cirl bunting. At Bellebouche we located the pine tree that TW told us was the site of a black woodpecker nest, but there was no sign of any woodpeckers. Brief glimpses of both hoopoe and golden oriole were some compensation, and also a tree-creeper – but was it the short-toed variety? A Bonelli’s warbler was giving it’s distinctive song, but it was very difficult to find in the dense foliage. A solitary little ringed plover was on the lake shore. We sat by the car to eat our lunch, listening to the distant song of a golden oriole. One final check of the pine trees before leaving, still no woodpeckers but we did see a red squirrel.

 

A purple heron was seen on a quick visit to the southern end of Bellebouche and a very pale, hovering bird of prey that I at first mistakenly thought was an osprey. It was in fact our first short-toed eagle.

 

Our final destination for today was Château Robert in the Forêt de Lancosme. As we were driving along the rough forest track we were all surprised when a black stork flew over – a first for all of us. Monkey orchid were growing close to where we parked the car. The walk in the forest produced a good view of a Bonelli’s warbler and one of the few robins seen on the trip. A black woodpecker was heard to call once, but no sightings. My pathetic attempts at imitating its call caused much amusement to my companions.

 

We had worked up quite an appetite from our day’s birding, so the delicious four-course dinner which Sue and Chris had prepared for us back at La Confiance was well received. A calling tawny owl was the only addition to our list on a short evening walk around the lanes of Champ d’Oeuf.

 

Wed 12 May 2010

Our pre-breakfast recce found a pair of stone curlews in a field not 200m distant from our gîte. Today was to be bee-eater day, and despite TW’s advice, we decided that we would check out the site at Néons-sur-Creuse first.

 

En-route we stopped for a few minutes at Étang Bourreau, a small lake alongside the D50. Lots of swallow, house martin and whiskered tern about, and a male harrier at first thought to be a Montagu’s, was quartering the fields in the distance. Closer inspection identified it as a hen harrier. A red-backed shrike appeared on a wire as we were leaving.

 

We parked by the small riverside play area in Néons-sur-Creuse. There was no sign of any bee-eaters so we took a stroll along the lane where we found corn bunting, melodious warbler, cirl bunting and stonechat plus several other common species. A red-backed shrike perched in the hedgerow to have its photograph taken, and a golden oriole was calling from the trees across the river, but we only managed to get a distant view of the flying bird. The most controversial bird of our trip was seen here. A very white bird of prey that could have been either a pale morph booted eagle or buzzard. I thought there were features that pointed to either species, but David was fairly convinced it was a buzzard. Anyway, it was all fairly academic as both species were definitely seen during this trip.

 

We were just packing our ‘scopes into the car prior to moving on when we all heard the unmistakable calls of bee-eaters. We rushed to the riverside where the sound was coming from and soon located the birds. A flock of five or six of them perched in a dead tree on the wooded island in La Creuse. A magnificent sight!

 

We watched them for a good twenty minutes before deciding it was  time to move on. As we had now bagged the bee-eaters there was no need to go to Tournon-St-Martin so we headed for Étang de la Mer Rouge. Here we found another red-backed shrike and had good views of a booted eagle. More whiskered tern and a nightingale was heard (not unusual, as we heard these almost everywhere we went). A hornet was also encountered here.

En route to La Gabrière a possible peregrine flew over, and on the étang itself our first black-necked grebes. Black kite and booted eagle flew over as we viewed the lake from the roadside benches.

 

Making our way to Étang de la Sous we stopped to get a better view of a short-toed eagle which flew over. Butterfly orchids were growing on the verge here. A very impressive new hide had been constructed at Étang de la Sous and from it we saw great white egret, whiskered tern and purple heron. European pond tortoise (very common in the area) was also noted. A great reed warbler began singing from the extensive reed beds in front of the hide and we eventually located it and had a fairly good view for several minutes before it disappeared deep into the reeds. On returning to the car we found a tick on the dashboard. Chris made sure to keep her trousers firmly tucked into her socks after that.

 

A visit to the hide on Étang Massé at Le Blizon was not very productive. (Note for next time: there is a track here that runs by Étang du Blizon which would be well worth exploring). 

 

Another brief visit to the Étang de Monmélier specifically to find black-winged stilts, which was successful. Yet another short-toed eagle flew over.

 

The final destination for today was an exploration of the lanes to the south-east of Azay-le-Ferron, where little bustards used to be found. Local knowledge is that they are no longer here, but we thought it was worth a look. On the D18 1km south-west of St-Julien a couple of Montagu’s harriers were seen being mobbed by curlew, but sadly no sign of any little bustards.

 

Whilst having our evening meal with Sue and Chris we were delighted to see a nightingale on the lawn of La Confiance.

 

Thu 13 May 2010

The customary pre-breakfast walk found nothing new, but it was a surprise to see a stone curlew take-off from a pasture with grazing cattle. Today’s itinerary was to explore the forests (mainly for woodpeckers) in the morning, and in the afternoon to have a guided orchid walk. A new species for our list was added on the way to the forest - greylag goose at Étang de la Bienaise. Several cattle egret were spotted in a field on the D21 near Bellebouche.

 

We drove deep into the Forêt de Lancosme, parked where five forest roads meet and walked along a forest track. Spotting birds was difficult because of the dense foliage, but Bonelli’s warbler and crested tit were seen well. Wood warbler, garden warbler and a treecreeper (the standard Eurasian type) were heard, and a brief glimpse of a golden oriole as it flew across the ride. We spent several minutes trying to locate a bird with an unusual song. We eventually found the culprit – a blackcap. It was an very un-blackcap like song though, it sounded more like a redstart.

 

We moved on to the nearby chapel of St.Sulpice for another wander through the woods. Nothing new found, but a treecreeper was heard (this one sounded like the short-toed variety). We were pleased to find a chequered skipper butterfly, a species that can only be found around Fort William in Britain. Sadly, the only woodpecker noted today was the call of a great spotted.

 

After returning to Champ d’Oeuf for a spot of lunch we headed off to Preuilly-sur-Claise to meet Susan Walter, an Australian naturalist living in France, and her partner Simon Brand, who were going to give us a guided orchid walk. We rendezvoused in the centre of the village, and after a brief introductory chat in the Hôtel de L’Image we made the short journey to their orchard. Alan and Chris travelled in style in the beautifully restored 1953 Citroën Traction Avant owned by Susan and Simon.

 

In the orchard we saw lady and early spider orchids and a rather  splendid Glanville fritillary butterfly (only found on the Isle of White in Britain). We moved on to the nearby village of Boussay for a walk through the woods. Several more species of orchid were found here, including narrow-leafed helliborine, along with gendarme bugs, which was something none of us had seen before. A short-toed treecreeper was heard in the woods, but we did not manage to get any sighting of it.

After thanking Susan and Simon we went to check out the clearing  we had seen on the day of our arrival, as we had decided that tonight we would have a late night excursion to find nightjars. A pair of stone curlew were found on a bare field nearby.

Having located a suitable spot to park the car we returned to Champ d’Oeuf for an early dinner. We left at about 9.00pm when there was still plenty of daylight, and en-route we saw a male hen harrier and stopped to have another look at the pair of stone curlews we had found earlier.

 

Our chosen spot was on the D14 in the Forêt de Preuilly, and after parking the car just off the road we walked a short distance into the woods. We were now surrounded by about 2m high scrubby vegetation with taller trees interspersed.  It was a cool, but calm evening and several cuckoos were calling from the surrounding forest. As the light faded a bird was seen on the ground about 50m away. We struggled to identify it in the fading light, but our best guess was a mistle thrush. We all had doubts about this as the bird seemed much too grey. Afterwards we decided this could have been a fieldfare, as the area is not too far from their summer range.

 

As we stood in silence several large animals were heard routing around in the undergrowth just a few metres away from us. We did not see them, and had no idea what they were. We think they could have been either badgers or wild boar.

We were all beginning to have doubts that the habitat was right for nightjars, but at about 10.30 we at last heard the first brief churring call. The churring continued on and off for the next half hour or so, gradually increasing in intensity, from at least two birds. Suddenly the churring stopped and the frog like “kru-it” call began. The bird was obviously now moving and David and Alan began to wave white handkerchiefs. Instantly a nightjar made a close approach to us and then proceeded to fly around our heads. Although the light was now very feint, there was sufficient to enable us to see the bird in silhouette. In fact, it was the best views any of us had had of the species. Satisfied with our night’s work we made our way back to the car, only to have another nightjar flying around our heads as we got back to it.

 

Fri 14 May 2010

We rose early today so that we could make an early start to our return trip. It was the coldest morning of our visit, so cold that the car was covered in ice. We departed at 7.15 and headed west to Châtellerault, the quickest route to join the motorway network.

 

We lost count of the number of buzzards we saw sitting alongside the motorway as we journeyed north. A short break at La Dentelle d’Alençon services for coffee and to re-fuel broke up the journey. The plan was to get in a couple of hours birding at Sallenelles nature reserve on the Orne estuary before we went to the ferry and we arrived in plenty of time to do this. Shelduck, grey plover, oystercatcher, whimbrel and  whinchat were added to our list here. There was one other bird that was heard only. It sounded at times like a song thrush, but this was only part of the song. Although we searched long and hard we never actually saw the bird, which we strongly suspect was a bluethroat.

 

Crossing the river and the canal via Pegasus Bridge we arrived at the ferry port in Ouistreham in plenty of time for our 4.30pm sailing to Portsmouth. Soon after the Mont St Michel docked  an employee of Brittany Ferries walked round the waiting cars handing out a letter. This announced that there was a strike and they could not say when we would be allowed on board, it could be two hours, four hours or even twelve hours!

 

After a long and boring wait we eventually boarded and sailed about four hours late. There was not much time for sea-watching before the light faded, the only addition to our list during the crossing was gannet. It was well after midnight when we arrived in Portsmouth, and after dropping Alan and Chris at their home, picking my car up at David’s, it was not until gone 3.00am that I finally arrived home. 

 

The weather had been unseasonably cold for the time of year, with a chilly north-easterly wind blowing. Warmer weather would probably have given us more birds, and butterflies were very thin on the ground this year compared with last, but nevertheless it had been a great few days enjoying the nature of the Brenne.

 

Special thanks to David for sorting out all the arrangements and doing all the driving, and to our hosts Sue and Chris for the splendid accommodation and food.

 

The Bird List

 

Mute Swan	Black Swan
Greylag Goose	Canada Goose
Shelduck	Wigeon
Gadwall	Teal
Mallard	Shoveler
Red-crested Pochard	Pochard
Tufted Duck	Red-legged Partridge
Pheasant	Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe	Black-necked Grebe
Gannet	Cormorant
Cattle Egret	Little Egret
Great White Egret	Grey Heron
Purple Heron	Black Stork
White Stork	Spoonbill
Black Kite	Short-toed Eagle
Booted Eagle	Marsh Harrier
Hen Harrier	Montagu's Harrier
Buzzard	Kestrel
Merlin (Doubtful)	Hobby
Peregrine (Possible)	Water Rail
Coot	Oystercatcher
Black-winged Stilt	Stone-curlew
Little Ringed Plover	Grey Plover
Lapwing	Dunlin
Snipe	Whimbrel
Curlew	Greenshank
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	Tawny Owl (h)
Nightjar	Swift
Bee-eater	Hoopoe
Black Woodpecker (h)	Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker	Skylark
Sand Martin	Swallow
House Martin	Meadow Pipit
Yellow Wagtail	Grey Wagtail
Pied Wagtail	White Wagtail
Wren	Dunnock
Robin	Nightingale
Bluethroat (h?)	Black Redstart
Whinchat	Stonechat
Blackbird	Fieldfare (Probable)
Song Thrush	Mistle Thrush
Cetti's Warbler	Fan-tailed Warbler
Grasshopper Warbler (h)	Sedge Warbler
Reed Warbler	Great Reed Warbler
Melodious Warbler	Blackcap
Garden Warbler (h)	Whitethroat
Western Bonelli's Warbler	Wood Warbler (h)
Chiffchaff	Long-tailed Tit
Blue Tit	Great Tit
Crested Tit	Nuthatch (h)
Treecreeper	Short-toed Treecreeper (h)
Golden Oriole	Red-backed Shrike
Jay	Magpie
Jackdaw	Rook
Carrion Crow	Starling
House Sparrow	Chaffinch
Greenfinch	Goldfinch
Linnet	Bullfinch
Yellowhammer	Cirl Bunting
Reed Bunting	Corn Bunting
Total 132 Species

The Insect list

Compiled by Alan Strachan

Chequered Skipper	Wood White
Glanville Fritillary	Large White
Small White	Green-veined White
Orange Tip	Peacock
Wall	Small Heath
Common Heath Moth	Cinnabar Moth
Speckled Yellow Moth	Hummingbird Hawk Moth
May Bug	Gendarme Bug
Hornet

The Flower list

Compiled by Chris Shayler

Early Purple Orchid	Lady Orchid
Monkey Orchid	Birdsnest Orchid
Early Spider Orchid	Fly Orchid
Sword-leaved Helliborine	Lesser Butterfly Orchid
Meadow Saxifrage	Meadow Thistle
Asparagus	Milkwort
Crosswort	Water Violet
Common Water Crowfoot	St. Bernard’s Lilley
Kerry Lilley	Common Cow Wheat
Lungwort	Solomon’s Seal
Purple Toothwort	Wood Spurge
Cypress Spurge	Portland Spurge
Large Flowered Sandwort

Birding in the Brenne Spring 2009

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