Thursday 15 January 2015

The Lakes and Wildfowl

Having  lived for around thirty years in the West Wight I have to admit I miss the birds of the coastline and estuary which were within walking distance of my house and so a drive out to the lakes of the high Charente was a rather desperate attempt to see if anything was around in the wildfowl and wader line.

Predictably the answer was rather little but nevertheless these man-made habitats do give a glimpse of wetland species. The commonest birds are great crested grebes and cormorants with over sixty of each species dotted around the two largest lakes. La chasse is most certainly the cause of the paucity of wildfowl and waders but a stretch of Lac de Lavaud is protected and even has a bird hide at Foucherie. A pair of male teal were a delightful sight there but the only other ducks were a pair of rather distant wigeon. Half a dozen coots were bobbing about among the grebes.
I managed to find a small flock of wigeon and a single pochard on the other lake (Mas Chaban)  and by the side of a little stream which entered it, a common sandpiper was feeding. The only other waders were four lapwing in a nearby field.

Sunday 11 January 2015

Black Redstart and Yet More Cranes

An ornithological side show to today's huge gathering for national unity in Angoulème was the sight of a small skein of cranes flying above the Hôtel de Ville and a male black redstart flitting around the stonework of the facade of the cathedral (there was possibly a second one on the town hall itself but an absence of binoculars made identification uncertain). Although very common throughout a good deal of the year, black redstarts are difficult to find in the winter and presumably have moved further south.
A 20K cycle ride earlier on this warm and sunny day turned up another 32 species including a small flock of fieldfares and a few mistle thrushes.

Wednesday 7 January 2015

January Cranes

As Cagouille pointed out in his recent comment, the cranes are still moving south and I saw one skein of 35 birds late this afternoon near La Poterie. It probably is no coincidence that 2014 was announced today as the warmest UK year on record. (But on looking back to last year's posts I see that cranes were moving reported as moving south in January 2014)
A few hawfinch were in the wood behind the chateau at La Rochefoucauld yesterday and a flock of fieldfare were near St Mary.
As for the 2015 list, I saw my first barn owl of the year on the way to Fontenille, and my first flock of greenfinches at Valence. I think that I have noted before that this last species is very localised and I have not seen one in my own garden for weeks.

Friday 2 January 2015

Snipe and Hen Harrier

After a couple of wam and clear days things have turned more chilly and gloomy but a new year always provides the opportunity to start again with the recording of the local birds and there's a rather childish delight for me when I see/hear the first-for-the-year of each species.
Today I took a walk close to the Charente near Luxé. The damp meadows there provide a good habitat for some wetland species but they are sadly thin on the ground because of the chasse.
A single snipe, two reed buntings and a hen harrier were the highlights but there were small flocks of both water and meadow pipits. A few cormorants were flying around and a solitary black headed gull passed high overhead but the most beautiful bird was a grey wagtail whose lemon yellow plumage glowed in the dismal light.

New Year's Day 2015

2015 announced itself with clear skies, a heavy frosty morning followed by warm sunshine and not even a breeze, warm enough in fact to allow me to take my breakfast outdoors in shirt sleeves.

A walk around the garden turned up twenty species if I include the ones that I viewed from it as well as in it. The most interesting in the garden itself were a firecrest, two song thrushes and at least four robins. From a nearby wood came the loud drumming of a great spotted woodpecker.

The total number of species that I recorded on this first day, including redwings in the Son-Sonette valley, was a just-about-acceptable 34-- but then I didn't try very hard.

The VERY Last Cranes of 2014

This is an update to my last post as the cranes kept on  coming until the very end of the year with about 150 flying south over my house on the afternoon of Jan 31st.
This is return migration but not as we know it, Jim.