Hi All,
I’m lucky enough to have a few trips away planned this Spring, and this was the 2nd one – a visit to family who live just south of Angouleme in central France, followed by a short diversion to Fontainebleau on the way home.
I guess the most accurate way to describe where they live would be ‘The Boonies’ – if you like wildlife, it’s a great place with some fantastic habitat just on the doorstep... low intensity farmland, mixed woods and copses, heathland and wetland... It is, however, a fair way to the nearest kebab shop!
Weather was mixed, with a bit of gloom and rain, but decidedly warmer than the UK when the sun came out – very nice to get a genuine feel of Spring in the air!
I am an early riser, so first morning saw me off on a short walk down the local lane whilst waiting for anyone else to stir. The lawn of the cottage next door was popular with the birds, hosting Cirl Bunting, Hoopoe, Blackbirds and Goldfinches, whilst Collared Doves and a Serin sang in trees overhead. A Goldcrest sang from a nearby conifer and I could hear Pheasants and a Song Thrush in a nearby copse, with Red-legged Partridges on the woodland edge, and a Buzzard soaring overhead.
Walking down the lane, a Black Redstart flew onto a nearby roof to join the many House Sparrows, and a Kestrel drifted by overhead. A Cuckoo called in the distance, to be answered by another and a couple of White Wagtails flew up ahead of me from the lane.
There were a couple of small ponds at the bottom of the hills and the trees surrounding these were full of Chiffchaffs, Tits and Blackcaps.... I disturbed 2 Green Woodpeckers who were feeding at the edge of a nearby field.
Quite surprised to find zero waterbirds on the ponds, but this was quickly established as being the norm.... Despite there being loads of suitable habitat, I only saw 2 flying ducks (Mallards) during the 3 days we were in the area. Given the French love of hunting, it is not too surprising that any candidate duck would have learnt to keep its head down, but from what we could see, there are actually zero ducks left to shoot!
Final highlights of my little walk were a Black Kite which circled very low overhead and brief sighting of what I believe to be some sort of polecat (...or something...) I need to try to look it up but it was large, reddish-brown, and not (I thought..) a mink.
After breakfast, we went on a trip to a local village for a walk around, followed by lunch by the river-side. The Soleil had well and truly got his chapeau on by this stage, and the warm sunshine brought out many butterflies, which I have tentatively id-ed as Brimstone, Orange Tip (fairly happy with that id!!) Wall, Dingy Skipper and Large Tortoiseshell. I would like these ids confirmed, so if anyone has any opinions....
Skylarks sang in the surrounding fields and we saw quite a few Stonechats perched up and disturbed both Purple and Grey Herons from pools along the way.
There were lots of birds around where we had lunch, and we managed to add Pied Flycatcher and Whitethroat to our list.
Last stop for the day was a quick walk around a heathy area where we added Dartford Warbler, Linnet, Bullfinch, Yellowhammer, GSW and Willow Warbler.
Our host had been very disappointed that he hadn’t been able to show us any of the Harriers that frequent the area, but this was remedied when we saw 2 ringtails and a superb male as we were driving through the lanes on the following day. Unfortunately they had disappeared before I could stop the car for a closer look, but I think they were Hen Harriers.
All in all, a great little break in a very nice area – now time to head to the Foret de Fontainebleau for a hoped-for rendezvous with some Woodpeckers!
We only had 1.5 days in the area and made (I feel...) a schoolboy error by not getting up at the crack of dawn on day 1. We were both pretty tired after all the driving etc, so didn’t actually get out and about until about 10:00, which might explain the complete absence of any woodpecker-like activity when we finally reached ground zero.
We had been supplied with some useful gen regarding good sites in the area (thanks MarkHows and others...) but even though the birding was brilliant, there was virtually no sign or sound of any Woodpeckers either calling or drumming. My theory is.... a bit late in the day, and maybe a bit late in the season....
Anyway.... I must say that we enjoyed walking around many excellent areas in the forest and saw some great birds :- Firecrest, Crested Tits, Common Redstart, best ever views of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Hawfinch amongst many other woodland species, and the whole forest was absolutely awash with Bonelli’s Warblers – these seemingly being just as numerous as Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers.
A walk in a slightly more open area brought a singing Tree Pipit, Common Redstart and another Cirl Bunting.
.... A fantastic day, but none of the target woodpeckers, so day 2 saw me (but not Mrs R!) out at 05:00 for the early start that I felt sure would see me finding the whole wood full of the sound of woodies. Unfortunately, no sooner was I on station than it started to rain steadily which certainly dampened my spirits, if not the birds!
The early start did mean that I managed to surprise a few mammals, seeing three separate Red Squirrels and a family of Wild Boar. Have to say that the piglets were not the tiny, cute, stripey things that you sometimes see on the telly – but were instead of a decent size and looked decidedly mean!
Getting ahead of myself! Whilst I was waiting for it to get light, the rain eased a bit and I decided to stake out a bit of promising looking open ground – perfect for a roding Woodcock I thought... There was a dead tree trunk in a suitable position so I thought I’d prop myself up against that to ease the old bones and also provide a bit of cover.
Settled down for about 2 secs, and heard this frantic scrabbling coming from inside the dead tree at my back followed by a large Tawny Owl exploding out about 1/2metre above my head! Not sure who was most frightened (no contest actually...I thought my time had come!!)
Nothing happening here woodie-wise, so tried (yet!) another spot, and was intrigued to hear a strange, harsh, single-note call that I didn’t recognise. After a fair bit of work, managed to track it down to a Middle-spotted Woodpecker which was patrolling its area and giving its (as described in Collins..) territorial call.
This was very good – at least I had seen one of my target species and a lifer to boot...
As Sod’s law would have it, my final area yielded 2 more MS Woodies cavorting about very close, and very handsome birds they are too! ... they seem to have so much red and pink on them as they fluff up their plumage in display that they look not very much like the drawings in Collins...
That was it, time's up and now back to the hotel to pack up and head back to Calais....I must say that Fontainebleau is a great area with loads of fantastic habitat and birds - I do feel that my lack of success with Black and Grey-headed Woodpeckers was probably down to a lack of time and expertise on my part, but there were certainly many other fantastic birds to be seen and sights to experience...
So... there we have it: fantastic birding in a great area, but slight bitter taste in that I failed with 2 out of my 3 target species. I’ll just have to go back and have another go. What a shame, I can hardly wait!!
All the best.... Ray
Anyone got any thoughts re: my butterflies?? ..... I suppose it might make more sense to post them up on a specific id thread.....
[QUOTE=Ruby;1180155]Anyone got any thoughts re: my butterflies?? ..... I suppose it might make more sense to post them up on a specific id thread.....[/QUOTE]
I think your IDs look fine, although I don't know what confusion species might exist further south in Europe.
Thanks for posting the report - reminded me of my own holiday in France this time last year.