Trip report – Aude / Hérault, France, August 6-21, 2016

This was a family holiday, and though I fully intended to make the most of any birding opportunities, I knew

that the timing of the trip, in a super-heated and windy region that had not witnessed any significant rain in

more than six months, was less than ideal for easy birding.

We drove down, west of Paris, towards Orléans, stayed one night near there then one night on the oustkirts of

Clermont-Ferrand, before reaching our destination, a small village/town called Saint-Marcel-sur-Aude, about

10 km NW of Narbonne.

Before going over, I contacted LPO Aude for some tips, and while they were apparently quite busy, and had no

information on whether there were any local birders able to help (birdingpal I have found to be next to useless

despite being a good responder myself on the rare occasions I am contacted), they were very helpful in answer

to direct questions during my stay.

Crossing the channel

On the ferry over, there were not so many birds on a clear and relatively calm crossing: the commonest were

Gannet, Herring Gull, Kittiwake and, as we neared Calais, a variety of terns, including Arctic, Common (the

commonest) and even a couple of Little. I was convinced, by the stubby tail and dark patches on a couple of

other birds that we had some Black Terns, but the views were intermittent and relatively distant, so I will put

these down as a possible. I don’t even know if Dover-Calais forms part of their migration route!

Northern and central France

Most of the motorway drive was spent first concentrating on the pretty empty road and second on admiring

the number of Stonechats and Common Buzzards who themselves seemed to be admiring the passing traffic.

The weather was overcast for most of the northern half of France, which added to the general ennui that this

flat and dull landscape (as viewed from the motorways) can cause.

As we neared our first stop, the hamlet of Séris in the Loir-et-Cher department of the Centre region, we started

to notice our first good numbers of common birds, including the ubiquitous Barn Swallows, House Martins,

House Sparrows, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Black Redstart. It was also the first place we saw

Serin, in a lone fir tree in the centre of the village.

The following morning, at the nearby town of Mer, we stopped for some provisions and my attention was

caught by a low-flying raptor heading across a field just by the out-of-town supermarket centre. It turned out

to be a glorious adult male Honey Buzzard, the first of a good few around the area and one of my goals – to be

better able to id raptors from the car – became more achievable as we were able to say thereafter with more

or less certainty which birds of prey we were seeing along the route.

La Brenne

My intention had always been to take a route that day that took in La Brenne, though this turned out to be a

far greater detour than I had anticipated. The area is fantastic for birds, but it did seem that my initial fears,

that this is a poor time for birding in France, were realised when the main reserve (Maison de la Nature at La

Chérine) had a very ambiguous notice about its opening times – in July and August, was it only open for free

access in the mornings from 10-12, then guided groups only in the late afternoon? Or was it open all day

except lunchtime but groups needed to come from 4 pm? My French is good, but this was the kind of notice

that even in English would unwittingly confuse. Anyway, we had arrived there during a period when it was

unambiguously closed – confirmed by the pointed locking of the gate right in front of us by some official of the

reserve. This is such a far cry from the norm at RSPB reserves, which have put all their comparators in

countries I have visited to shame. Undeterred, we visited the Etang de la Sous, which has, in previous July

months, afforded us extraordinary views of Little Bittern from within six feet. This time, a juvenile Purple

Heron

was the star of the show, hunting from less than three metres from the hide, and the narrow viewing area was

not revealing some of the nice birds it sometimes does. Still, it was pleasing to see an adult Purple Heron fly

in, if briefly, a female Marsh Harrier and a couple of Black Kites. A couple of Whiskered Terns

still seemed to be in parenting mode, offering their catches to young ones, while trying to fight off Black-

headed Gulls. Little and Great White Egrets made themselves visible. The visit was brief, and spoilt by an

extraordinarily selfish man with no care for fellow hide-dwellers as he answered his noisy phone in a noisy and

incessant way; we left after five minutes of this unspeakably egocentric behaviour and he was still at it. One

thing I have noticed at La Brenne is how people seem not to have binoculars but instead use telephoto camera

lenses for so-called bird-watching. I take a lot of photographs, but I cannot understand how anyone would be

able to bird effectively without bins. It almost seems wrong as well as wasteful of battery life.

We were going to visit the aforementioned Chérine reserve in the afternoon, but my son’s loss of a rubber ring

from the eyepiece of my pocket Swarovskis curtailed any further birding as we searched, successfully in the

end, for the lost item. From there, we headed for Clermont-Ferrand and our second stopover.

My daughter and I wandered up the road that evening to a small supermarket to get some bread and were

intrigued by what sounded like nestlings low in a pine tree in a car park in our suburb. After a careful look, we

eventually found two beautiful and frighteningly tiny Serin nestlings on a small frond right beside what looked

like a now-disintegrated nest, together with fecal sacs etc and I was concerned for them. However, as we

returned from the shop, we saw adults flitting around in the trees above. I was able to get a grainy and dark

photo of the birds and tweet it.

Cévennes

The A75 passes from Clermont through the Cévennes conveniently close to Le Rozier, a typical hillside tourist

stopping-point. We needed the loo, and some libation, and I needed to see vultures! The conditions were

perfect, with crystal clear and deep blue skies, hot sunshine and high roads into the high hills. We saw here

our first Crag Martins of the trip, feeding alongside the House Martins, Common Swift and Barn Swallows in

the valleys, but above, in the distance, there was the unmistakable frame of our first vultures. After a quick

drink, we drove towards the “Belvedère” area, but stopped for some lunch half-way up the hill. What a

decision this turned out to be, as the Griffon Vultures came in low over our heads (no more than 30 feet at

times) and eventually we

counted as many as 21 in the sky at one time. I couldn’t see any obvious Black Vulture among them or in the

area. You could call that “dipping” but to be perfectly honest, great views of the Griffons, however ugly their

heads(!), were ample recompense.

Just as we headed out of the Cévennes area, and were stuck in a long traffic-jam, we caught our first sight of a

large raptor in the sky with the brown head and pale streaked body of what was unmistakably a Short-toed

Eagle.

Languedoc-Rousillon

We sped down to our final destination without much avian interest until a little past Montpellier, on the fence

by the side of the autoroute, I saw what could only have been a Woodchat Shrike surveying the scene. As we

got closer to Narbonne, we kept seeing unfamiliar-shaped, quite thickset birds on wires and fences by the road

and I was convinced they were Roller. My convictions were confirmed when we saw that beautiful turquoise

flash fly up from some roadside foraging as we drove by.

Hot, hot, hot. The whole two weeks were very, very hot, although the first few days were also a little

inconvenienced by the Mistral (I think it is called that, even in the Languedoc). We arrived just before dusk in

Saint-Marcel, so no birding, though in the night my partner said she heard a call which turned out to be Little

Owl. Not very surprising. That said, as we were being shown round the house by the owners, a small group of

European Bee-eaters flew over with their noisy, froggy chatter.

In the morning, I went for an early stroll in the vineyard behind our gîte and was pleased to discover three

species of sparrow, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow and Rock Sparrow, the familiar wheeze of the last making

me think of Golden Oriole. Speaking of which, I wasn’t sure if there would be any still around, but I heard brief

snatches of their fluting song emanating in the early mornings from the row of plain trees on the D124 leading

out of the village. Having heard Common Starlings do brilliant bird impersonations in our garden, nearly

convincing me that a Common Buzzard was in one of the trees there, I refused to believe the orioles were

there until I had seen one. Jackdaws and the aforementioned Starlings dominated those trees.

Over and around the vines themselves, Feral and Woodpigeon abounded, and I could hear the scratchy,

slightly aggressive call of Sardinian Warbler (which turned out to be just about the most widespread non-

garden bird of the whole trip, along possibly with Bee-eaters). A small group of trees held a number of them,

along with common Whitethroat (young ones it seemed) and Willow Warblers in beautiful fresh, yellow

plumage. For me, the two star birds of that short walk were otherwise, though. The first, because I had never

before seen one well – a shadowed one at Gibraltar Point earlier this year and a fleeting sighting before I was

really interested in birding: this time, flitting around in typical phylloscopus fashion, the bird was pale with a

notable green-ness to its wings. My first good look at a Western Bonelli’s Warbler!

I know, I know, they’re common round these parts, but for me it was a delight to spot then id such a bird for

myself. The second species was one I had only seen once, in spring in the Camargue, and here they were

extremely frustrating in a way, as they were clearly plentiful in the scrubby fields beside the vineyards but as

soon as I was within 100 metres they seemed to notice and fly off pretty long distances. However, as they did

so, they gave a distinctive and pleasant call and so I set about the elimination process by comparing the look

and sound to birds on the Collins Bird Guide app (indispensable on the iPhone and iPad in these parts!). It

turned out that these birds were Crested Larks and they were to be found in numerous other places around

the area. They had an annoying habit of flying off into the vineyards themselves. On the way back I saw a pair

of Serin feeding in some low weeds by the road. I could hear, and occasionally see, Red-legged Partridge in

among the scrub and vines.

Later that day, my son and I went towards Bages, on the coast, and wandered among the scrub there having

terrible trouble getting views of the plentiful Sylvia warblers there. While I recognised the song and call of the

Sardinian, we knew that these weren’t the only ones there and eventually we locked onto Spectacled Warbler

and Dartford Warbler on the hillside. Down in the lagoons we could see a lone Great White Egret. We

headed there to see if anything else had been attracted by the waterside. The answer was not much, but we

did spot Zitting Cisticola, one of the few we saw in the Languedoc (compared to the Camargue) and a

Melodious Warbler flitting about in a lone bush. We drove on, past the town of Bages itself and just before

the huge salt lagoons a bird flew down in front of the car to the roadside and up from there to the top of a

tree. The brief roadside view was enough for us to know it to be a male Woodchat Shrike and it perched

obligingly in the tree for a little while for us to take frustratingly into-the-sun photos.

On the way back, just outside Saint-Marcel’s neighbouring village of Marcorignan, we found another Roller,

and it turned out that this area is particularly good for them, it seems. A small unmaintained road on the right

hand side as you head north-west out of Marcorignan, proved a special find later in the week, with four more

Roller in view – a family, presumably, a very large number of Bee-eaters and our first Hoopoes of the visit. As

we headed back to the car, a flurry of starlings pointed us to a large raptor flying over our heads which surely

turned out to be a young, maybe female, Goshawk

by the looks of it. While Sparrowhawk proved to be a fairly regular sighting, this bird was significantly bigger.

Judge yourself from the photograph! Most of my Goshawk views have been in Norfolk and quite distant.

Later that week, the same spot proved an interesting watchpoint for what I regarded as visible migration, a

group of some 15 or so Black Kite and a smaller number of probable Honey Buzzard riding high on the

thermals.

An even better find, as we drove by the fields just outside Marcorignan on the Narbonne side, was a pair (or at

least two) Lesser Kestrel and more Roller.

Those same fields also held two ringtail and one adult Montagu’s Harrier too, at different times during the

stay. An extraordinary concentration of relative exotica by British standards. The male Lesser Kestrel even

perched obligingly on a telegraph pole allowing us within 10 metres and some great photographs before it flew

off.

In between those times, a lovely visit to the Abbaye de Fontfroide had given us good views of White Wagtail,

Black Redstart and nestling/fledgling Crag Martin

as well as two Black Kite. The area looks good for exploring other species, even though it had suffered a

major fire only two weeks before. The Corbières wine region, in which the Abbaye sits, is also known for

eagles and other raptors.

The following day, I headed to the La Clape mountain on what was an abortive trip – the roads into the hillside

were closed as there was deemed to be too great a risk of serious fire. On the route back, I did find a Hoopoe

and managed not to flush it too far away, thereby obtaining a good look and decent photos.

So I went to the Minerve area, in the Hérault department just across the border, not knowing what to expect.

As I reached the roundabout at the end of the D607, to the left, I could see another male Montagu’s Harrier

quartering the long-grassed terrain. There is a place to park by there so I watched it for a while before heading

on my way. J Crozier’s decent guide book to the birding south of the Loire mentioned the route from La

Caunette to Minerve as being worth checking out. Just past a narrow bridge over a dry river into the village of

La Caunette, I saw something perched on a tree above the low cliff. From its position and size (I was some 250

metres away) I guessed it would be a Shrike, so I was somewhat pleased to see that it was in fact my first

visible Golden Oriole. I headed towards it for a few metres but whether or not it was spooked by a distant me,

it flew off. In the scrub and vineyards all around there were Sylvia warblers, but I only saw Sardinian. I drove a

little way on past La Caunette and towards Minerve over some high vineyards. My attention was drawn to a

couple of raptors and I knew if I could drive fast (and safely) enough, I might get to a spot where I was almost

the same height as they were. I was in luck, and watched, awestruck, as two Short-toed Eagles soared and

swooped oblivious to their admiring observer. I got a number of good photographs too and could have

finished the day happy there, but my appetite was insatiable.

I drove past Minerve and searched in vain for rock thrushes, which were one of two key targets for the

fortnight, the other being Ortolan Bunting. I don’t know much about the behaviour of these birds, except for

their famous habit of perching on craggy edges, so didn’t know whether there was a good or bad time of day.

Seemingly, I was searching at a bad time of day and high winds must have been a factor. No matter, as I soon

found one of the more pleasant discoveries of my trip. I had earlier been intrigued by a narrow bridge that led

over a ravine off the La Caunette to Minerve road, so headed back to cross that as it seemed like it might lead

to promising habitat for Ortolan Buntings. I ascended up past a wine domaine and to the top of the hill there,

and as I came to the top I stopped at a vineyard where numerous Swallows were zipping around and where I

was convinced I could see an interesting Bunting. I pulled up and walked under the shade of a tree from which

I could see at eye level the ground beneath a vineyard. I could hear something, something like a begging call

and it turned out to be a Cirl Bunting. As I looked up, I could see what at first I thought was a juvenile Barn

Swallow, since its colour seemed a bit washed out and its patterns seemed unlike what I was expecting,

notably a pale reddish nape. It dawned on me that in fact I might be looking at a separate species, and when

other similar birds started to fly by, calling in a way that recalled more of a sparrow than a barn swallow, and

baring pale rumps, I was delighted to realise that I was in fact looking at a number of Red-rumped Swallows.

I since discovered that these were also in good number in the gorges below the town of Minerve, occasionally

flying up to a tower there and then back into the gorge. I got some excellent views and photographs of a

family group and got back into the car. I moved up the hill and saw, at pretty close quarters, a number of Bee-

eaters

and a Red-backed Shrike in a field with donkeys in it before the road came to an abrupt end.

The shrike was a juvenile, and in fact I didn’t see an adult throughout the trip. There were also numerous

Chaffinches there and a large number of Common Swift. The large groupings of swifts was a notable

phenomenon of the holiday and it was clear I was watching migration in action as they seemed to follow in

endless lines a single current of air over gorges and cliffs in many places I visited.

Having gone back onto the A10, I climbed the hill and saw another likely Ortolan but it flew off before I got a

good look so I continued to be frustrated. However, the field it flew into had been harvested and seemed a

good little place to wander round, with a small wood of mixed deciduous and conifer trees in it. What a spot!

There were Orphean, Dartford, Subalpine and Sardinian Warbler in the trees, garrigue and shrubs

surrounding this field, while on the edge of the forest, I saw Common Redstart and Black Redstart flitting from

perches onto the low weedy harvested field. In among them on the ground and in the trees were more

Willow Warbler and a smart Wood Warbler, together with young Pied Flycatchers, one or two Chiffchaff and

the only Blackcaps I managed to see on the visit. I have heard people talking about places being “dripping”

with birds and I now really know what that looks like, something similar to what I have occasionally seen with

thrush falls on the Norfolk coast in October. To my delight, I was able to secrete myself below what was

evidently a popular bush for birds and got up close and personal with a young Sardininan Warbler and then,

even better, a young Woodchat Shrike that had no idea I was there.

I was sated, at least for the day.

The following day was an avowed non-birding day, and the wind remained pretty strong so I was far from

heartbroken. So it was a great pleasure to be sitting in the garden of our gîte in Saint-Marcel and watch a

Short-toed Eagle drift low and over, to the evident alarm of various garden birds around us. Bee-eaters

continued their regular fly-overs, in seemingly increasing numbers. I persuaded my family to head to Minerve

with me to check out the (lovely) village and on the way, in the aforementioned field by the D607, the

aforementioned Montagu’s Harrier was again quartering. We looked into the gorge below the village of

Minerve and saw more Red-rumped Swallow and Crag Martin but a pleasing surprise was a seemingly single

Alpine Swift, with a dramatic flight pattern that recalled panicked waders with jerky left and right motion and

superquick movements. As the wind battered us from our vantage point, where I had promised to be brief, I

scanned in vain for a Blue Rock Thrush, convinced nonetheless that this was ideal habitat. One distant “thing”

did attract my attention, though, perched on a shrub about half-way up the cliff side and in the shade, and I

double-took to realise that the greyish-headed, reddish-bodied thing was actually a bird and that it was my

first ever Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush. It was, like the Griffon Vultures and the Orphean Warblers, a lifer for me

on this trip.

The following morning, following advice from LPO Aude, I gave it a good go in the hills and vineyards around

Fitou, particularly looking for Ortolan, which by now was taking on mythically elusive status to the effect that I

even contemplated what it would be like to eat that infamous dish... Again, the species escaped me, but I was

pleased to find, in the vineyards above the town, a good number of Dartford and Sardinian Warblers, a

Hoopoe in among the feeding pigeons, as well as another, beautiful, lifer for me, the Black-eared Wheatear.

Like the Crested Larks, which were also in evidence here, they wouldn’t sit still for a second (or a photo) and

persisted in chasing in among the vines at the slightest hint of trouble. And there was trouble, particularly

with this being a known raptor hotspot (later my son and I saw a ringtail Montagu’s Harrier here), and another

male Woodchat Shrike was hunting from the vines. Further on, towards Treilles, a couple more Black-eared

Wheatear were more obliging, one in the road, the other on the barrier and they posed lower in the valley,

close enough for decent, sun-kissed photos. In the vineyards beyond, my Ortolan obsession was still not

quelled, and even obliging adult and juvenile Woodchat Shrikes couldn’t abate my frustration. A couple of Cirl

Buntings perched obligingly close by in the same vineyard, while a Short-toed Eagle menaced briefly from

above. I walked along the side of the vines, between them and some scrub and at one point there was the

brief, but familiar kkruit of a Nightjar which must have been concerned that I was close by, but never showed,

of course. I kept getting glimpses in the same spot of a Subalpine Warbler, which seemed to be practising its

song from deep within a bush (training the young?, or the young practising?).

I headed home, stopping off briefly now the wind had died down in the scrubby area just outside Marcorignan.

Again, there were plentiful Bee-eaters there, plus a couple of Lesser Kestrel calling hunting. While going for a

closer look at them, I bumped into what must have been a family party of Rollers, which screamed like Jays as

four flew away. As I headed back towards the D607 down the dirt track, another Roller

flew from its by now regular and reliable perch on a telegraph wire by the road to sit pleasingly opposite

where I was in full view for decent photos. It was joined for a while by another Bee-eater and a Goldfinch

(one of the many, many around the area).

The following day (a Saturday) was another designated non-birding day, but I was able to squeeze in a session

near Fitou again with my son in the late afternoon. We took a fairly leisurely route, and had a quick and

fruitless look for Little Bustard and Stone Curlew (which we had heard earlier in the week near the gîte) at

Lézignan-Corbières airfield. In the town itself, a sudden flurry of starlings made me look up and we got a good

look at what could only have been a Booted Eagle – my first instinct was to say “Egyptian Vulture” but my son

and I agreed that it was not big enough and less likely in our area. An exciting find, and we could have got

semi-decent photos, but we were too excited to think to take one and were anyway in quite a busy town

centre...

We drove around the area where I had the previous morning seen the various species in and around the

vineyards, found nothing really but the Montagu’s Harrier mentioned earlier. However, at one point, we saw a

large number of Rock Sparrows and other birds around what was a small pool and a rocky, low cliff above.

The birds were all very jittery, but one attracted my attention by not flying off in the same direction as all the

others. It was a handsome male Ortolan Bunting, and we watched it in complete joy do hardly anything for

ages (even as a large black lizard crawled above it).

Here too there was a female Ortolan, Corn Buntings, Linnets, Goldfinches, Serins and the usual Sylvia

warblers: one small patch of water attracting all these birds in such an arid area.

Camargue

The following day was planned as an outing to the Camargue area. Despite in some ways seeming worlds

apart, these celebrated regions are not too far from each other, though we started by aiming for the most

distant place: the Peau de Meau reserve at La Crau. We got there at around 9 a.m., but this was clearly too

late. The heat haze had started to build, and my guess was that much of the activity in this barren place had

already happened. The drive from Saint-Martin-de-Crau was brightened by a huge colony of Starlings and Bee-

eaters feeding low and high on whatever insect life could bear to be in that place, and despite the shimmering

heat I managed to make out a female Little Bustard. As we set off round the Peau de Meau itself (we failed to

pay, because the Ecomusée from which one buys tickets/permits is closed on Sundays in August), I realised

that I had left my hat at home and we didn’t have a lot of water. Given that the nearest trees were at least a

couple of miles away, I embarked with some trepidation on the walk. For ages, the only birds in sight seemed

to be Skylark and Lesser Kestrel, and there were a lot of the latter, regularly perching on the mounds of stones

dotted around (“coussols”). It wasn’t until we reached a line of firs by a water course that things started to

improve. First, a group of seven Rollers

chased about along the river. A Hoopoe appeared from nowhere and gave my son a great photo opportunity,

while a Kingfisher shot along the river itself. A pair of tiny birds kept flitting back and forth from short bushes

along the banks of the narrow channel and eventually were visible enough to reveal themselves as Fan-tailed

Warblers.

A brown job flew off at one point and we couldn’t dismiss it as a Skylark – we didn’t do a very good job of in-

the-field identification but a look later revealed we had seen a Tawny Pipit.

As we thirsted and got desperate to get back to the car, the only birds of note were a Black Kite and a couple

more Bee-eaters. A large number of Yellow-legged Gulls, Carrion Crow, Jackdaws and Cattle Egrets were

feeding in what looked like a flooded field on the right as we left the reserve and headed for another reserve

at Scamandre, via an approach towards Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer which was stupidly crowded. This was some

30 or 40 minutes away, but we soon found ourselves in more familiar Camargue habitats and a small pool by a

farmstead proved a great spot for numerous different species, chief among them Great White and Little Egret,

Little Ringed Plover, Wood Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers and Green Sandpipers, Black-winged Stilts, Gull-

billed Terns (feeding juveniles), Yellow-legged and Black-headed Gulls, Tree Sparrow, White and Yellow

Wagtails. Though it was a relatively small pool, it was ideal for waders and other species and was an exciting

find.

I was more than disappointed to find that the reserve at the Etang de Scamandre was closed. However, I

wasn’t too surprised: after all, how can you take seriously a reserve that only opens from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. even

when it is meant to be open? So we had to content ourselves with parking by the long, straight road that leads

from there to the village of Saint-Gilles. I have been here in spring, when there rae fewer reeds and I wasn’t

hopeful of much success, but in fact, we had marvellous views of Whiskered and Little Terns hunting, more

Wood Sandpiper and egrets, and pleasingly, two Squacco Herons dropped in and showed well.

After having seen the Minsmere bird, it was also pleasing to see two adult and one young Purple Swamphen

too.

We saw one very curious bird, with a grey body and white neck: this turned out to be a hybrid of (we were

told) an Eastern Reef Heron and either Grey Heron (which would make sense to look at the bird) or a Little

Egret.

Audible, but not visible were a few Bearded Tits and Cetti’s Warblers, while a Reed Warbler hopped about in

the reeds directly in front of us. I got a brief view of a Glossy Ibis and a White Stork in the area.

After a late lunch, we took a drive to the Etang de Vaccarès, with the primary intention of “ticking” the Greater

Flamingo, which we did: there were hundreds, perhaps thousands of them, widely distributed over the étang

as far as the eye could see. Bee-eaters could be heard, but the star surprise was a single Caspian Tern,

preening as Gull-billed Terns

fetched fish back to calling young by the waterside. In seemingly perfect conditions, I was disappointed that

the only evident wader was a Whimbrel but I do wonder what that place is like in winter. More Glossy Ibis and

White Storks were apparently about, according to the Camargue Safari guys we passed, but we failed to follow

their directions properly and didn’t catch up with them. We felt pretty pleased, nonetheless, with our tally. I

would have liked to see a Little Bittern, as I love bittern species and had seen one in the area years ago before I

got seriously into birding.

I had made a promise to desist from birding once I’d caught up with the Ortolan and been to the Camargue,

but I negotiated one last morning before heading back north. It turned out to be excellent. I first went early

to the La Clape area in the hope of getting a good look at Blue Rock Thrush

and was pleased to find a cliffside near La Pépinière de la Clape where there was a decent amount of activity

from this species. There were also Firecrests all around and I could hear, but not see, Crested Tits, I was pretty

sure. It was clearly a point where migration was also visible as streams of Common Swifts in groups of 30-40

at a time made a pretty direct way over the Cliffside as the hirundines below seemed set for a longer stay.

I then headed back to Fitou in the hope of catching up again with my Ortolan – in vain, sadly. I stopped off at

the vineyard where I had seen my first Black-eared Wheatear a few days before, and although they weren’t in

evidence, a magnificent young Golden Eagle

was circling over the area and gave great views before drifting off. I decided to give up birding a little early,

but was delighted that, just east of Marcorignan, in the field where I had seen ringtails, a male Montagu’s

Harrier was again quartering. It was close enough to the road and I was near enough to a place to stop in

order to get some decent photos.

So the rest of the break was pretty birding-free, but wherever we went, given our routes out of Saint-Marcel,

Rollers and other reasonably exotic species abounded. A Golden Oriole flew back and forth over our garden

on our last evening and as night fell, two very noisy Tawny Owls flew about the garden too, one just over my

head.

As we left on our final journey away from the area, it was perhaps fitting that there were several Rollers on the

telegraph wires between Marcorignan and Narbonne as if they were bidding us farewell.

I write at the end of a very long drive from Saint-Marcel to Bellême in the Orne department. There was an

extraordinary amount of traffic, as you might expect on a French August Saturday, meaning that a seven and a

half hour journey took 11 hours. We did have two avian rewards: in the early part, as we crossed the

Cévennes in cool, rainy conditions, a number of White Stork could been seen flying fairly low (though

admittedly at 1000m above sea-level!) over a football pitch. Much, much later, the highlight of the whole

journey, as we joined a brief queue for the A10 from the A71 at Orléans, on a bridge over the Loire, we were

privileged to see a large raptor hovering over the river and of course it was an Osprey presumably on its

migration. My whole family thoroughly enjoyed these eye level views of this magnificent bird before it

stooped to hunt a fish and disappeared below the bridge wall.

Tomorrow, I will be on deck on the Calais – Dover ferry, hoping for some nice sea birds to brighten the

otherwise gloomy prospect of returning to work on Monday...

Species list:

1. Mute Swan widespread; most noticeable near Calais

2. Canada Goose La Brenne

3. Mallard widespread; particularly on rivers

4. Gadwall Etang de la Sous (La Brenne)

5. Garganey Etang de la Sous (La Brenne)

6. Red-legged Partridge widespread, esp near vineyards in Minervois, Corbières, Saint-Marcel

7. Pheasant particularly noticeable in the vast harvested fields in the Centre region

8. Little Grebe Southern Normandy

9. Great Crested Grebe La Brenne

10. Gannet English Channel

11. Cormorant English Channel outside Calais; La Brenne

12. Cattle Egret Camargue mostly but anywhere where there are livestock or wet

grasslands

13. Squacco Heron Scamandre (Camargue)

14. Little Egret widespread; particularly near water; especially in La Brenne and Camargue

15. Purple Heron Etang de la Sous (La Brenne)

16. Great White Egret widespread, especially lagoons around Bages and in the Camargue

17. Grey Heron widespread; as for Little Egret; but also in harvested fields in a number of

places

18. White Stork widespread; vis mig near Narbonne

19. Glossy Ibis Scamandre (Camargue); Etang de Vaccarès (Camargue)

20. Greater Flamingo in the lagoons near Narbonne, visible from the A9; Etang de Vaccarès

(Camargue)

21. Griffon Vulture Le Rozier (Cévennes); possible sighting off A75 too

22. Osprey Loire, A71 near Orléans

23. Golden Eagle by the Ruisseau du Pla off the D50 past Fitou

24. Short-toed Eagle first one seen just south of the Cévennes off A75; thereafter; fairly

common sighting esp in Aude

25. Booted Eagle above Lézignan-Corbières town

26. Black Kite first ones visible in La Brenne; but widespread in the Languedoc and

Camargue

27. Marsh Harrier Etang de la Sous (La Brenne); hunting by the roadside near Bellême

28. Montagu’s Harrier fields about 2 km out of Marcorignan towards Narbonne; Fitou; fields

around the roundabout where the D607 meets the D5 between Saint-

Marcel and Cabezac

29. Common Buzzard widespread; most noticeably on fenceposts by autoroutes

30. Honey Buzzard first unmistakeable one at Mer; and several further sightings in the Orléans

area plus vis mig

31. Sparrowhawk widespread; Saint-Marcel; Marcorignan; La Clape

32. Goshawk Marcorignan

33. Kestrel commonplace

34. Lesser Kestrel Marcorignan; La Crau

35. Hobby widespread; particularly in the La Brenne area

36. Peregrine Falcon Saint-Marcel-sur-Aude; Marcorignan; Boulogne area

37. Moorhen widespread

38. Coot widespread; Etang de Vaccarès; Calais

39. Purple Swamphen Scamandre (Camargue)

40. Little Bustard La Crau

41. Black-winged Stilt Camargue, including Scamandre

42. Stone Curlew heard only, from the fields west of Saint-Marcel; La Crau (heard only)

43. Little Ringed Plover Camargue

44. Lapwing Camargue

45. Green Sandpiper Camargue

46. Common Sandpiper La Brenne and Camargue

47. Wood Sandpiper Camargue, including Scamandre

48. Whimbrel Etang de Vaccarès (Camargue)

49. Black-headed Gull widespread; English Channel; Camargue

50. Slender-billed Gull Camargue

51. Kittiwake English Channel outside Calais

52. Mediterranean Gull Camargue; Narbonne-Plage

53. Herring Gull English Channel and northern France in particular

54. Yellow-legged Gull particularly easy to see in the Camargue and Narbonne-Plage areas

55. Lesser Black-backed Gull widespread; particularly in the rural central parts

56. Great Black-backed Gull English Channel outside Calais

57. Little Tern English Channel outside Calais; Camargue (Scamandre)

58. Sandwich Tern English Channel outside Calais

59. Gull-billed Tern Camargue generally; Méjanes and Vaccarès (Camargue)

60. Common Tern English Channel outside Calais

61. Arctic Tern English Channel outside Calais

62. Caspian Tern Etang de Vaccarès (Camargue)

63. Whiskered Tern Etang de la Sous (La Brenne); Scamandre (Camargue)

64. (poss) Black Tern English Channel

65. Feral pigeon widespread

66. Stock Dove? Seemed like Stock Dove in among Woodpigeons at Ruisseau du Pla

67. Woodpigeon widespread

68. Collared Dove widespread in large numbers

69. Turtle Dove thinly but widely spread; particularly noticeable away from the main roads

70. Tawny Owl garden at Saint-Marcel

71. Nightjar in scrub in fields off D50 between Fitou and Treilles (heard only)

72. Common Swift widespread; visible migration in La Clape area

73. Alpine Swift lone bird in gorge by Minerve

74. Kingfisher La Crau

75. Bee-eater Widespread in the Aude and Hérault

76. Roller off A9 past Montpellier; Marcorignan (good numbers); Fitou; La Crau (party

of 7)

77. Hoopoe widespread; La Clape; La Crau; Narbonne-Plage

78. Green Woodpecker heard in a few places, seen only in the southern part of Normandy!

79. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker heard only in woods at Bellême

80. Skylark La Crau

81. Crested Lark in vineyards by Saint-Marcel; Camargue

82. Short-toed Lark near Fitou

83. Sand Martin Scamandre (Camargue)

84. Crag Martin Le Rozier (Cévennes); Corbières region (Aude); Minerve etc

85. Barn Swallow widespread

86. Red-rumped Swallow in the gorges around Minerve; by Domaine Vordy off D10 La Caunette to

Minerve

87. House Martin ubiquitous

88. Tawny Pipit La Crau

89. White Wagtail widespread

90. Yellow Wagtail Camargue

91. Common Redstart in woods off the Combe d’Agon off D10 Minervois to Azillanet

92. Black Redstart a common sighting in towns and villages; including our Saint-Marcel garden

93. Whinchat by Domaine Vordy off D10 La Caunette to Minerve

94. Stonechat widespread; especially in scrubby areas and on fences by the autoroutes

95. Song Thrush a couple of sightings in the Centre region

96. Blackbird widespread but not a common sighting

97. Blue Rock Thrush in gorge below Minerve; La Clape

98. Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush in gorge below Minerve and D10

99. Black-eared Wheatear by the Ruisseau du Pla off the D50 past Fitou and in the hills beyond

100. Zitting Cisticola widespread; near Bages; La Crau; Camargue

101. Garden Warbler in shrubs near Saint-Marcel

102. Blackcap widespread to be heard; seen only near Etang de la Sous (La Brenne) and

near the D10 Minerve to Azillanet road

103. Common Whitethroat fields west of Saint-Marcel; widespread in other places where there was

scrub

104. Orphean Warbler in the scrub around Fitou, Ruisseau de Pla

105. Sardinian Warbler widespread in the south; almost anywhere where there was scrub or low

bushes

106. Spectacled Warbler in scrub around Bages

107. Subalpine Warbler in scrub near vineyards near Bages

108. Dartford Warbler widespread, especially around Fitou

109. Reed Warbler Scamandre (Camargue)

110. Cetti’s Warbler Scamandre (Camargue)

111. Melodious Warbler in shrubs near Bages

112. Willow Warbler Saint-Marcel; Bages; in woods off the Combe d’Agon off D10 Minervois to

Azillanet

113. Wood Warbler in woods off the Combe d’Agon off D10 Minervois to Azillanet

114. Bonelli’s Warbler seen in small patch of shrubs off D124 outside Saint-Marcel, presumably

widespread

115. Chiffchaff widespread; in woods off the Combe d’Agon off D10 Minervois to Azillanet

116. Firecrest La Clape

117. Spotted Flycatcher in trees by D124 out of Saint-Marcel

118. Pied Flycatcher in woods off the Combe d’Agon off D10 Minervois to Azillanet

119. Great Tit widespread; in garden at Saint-Marcel

120. Crested Tit La Clape in the pine forests

121. Bearded Tit heard only in the reeds by Scamandre (Camargue)

122. Red-backed Shrike In fields beyond Domaine Tailhades Mayranne above La Caunette

123. Woodchat Shrike commonplace in Corbières and Minervois around vineyards and scrub; also

near Bages

124. Magpie widespread

125. Jay widespread

126. Jackdaw widespread

127. Raven Fitou

128. Carrion Crow widespread

129. Starlings ubiquitous; in large gatherings on the wires around Narbonne

130. Golden Oriole La Caunette; by D124 out of Saint-Marcel

131. House Sparrow ubiquitous

132. Tree Sparrow in garden at Saint-Marcel; Camargue

133. Rock Sparrow Fitou, Saint-Marcel

134. Chaffinch widespread; most commonly in La Clape area

135. Linnet ubiquitous

136. Goldfinch widespread in several habitats

137. Greenfinch widespread

138. Serin widespread in towns and cities; particularly from the Centre southwards

139. Ortolan Bunting off D227 just north of the Aude/Pyrénées Orientales border

140. Yellowhammer more noticeable in the north; one or two perched on roadside fences and

hedges

141. Cirl Bunting widespread; Fitou; fields above D10 La Caunette to Minerve

142. Corn Bunting autoroute fences; Fitou area; Camargue in the drier parts