March 2011

White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) - Le Teich, France

Highlight of the month was a 5-day weekend in the south of France.  I was picked up at Bordeaux airport by the friends I was staying with and we immediately drove down to the Le Teich reserve on the Arcachon basin.

White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) - Le Teich, France

White Storks are very common here and there are several pairs that nest quite close to the path, allowing excellent opportunities to photograph their courtship displays in the beautiful late afternoon light.

White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) - Le Teich, France

White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) - Le Teich, France

From a birdlife point of view, March is not the ideal time to visit the south of France as the variety of species available is not particularly good.  We did, however, still manage to see about 40-50 species at Le Teich so it wasn't too bad. 

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) - Le Teich, France

Shorebirds numbers at Le Teich are very dependent on the tide conditions and there wasn't a huge number present when we were there, but a couple of Snipe kept me happy by performing beautifully just in front of one of the hides.

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) - Le Teich, France

There was a large group of cormorants, all looking resplendent in their breeding finery, resting on the pilings in one of the lagoons.

Great Cormorant (Phalcrocorax carbo sinensis) - Le Teich, France

My friends had told me there had been a good variety of species visiting the feeders in their garden and I was hoping to get some good shots of their Cirl Buntings, Brambling, Green Woodpeckers, Jays, Firecrest and Marsh Tits.  Unfortunately they were all a bit camera shy and didn't visit the feeders whenever I had my camera set up.  The one exception was a Short-toed Treecreeper that came and landed on the tree right beside me, only 2 metres away...too close to focus!  I had to wait until it had worked its way up the tree before I could take any of photos of it.

Short-toed Treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla) - Miramont, France

Just to rub salt into the wounds, I got an email from Miranda a couple of days after I returned to Britain, telling me that not only were their feeders busy again, but the usual suspects had been joined by a Hawfinch!  C'est la vie!

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) with a sunflower seed stuck on its bill - Miramont, France

At the nearby Lac du Braysson, we came across a small party of Long-tailed Tits collecting spider webs to use in building their nests.

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) - Lac du Braysson, France

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) - Lac du Braysson, France

Most of the other places we visited in the immediate environs of their house were pretty lifeless, but the excellent company and gorgeous weather more than made up for the lack of birds.

Allemans du Dropt, France

Soumensac, France

Reflections in the lake - Sumensac, France

 

February 2011 2011 Diary Index April 2011