New stone curlew

A 7am bike ride allowed me to almost beat the promised storm but I got wet just ten minutes from home. The black clouds and the lightning which were coming in from the west were very menacing but impressive and I obviously dallied two long while watching them.

I unintentionally flushed a stone curlew form close to the farm track near Chatenet. As with the Lairiere birds, it was in a sunflower field. A pair of corn buntings were very noisy nearby. I think I must have been close to their nest. I saw another pair later near Lairiere.

My friend Irv reports seeing a very large flock of black kites --perhaps 50--- circling above a vineyard in the east of the department .