mid november

Friends from the UK were with us last week but we managed to dodge most of the showers again and get in a few walks around La Poterie.
Hawfinches were showing particularly well and a few brambling were mixed in with the chaffinch flocks. We came across several flurries of redwing and just one flock of about 30 fieldfare.
A group of half a dozen cranes was perhaps the tail end of the migration but there were one or two false alarms with small flights of cormorants that passed over.
Firecrests were not showing at all but goldcrests were surprisingly common. Skylarks were numerous especially on the plains but only one small group of woodlark revealed itself near the Bonnieure.
The woods held plenty of tit flocks; long tailed were particularly common but there was a single marsh tit in a large bird wave that also contained short toed treecreeper and nuthatch.
There was no sign of any lapwings but Irv and sandy reported large flocks of them north of the Loire so perhaps the colder weather will bring them down.
Hen harriers were very sparse