I've been back in Charente for a week or so. The weather has been mainly very hot and dry and remarkably the grain harvest is virtually complete. This must have had an impact on ground-nesting birds and I saw one rather forlorn looking stone curlew this week standing by a recently-cut field--but then stone curlews always look forlorn so I might be reading too much into it.
I've not had much time for birding because of other obligations but I've seen quite a few black kites around and a few hen harriers but no montagues as yet.
I saw my first red backed shrike (male) sat on a wire near Chavignac today. This species has become very uncommon in recent years.
Black redstarts continue to sing everywhere as do a few other species such as orioles but I don't know why some birds such as nightingales and cuckoos become quiet by this time of year. Irv suggests that species such as the latter ones may already have returned south.
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