Late december--and one more species

A walk by the Son-sonnette today produced a couple of siskins, so one more species can be added to the Dec list.
Large numbers of woodpigeons have been around since yesterday with some tight flocks numbering over 400.  Othher species today were:

collared dove
great spotted woodpecker
green woodpecker
mallard
grey heron
crow
magpie
jay
buzzard
kestrel
blue tit
great tit
goldcrest
wren
robin
goldfinch
chaffinch
linnet
cirl bunting
skylark
starling
house sparrow
blackbird
mistle thrush
redwing

 25 species  No great list -- but not quite disgraceful.

On Christmas Day a male hen harrier graced the fields near Fontenille

How many birds in December?

Well it's getting to that time of year when folk light up their houses and eat mince pies etc so it seems a good time to do a reflectve post.
December is generally a quiet time bird-wise in Charente. Unlike Charente Maritime,the habitat/ location is not one to attract numbers of winter wildfowl or waders except perhaps lapwings and golden plovers so the best one can hope for is an influx of winter passerines searching for food. This year has seen little as yet in terms of northern finches and thrushes so the highlights of this month have been the occasional skein of late-migrating cranes and, of course, the lost pallas's warbler.
Nevertheless I can't resist seeing and recording the birds that are about and there is always something of interest such as the hawfinch which was in the garden earlier this week and a female sparrowhawk  eyeing the bird table outside a friend's house. The occasional hen harrier still quarter the fields, the size of the flocks of finches and larks can often be startling and at night-time tawny owls are hooting and barn owls can be glimpsed in the car's headlights.
Readers of this blog may have noted my inclination to list the birds that I have seen in the course of a day. This mildly obsessional trait is typical of most birders (and some are genuinely obsessed by lists of all sorts--year lists, life lists, trip lists etc.) Although I recognise the near pointlessness of it, there is a harmless challenge for me in discovering the number that a local walk or ride will produce. Below 20 species is a mild disgrace but it does happen; more commonly, the list hovers around the 25 to 30 species mark but the number on any day are a bit like the National Lottery in that there are always one or two missing but which were there only a day or two before.
To get an idea of the which birds are commonly around in Charente it probably would make more sense to compile weekly or monthly list and to do so outside of the Spring migration period would result in a figure of 40-50.
Here, in no order other than how they come to mind, is a list of species seen or heard this December:

common buzzard
kestrel
sparrowhawk
hen harrier
merlin
grey heron
pheasant
moorhen
mallard
mute swan
woodpigeon
collared dove
great spotted woodpecker
green woodpecker
lesser spotted woodpecker
barn owl
tawny owl
little owl
chaffinch
greenfinch
hawfinch
linnet
goldfinch
brambling
skylark
woodlark
meadow pipit
stonechat
robin
wren
dunnock
house sparrow
cirl bunting
short-toed tree creeper
nuthatch
firecrest
goldcrest
lapwing
golden plover
carrion crow
rook
jackdaw
jay
magpie
starling
blackbird
song thrush
mistle thrush
redwing
fieldfare
common crane
chiffchaff
white wagtail
grey wagtail
blue tit
great tit
long-tailed tit
marsh tit
cormorant
pallas's warbler

Ok, the last one is a one-off but the list which comes to 60 species does not include birds which doubtlessly are present but which I have not come across this month. These, for example, include the following which are come across on some days:

yellowhammer
tree sparrow
kingfisher
cetti's warbler
blackcap
siskin
bullfinch
black woodpecker
coal tit
snipe
woodcock
grey partridge
red-legged partridge

To these could be added little grebe, great crested grebe, coot, crossbill, crested tit and dipper which occur in Haute Charente.

The list could therefore be around 80 but then, just as with the lottery,  you are very unlikely to get all of numbers at any one time, even within a whole month. Still, it could happen and that's a part of what keeps us going.

golden plover and cranes

Since the pallas warbler surprise the birding has been quite interesting; a hawfinch and a lesser spotted woodpecker were present at Valence yesterday and a flock of 100 cranes flew high over La Poterie. A trip over the Lairiere plains this morning revealed a single lapwing, no less than five herons following a plough and a flock of over 50 golden plover feeding in the same field. Flocks of skylarks and chaffinches contained many hundreds and a single flock of linnets consisted of around 400 birds.

Pallas's warbler-a real rarity

Today was a very good day, not only did Man U sort out Abu Dhabi FC but a birding rarity made its appearance near Valence viz a pallas's warbler!
This tiny asian bird should be well on its way down to southern China for the winter but has been displaced far westward from its usual route and ended up busily feeding in the low trees at the side of the track along the Son-Sonette valley. It is only the size of a goldcrest and was making no sound to make my brother and I aware of its presence but luckily Carl caught sight of a movement and we spent a pleasant 15 minutes watching it feeding restessly above us. It was still there when we left so I'll check out the spot again tomorrow morning. Lost individuals such as this are recorded in very small numbers every year in western europe but this is my first ----so a red letter day indeed.

cranes

Well it's almost December but the cranes are still moving south. A flock of about 200 flew directly over the house today. They were doing their familiar circling which I assume is for the purpose of re-grouping, before they settled back into straggled skeins and proceeded southwards. They drew attention to themselves by their loud bugling cries and I can't decide which I find the most fascinating, this wild noise or the majestic sight of their migration.
I suppose that photos of cranes look much the same from one year to the next but I can't resist pointing a camera at them. These are some of this year's pics.

Fieldfare

It's late November but the weather is still mild and there is little sign of any winter arrivals but a single fieldfare was near Chatenet this morning and the huge chaffinch flocks in the Bonnieure valley included the occasional brambling. I have yet to see any significant movement of lapwings and the few song thrushes and mistle thrushes that I have come across may or may not be winter arrivals.

A flock of 20 woodlarks was a welcome sight near Chatenet and a pair of firecrests were feeding near Le Moulin d'Oiseaux.

 On a more sombre note, it's sad to see how many barn owls are road victims at this time of year; I've seen about ten in the last few days.

Goldcrests and 'pishing'

Europe's smallest birds are the goldcrest and the firecrest. The latter which is the most attractive one with its bright facial markings is by far the more common in Charente but a bit of pishing in the woods along the Bonnieure yesterday attracted the attention of a goldcrest along with the inevitable great and blue tits which respond unfailingly to this technique. Firecrests, nuthatches,robins, chaffinches and long-tailed tits were also curious about the noise I was making but most other species except for treecreepers are nearly always unresponsive.

Today has started with drizzle and mist so I don't expect to see or hear much but a postscript to my posts for earlier in the week is of a flock of 8 woodlark which were feeding quietly by a track near Ventouse. This species usually reveals its presence by it song but at this time of the year all the birds remained silent and motionless, relying on their camouflage until I approached within 20 yards. The goldfinch flock on the plains were still working their way through the remaining sunflowers (as were over 20 collared doves) but their unsettled and nervous behaviour was soon explained by the presence of a sparrowhawk concealed in a nearby tree. He has probably had several dinners from this large flock over the last few weeks. Rooks and jackdaws were present around Chatenet yesterday. Tawny owls are still calling in the early hours and a barn owl was hissing loudly from the church tower at Fontenille on Friday evening.

                                                                            

GOLDCREST                                                           FIRECREST

Cranes and Merlins

Cranes have been passing over in the last 2-3 days although I've seen only a small flock of 14 myself. My wife has seen more --but then she has not been assembling Ikea furniture indoors.
I did manage a walk along the Son-Sonette on Wednesday; along with the 14 cranes I came across one bullfinch and a few reed buntings. In total 34 species made an appearance.
Another escape from the assembly line took me to the plains yesterday. I was rewarded by the fascinating sight of not one but three merlins working together to chase skylarks one of which was taken after a long dog-fight high in the sky. This took place not long before sunset and several kestrels were also hunting. Perhaps the low-angled light works to the falcons' advantage.

Five corvids and four raptors on Remembrance Day

The mixture of showers and sun continued today but the rain held off all morning and I took my binoculars when I cycled over the plains to pay my respects at the La Tache cenotaph.
One gets so used to seeing flocks of just crows daily that it's a pleasant surprise to see their numbers augmented by rooks and jackdaws as they were around Artenac today. Put this together with the many jays that were flying about and the pair of magpies thatI I came across and it amounts to five members of the corvid family. This is about the maximum that is possible in Charente as ravens are very rare.
Raptors gave a good showing also; buzzards were everywhere as usual including the extremely dark and the almost white individuals which often frequent the area. A pair of female hen harriers were making use of a thermal and a single kestrel was hunting the fields. Later, an immature sparrowhawk decided to sit on the stable roof for some five minutes.
The finch family was represented almost entirely by goldfinch as the 500+ flock is still feeding on the unharvested sunflowers--although they seem to have eaten most of the seeds by now. Just a few greenfinches accompanied them. Elsewhere, chaffinches were around in good numbers with the odd brambling mxed in with them. No sign of any linnets today.
The other species that were flocking were the starlings around La Tache and the many hundreds of skylarks that are feeding on the plains. There is still no sign of any more cranes but the migration period seems to have stretched further and further into late November and early December in recent years so their is still a good possibility they will turn up.
Firecrests and a short-toed treecreeper were both in the garden bringing the day's species total to a satisfying 30+.

Break in the clouds? Go for a ride--Get wet.

The weather remains miserable today but beset by the guilt of a 64 year-old who fears that he needs a bit of exercise I took to my bike. Not many birds were as equally adventurous, however. A trip over the plains and back via Artenac revealed a flock of 100+ goldfinches making the best of the sunflowers that remain, a few chaffinches, and greenfinches plenty of skylarks on the ploughed fields, a smattering of crows, two magpies and a jay, some wind-tossed woodpigeons and collared doves, the usual blue and great tits, an occasional calling meadow pipit, a kestrel and a buzzard, some starlings huddled on a wire, chirping house sparrows and the resident moorhens on La Poterie pond--I can't count the remaining mallard. I make that a mere 17 species!
But there was a large flock of linnets outside my house yesterday afternoon and I'm sure that robins have stopped singing only until the rain stops.

Back in (wet) Charente

The short trip to the wetlands of the Costa Brava was very pleasant and yielded 60+ species including plenty of flamingoes and it was good to find that the water levels were so high after the summer drought.

The same conditions seem to be the case here in Charente as it rained pretty incessantly today so I hardly got out of the house. I don't yet know if any more cranes were observed during my brief absence.

Hold That Page

 At least two flocks of cranes were calling this morning as they flew over the house between 5 and 6am----so the cold weather is causing some movement.

Spain tomorrow

Well the cold wind certainly came today but it as yet has not brought any migrants from the north--or not that could be observed from my garden. Tomorrow I'm off to northern Spain for a few days to see what has blown in there.

Birthday List

Yesterday I reached the 64th milestone which seemed a good opportunity to see how many birds were out there to celebrate it with me. There was no chance of  finding 64 species but one for each two years seemed a possibility. In the end I managed 35 and that was without a few usual suspects such as linnet and nuthatch.
The highlight was several brightly plumaged male brambling in amongst the other finches which were feeding on unharvested sunflowers. One of these flocks mainly consisted of over a hundred goldfinches which made a bright spectacle in the sunlight. Another gave a tantalisingly brief view of a tree sparrow--my first this year.
Five mistle thrushes--possibly migrating birds were feeding near Ventouse and a troupe of rooks were in a field near Artenac. This species is highly localised in these parts but the available food after the harvest is probably encouraging some wandering. For the same reason, woodpigeons and collared doves were plentiful, one flock of the latter contained about 100.
The temperature is forecast to plummet over the next 24 hours as cold air comes in from the north and this should produce flocks of lapwings and perhaps cranes migrating south

Cranes

The skies actually cleared this afternoon and as though taking advantage of the improved conditions, a skein of about 100 cranes flew south over the house. Unusually, they were completely silent.

autumn flocks

The weather in Charente, as seemingly everywhere in the world, is behaving rather strangely. We have had lots of unseasonal rain over the last week and the leaden skies of the last three days have been evocative of the UK on a bad weekend. Neverless the birds still go about their business.
 There is no sign of the crane migration as yet but large flocks of larks and finches are feeding on the plains and a flock of woodpigeons numbered several hundred this morning. Another very large flock of mid-sized birds was moving south at speed but at such a distance that they were frustratingly unidentifiable even with binoculars. They were possibly starlings and numbered 500+.
A few wheatears were still around Lairiere on Thursday along with black redstarts, meadow pipits, cirl buntings, meadow pipits, white wagtails and a pair of stonechats. A distant male harrier was probably a hen but could have been a late migrating montagues especially as a very late hobby flew by at La Tache yesterday. A few chiffchaffs are still feeding in the bushes and I heard some woodlarks on the plains.
Carl reports a tree sparrow in his garden at Laplaud, a species which I always feel should be more common in these parts but which has eluded me for a couple of years.

Surprisingly, the sun has just tentatively appeared so I think I might venture out!

Quail

The 'wet my lips' call of the quail was commonly heard on the Lairiere plains throughout the summer but these migratory birds have been silent for some weeks now. So it was a surprise this evening to flush a bird from the edge of a yet to be harvesteed maize fields. In fact this was my first sighting this year as these birds are notoriously difficult to locate even when they appear to be calling just a few feet away. This individual may, of course, not be one that bred here but could be on passage from further north.
There is little else to report on this rather rainy day except that a little owl was calling in my garden this evening and a robin was still singing at 8pm.

lapwings et al

Yesterday morning it was overcast but very mild when I cycled over the Lairiere plains. I saw my first autumn flock of migrating lapwings --almost 30 of them moving SE. Four wheatears wer still in the fields and lower down near the bio farm was a cluster of passerines in the hedgerow including several chiffchaffs, a pair of blackcaps, a pair of stonechats, two robins and a whinchat. Meadow pipits were around in large numbers and I saw my first big flock of autumn finches, maybe a thousand birds or so near Artenac. They were mainly linnets but many goldfinches were with them. A male sparrowhawk was sat on a fence post nearby and a female hen harrier was quartering the fields.
In all, 34 species of birds made an appearance but there was no sight or sound of ring ousels, a rare but regular autumn migrant.

wheatears moving through

I always regard migration as the best bit of birding, probably because it cn offer surprises, no matter how slight, and so it was a delight this week to come across a half dozen or more wheatears on the Lairiere plains and another one near Le Pont d'Agris. hey were making use of the very recently ploughed fields to feed as they paused on their jorney to Africa. A few meadow pipits and white wagtails accompanied them.
Buzzards and kestrels were abundant in the last of the clear warm weather. Three of the former were circling over the house and I saw well into double figures in the course of  a morning. One of these which obligingly remained sitting on his roadside fence post as I cycled by was a dark chocolate colour, demonstrating the the french name of le buse variable is more descriptive than the english one.
Chiffchaffs are still 'hoo-weeting' away in the bushes and a female blackcap was near La Tache on Thursday.

Common Buzzard --le buse variable--in typical plumage but local birds can vary from almost the colour of black kites to very pale ones which resemble short toed eagles.

The last 24 hours have been ones of light showers and that is the forecast for the rest of the week. The temperature today reached 20+ however and although it's expected to fall over the next few days,  it still feels very mild and the occasional swallow can be seen flying around.

early october

 The temperature has dropped to upper teens and with some cloud covering the sun today, it's felt a lot cooler; the forecast is much better for the weekend however.
Black redstarts, chiffchaffs great tits and cirl buntings were all crowded into a very small tree in the garden this morning. I've been busy with the builders at the house for the last few days so I'm not sure what's happerning further afield!

garden whinchat

After the short wet spell, warm dry weather has returned for a few days which has encouraged the buzzards to indulge in some soaring. Swallows are still about in some numbers and in the garden yesterday was a migrating whinchat and a singing chiffchaff. A few white wagtails have been in the fields recently taking advantage of the ploughing which is beginning for the winter crops. Last night was a full moon and both tawny and little owls were calling.

The new kitten which we have inadvertently acquired after it was abandoned in a sunflower field at a very young age is fascinating to watch at play but I fear that she is growing into an agile and a skillful hunter as I have already had to rescue several dragonflies and stag beetles from her clutches. I think a large bell is in order before she turns her attention to the birds.

September and a mountain trip

So far it's been a quiet September birdwise. The warm and settled conditions have just broken and stormy, rainy weather is the order of the day at the moment.The rain is desperately needed as the village pond is almost dry and our only surviving mallard looks rather forlorn as he perches on the side of the old bath which I placed there to retain a little water. The moorhens seem to have largely disappeared.
The sunflowers have largely been harvested now and there is plenty of spilled seed around but a few sparrows, linnets, tits and chaffinches seem to be the only beneficiaries at present.
Swallows have been around in abundance over the last week or so but the change to wetter and cooler weather will doubtlessly thin out their numbers.
There is little warbler activity except for the occasional tacking of blackcaps but a robin has been trying out his autumn song in the garden.
Earlier in the month I had a short break with Irv in the Massif Central (a remarkably beautiful area and not much further than a three hour drive) where we managed to reach the summits of a couple of 6000 footers. On the higher slopes migrating wheatears and black redstarts were plentiful as were red kites, whinchats and pied flycatchers lower down. In the town of Murat where we stayed, a pair of eagle owls were calling in the evening.

back on line

It's been a long wait but the move back to La Poterie did not coincide with a connection to the telephone or internet . Today it has been resolved and I hope to do some reporting of the birding scene in between doing the 1001 things that are are outstanding on the new house. That includes a trip to Saintes tomorrow to buy a new sink. Perhaps I'll see some migrants on the way. A couple of wheatears were between here and La Tache today so some stuff is still moving through.

sympathetic migration

The birds have been on the move this last week and so have we, leaving La Tache after 18 months and moving back to La Poterie.
Several pied flycatchers have been in the garden there this week along with a spotted flycatcher, firecrests both species of redstart, chiffchaff, willow warbler, melodious warbler, nuthatch and short-toed treecreeper. A few house martins have been flying with the swallows
A curious record on August 15 was the sound of a small group of cranes around midnight. This is exceptionally eary for migration.
A tree pipit was near la Poterie and yesterday a wheatear flew from the sunflowers on the Lairiere plains.

return migration

Willow warblers were in the garden again yesterday but even more interesting was the presence of at least two pied flycatchers, the first I've seen since the spring.
Despite the heat, lots of birds were active among the garden trees; they included several young firecrests, chiffchaffs, black redstarts, a melodious warbler and a nuthatch.
A femail hen harrier was near La Tache.

kites and stone curlews

Something like a hot summer seems to have arrived at least temporarily. Richard and I went looking for stone curlews and orioles around La Tache last Friday and after failing to locate either of them during the course of a three hour walk, we saw two stone curlews in their usual field as we were driving away in the car. A female harrier, probably a hen, was hunting in the area.

On Sunday I had a look around Villefagnan to see if there was any sign of little bustards in what is supposed to be their last Charente foothold. There was no sign of them but upwards of twenty raptors including many black kites were either soaring or searching the recently harvested fields for food.  A male golden oriole provided good views as he sat atop a dead tree. (please note, Richard)

Return migration seems to be underway and a willow warbler was in my garden at La Poterie yesterday. I've not seen a swift for over a week.

nightingale et al

There was an interesting melange of birds on the outskirts of La Tache this morning. A nightingale sitting on a barbed wire fence was an unusual site as they become very secretive after all their noisy singing earlier in the year. On the fence post next to him was a short-toed treecreeper. Not only was he out in the open but he actually walked down the post rather than up it---a first for me. Also nearby was a firecrest, a lesser spotted woodpecker, a male common redstart and a noisy family of nuthatches. The stone curlew count on the plains was five and a female hen harrier was hunting there.
Once again I watched two red deer at very close quarters as they ran around me, seemingly unsure of quite where to go for at least 5 minutes.

bustard feather

This is the feather referred to recently. Little bustards moult their first 5 primaries around June/July. This looks like primary 1. It's the second one I've come across on the Lairiere plains in the last couple of years and the nearest I've got to seeing a bird! I was on the plains at sunrise yesterday (a bit nippy) but the only birds visible in the mainly cropped fields were stone curlews and skylarks.

harvest time

The local farmers are making the most of the warm,dry spell to get in the grain, often working their combines well into the night. Inevitably birds and animals are being displaced as the appearance of the landscape rapidly alters. I counted three hares yesterday and two this morning and several deer are often out in the open. The stone curlews are flying around from one recently cropped field to another but ther is still no sign of any little bustards. I did find a moulted primary feather a few days back which indicates that at least one individual is still around.
An unusual sight yesterday was of a solitary lapwing in the same field as the stone curlews. Lapwings do not breed around here to my knowledge and the autumn migration is still some way off.
Near to the bio farm a superb male red backed shrike made a brief appearance, quails were calling yesterday and today and two black kites joined the buzzards who were making the most of the feeding oportunities that the cropped fields provide.
Other birds yesterday morning included nuthatch, yellowhammer, whitethroat, stonechat and melodious warbler.

SHRIKES

After noting in my last blog that the red backed shrikes did not seem to be around the bio farm this year, I came across a family party there this morning. At least five birds were sitting on branches and fence posts. I've obviously spent too much time carrelaging and not enough birding this summer.
It was a misty start to what looks to be a very warm day and the stone curlews which numbered six today were flying quite high through the greyness. A hoopoe was feeding by the sunflowers which were giving off a very strong scent this morning and by 9am , after the sun had broken through, flights of swallows began to appear.

stone curlews

The recent comment by Cagouille about the missing stone curlews near his house has prompted me to look more carefully at their usual haunts close to La Tache.  I cycled around the plains at 7am yesterday and several of the birds were calling loudly. I could not locate them until I got to the highest point and then came across a flock of 10 birds in a recently harvested and lightly ploughed field; I presume that some of them were this years offspring so it seems that some birds are still managing to breed.
Quails were also calling but as usual were not revealing themselves despite being seemingly under my feet.
A woodchat shrike was an interesting sight near the Bio farm; this area had breeding red backed shrike lat summer but their is no sign of them this year. Melodious warblers were common in the hedges ans I saw just one whitethroat.
Another interesting sight was a golden oriole being chased by a swallow----for fun presumably.

woodcocks

An interesting but tantalisingly brief sighting late yesterday evening was of two woodcocks flying near La Tache. They were in exactly the same location as the individual(s) which I saw in winter so presumably these crepuscular/nocturnal waders spend their days camouflaged on the ground of the nearby wood.

A June Evening (and wind turbines)

Yesterday evening was one of those which reminds you of why we live in Charente ; at 9pm there was hardly a breath of wind and the temperature remained in the mid 20's with the heat of the day perceptively radiating from the ground.
I took a walk over the plains and watched the sun set at around 10 o'clock somewhere over Ruffec way. It has just begun its track back southward now but is still just about as far northward as it can appear.
A stone curlew was agitated by my presence and flew around me for some minutes, calling plaintively and close enough for me to see its large eyes even when in flight. A female hen harrier intently quartered the fields and at least a dozen quail were calling.
The hay crop is in already and the wheat and barley are ready for harvest so one wonders, as always, how the ground-nesting birds continue to survive. Indeed all of them don't; the little bustard seem to have disappeared from this area permanently now and although the landscape looks perfect for corncrakes, I have not heard one calling here for perhaps 15 years. I am re-reading Lawrence's 'The Rainbow' at present and he mentions how this bird's call was a commonplace feature of summer in early twentieth century Nottinghamshire. On this calm Charente evening, except for quails and the occasional skylark, all was extremely quiet.
Speaking of changes to the landscape, 31 wind turbines are now visible from the top of the plains and soon we are to have another 7 on the plains themselves. Whatever the economic and ecological benefits of this technology (and I am very sceptical about about both) there is no doubt in my mind that along with the huge grain silos they are unwelcome industrial intrusions into an attractive, rural landscape. I fear that by next year an evening walk on the plains will no longer convey the quiet stillness of deep rural Charente.

late june

After noting in my last blog that the red backed shrikes did not seem to be around the bio farm this year, I came across a family party there this morning. At least five birds were sitting on branches and fence posts. I've obviously spent too much time carrelaging and not enough birding this summer
It was a misty start to what looks to be a very warm day and the stone curlews which numbered six today were flying quite high through the greyness. A hoopoe was feeding by the sunflowers which were giving off a very strong scent this morning and by 9am , after the sun had broken through, flights of swallows began to appear.

Cool June

It's cool and raining today and that sums up much of the last month's weather which has been very unsettled. It's also been a very busy time for me as I've been painting and tiling what seems to be several thousand square metres of wall/floor at the new house.
Birding, therefore, has taken a bit of a back-seat but for the record here are some recent observations:

I've seen a pair of stone curlews on several occasions near La Tache. As always, I wonder how their breeding manages to survive modern farming practice as hay crops have already been harvested.
In the same area, a pair of hen harriers are seen fkying around almost daily.
Orioles seem to be plentiful this year.
I've not seen a shrike yet around La Tache/ La Poterie but a male red backed gave my brother and I very close views near Roumazier,There were also 3 black kites flying around on that day.
I've seen/heard spotted flycaycher, firecrest, bonelli's and melodious warbler in the little wood behind La Poterie's pond. The moorhen seems to have only one chick there and just one mallard now remains (but Stella wants to buy him a mate)
Barn owls seem to be nesting in the wall of La Tache church and I've seen kestrels bringing food to an opening in my house's gable end.
A few quail have been calling from the grain fields

nightjars

On the 16th I visited my favourite site in Le foret de Belaire near Cellefrouin to look for my first nightjars of the year. I arrived just before 10pm and as soon as I stopped the car engine I heard the nightjars' distinctive reeling in the nearby trees. The light was fading of course but  after waiting for a few minutes I saw two birds flitting through the trees and out along the road where I was standing. They flew briefly above my head, making their sharp call and the male clapped his wings loudly. Then they were off towards a large clearing and although I could hear others (along with distant tawny owl and cuckoo) I made my way back in the near darkness.
Today I took advantage of the dry late afternoon to take a walk along the Son-Sonnette near Ventouse. I always bemoan the poplar plantations that have replaced the natural habitat of the marshy valleys but one can't deny that golden orioles favour them. I watched two males having a territorial squabble among the fresh leaves, their loud fluting call interspersed with jay-like screechings. Others were calling nearby as were several nightingales. In the small area of reeds which remains close to Valence I heard a few snatches of reed warbler song but the attentions of the many mosquitos did not encourage me to wait around for a view.
Earlier at La Poterie pond a spotted flycatcher was in the trees along with a singing melodious warbler. Curiously the former which is usually a silent species was uttering a low alarm call.

Mid May

It's good to be back in Charente but the weather is still rather unsettled and although it's reasonably hot and sunny at times it's not yet wall to wall blue skies for days on end.
Nevertheless, summer birds are here: a bright male golden oriole flitted briefly into view at La Poterie pond this afternoon and cuckoos are calling everywhere. The melodious warbler is still rattling away in the garden but no nightingale is singing there this year; in fact they seem to be rather quiet everywhere at the moment though one was competing vocally with a tawny owl at La Tache in the early hours.
A trip to the nearby forest allowed me to see two new species for the year: a spotted flycatcher was doing its usual thing to and from a dead branch and a honey buzzard circled overhead. There was no sight or sound of wood warbler though and this is a regular location for them at this time of year.
Besides the honey buzzard two other raptors were flying at great altitude, one was a black kite but the other was too high to identify. I was reminded of the time a year or two back when I saw several griffon vultures  flying high above this very spot (but this wasn't the case this time)

Early May and Sunshine !

Two sunny warm days have been welcome after all the recent rain and the birds are all singing. A golden oriole was calling all day at La Poterie and a melodious warbler has been doing so there for the last two days.
A male merlin was seen tantalisingly briefly at La Tache. He was sat in the same stoney field as last week's wheatears but by the time I pulled the car to a halt he had skimmed low over the horizon. A flock of about 20 swifts was high above La Poterie today; even at about 1000 feet the screaming could be heard clearly. Some house martins were passing through with the swallows and swifts a few days ago.
I'm off for a week to the UK tomorrow and hope to perhaps see a few seabirds migrating during the ferry crossing.

Late April Migrants

For most birders the arrival of the migrants in sprng is probably the the most fascinating time of the year. The reasons for this seem pretty obvious; there's an element of unpredictability about what might be around on a daily basis as some species which have not been observable for several months begin to turn up (or don't) and there's always the chance of a local rarity as birds which are moving through your patch to settle on somebody else's might briefly reveal themselves All of this seems to reveal that birding is partly a sublimated form of hunting and collecting, and spring migration provides the most productive time for such pursuits
But the fascination of this time of year goes much deeper than that; it is all tied up with the celebration of the nature's regenerative cycle: it is a right of spring.
Such a celebration is not of course the preserve of just the birding world ; anticipating and observing the re-appearance of  the familiar flowers and blossoms of  spring causes a similiar response in most people. Nevertheless, bird activity in spring has elements which intensify such response. The unpredictability already mentioned is one of these. Within limits, anything might turn up becaue of the vagaries of weather conditions and there is also the important element of luck; passage migrants do not usually hang around, and being in the right place at the right time can be only partly anticipated.
But it is the curious phenomenon of migration itself which is the most important element. Millions of birds, and most of them tiny ones, undertake dangerous journeys of thousands of miles and then suddenly appear in our gardens and fields. And for just a few species we can  actually watch them undertaking the journey.
And so it was yesterday. An early walk around La Tache revealed five wheaters sat in a stoney field, They had arrived overnight and may well have been in a field in Spain the previous day. Three stone curlews were in another field. They have been with us for some weeks but the montague's harrier which rose from the ground in an adjacent field had possibly just arrived. Nightingales and cuckoos have also been with us since earlier in the month and were making their familiar sounds but the brief snatches of golden oriole song and the purring of  a turtle dove were reminders that some birds were only just turning up.
In the afternoon I had to drive to Cognac and that provided the most fascinating and moving displays of migration. All along the route a few black kites were slowly drifting by but at a completely different rate the swifts and the swallows were dashing  northwards in their hundreds, the former at very low levels and often slipping between the moving vehicles, the former only slightly higher. None of these small birds were settling. The wind was in the north and they were moving strongly into it. A day or two ago they were probably still in Africa; and to where were they going? Perhaps they will nest in church towers and barns in Scotland or Scandanavia or maybe they are close to their journey's end and will settle at a familiar spot in The Vendee. Either way, it was a privilege to be be able to watch them go by.

cold,wet swallows

You have to feel sorry for those birds which have arrived here from Africa. A trip to The Bandiat yesterday revealed a flock of about 100 swallows most of whch were hunting in tight formation low over a meadow, trying to find or put up some flying insects. Others, however, were simply sat in the middle of the track and could hardly stir themselves to let the car past.
The river itself was flowing strongly and the current was strong enough to take quite a lot of the water beyond the gouffres. Apart from 4 mallards, there were no migrants but it is rather late in the spring for stuff to be turning up now. In the nearby Braconne Forest a few nightingales were trying to sound cheerful in the miserable conditions.
Speaking of flocks of birds, about 100 linnets were noisily assembled in the orchards at la Tache yesterday and about 20 swift were feeding over the plains.

Wheatear and monty's and seasonal rivers.

Man Utd's 4-4 draw today may have jeopardised their championship hopes but today's birds were some compensation. A male wheatear dressed in his Spring finery was sat in the miiddle of a stoney field on the plains and shortly afterwards I stopped the car near La Tache to look at a raptor sat by the side of the road. It turned out to be a male montague's harrier which slowly flew off but only over a short distance as though it were tired. It possibly was a migrant which had just arrived.
 My first french house martin of the year (there were plenty in Spain) was flying across the plains along with 3 swifts and a few swallows of which there has been a steady northern migration all week.
At least two willow warblers were at La Poterie pond, one of which was singing. This species seems to be a passage migrant in these parts, choosing to nest further north. A cuckoo flew across the road near La Poterie, a reminder that it is really Spring despite the wet, cool April weather.

Yesterday I had a look at The Bandiat. The good news is that it was flowing strongly after the recent rain but there was no evidence of migration except for a singing nightingale. The new gouffre which I reported as appearing last year is possibly affecting the nature of the small marsh as some of the water which is overflowing from the main channel is disappearing down this hole rather than spreading outwards. I hope this does not make the area less attractive to wetland migrants.
Speaking of seasonal rivers, The Tardoire has been flowing quite well for a few days now but only in sections. There is plenty of water at Pont d'Agris but nothing at all just a little further downstream at Biagne. Somewhere in between the water must disappear underground. The vanishing rivers are a fascinating feature of this part of Charente; perhaps I'll try walking upstream along the dry river bed until I find the spot where The Tardoire is going underground at the moment. It's a curious though that after previous wet winters and springs this river has overflowed  and created temporary lakes along its valley providing a habitat for migrating waders, gulls and wildfowl.

Cold April and Montague's Harrier?

What a change in temperature over  the last few days! The wind is in northerly sectors and long trousers are back on. The only upside is that we've had quite a bit of needed rain.
Spring arrivals are still around of course but they must be a bit miserable. I saw a couple of swifts at Poitiers airport today and while driving there a male harrier which was almost certainly a Montagues was quartering a field near St Front---but I was driving at 80K.
Hen harriers are still a daily occurence and are mainly splendid males. Two of them were close to la Tache on Monday.
The forecast for the next few days is more of the same. The migration season is moving on quickly but I will try to check whether The Bandiat has any water yet and if any late passage wetland birds are making use of it.
A black redstart has built a nest inside the lounge of my La Poterie house which is nearing reconstruction. I reluctantly moved it to a nearby outside location before any eggs are layed. The downstairs windows will be installed shortly and I fear that the birds will be denied access. The inner lining of the nest was snugly lined with yellow insulation fibres taken from the building site.
 Other species which are nesting on the new edifice (but thankfully on the outside) are blue tits and house sparrows under the roof and kestrels on the gable end. Swallows are thankfully not regarding it as an accessible barn at present. Until a few years ago, some individuals would fly in through the open doors and sit around on light fittings and walls. I assume these were descendents of birds which used to nest here when much of the building was a milking parlour. Perhaps the genetic memory has now faded.

whitethroats

Migrants are still slipping in and today seemed to be the whitethroats' turn as three individuals were around La Tache this morning and I saw a fourth later in the day; none of them were singing.
While listening to two nightingales singing at La Tache (rather fewer than at Fontenille) I heard a clear snatch of golden oriole song. I could not locate the bird however and there were plenty of starlings about so it may have been a good imitation.
After the recent rain there is some water in the Tardoire at Pont d'Agris but the Bandiat is still completely dry.
A male hen harrier and a stone curlew were present in the same field near La Tache in the afternoon. Nuthatches and hoopoes were conspicuous around the village.

First Swift

The weather may have become rather showery and cooler but the migrants are still turning up. A walk around Fontenille at 8.30 am revealed at least 9 singing nightingales, a tree pipit and a male redstart along with numerous chiffs and blackcaps.
In the afternoon I saw my first swift of the year near La Rochefoucauld.
Hen harriers seem to be more common at the moment; I have seen one on each of the last three days in different locations.
A flock of about 20 woodlark was in a ploughed field near Fontenille yesterday and a female sparrowhawk was hunting along a hedge.

Dry Bandiat river and black kite

This is the first Spring that I can remember when the Bandiat has been completelty dry---not a good sign for the coming months. Consequently there was no sign of the usual migrant activity there except for a black kite which was feeding in a nearby ploughed field.
A stone curlew was near La Tache on the plains.

stone curlew

We had some welcome rain overnight and in the early part of the day but the cooler temperatures seem to have dampened down the bird activity. Nevertheless, when driving out of Fontenille this morning, I flushed a stone curlew from close to the road and later in the day while out walking I saw a marsh harrier for the third consecutive day, presumably the same individual.

nightingale etc

I heard my first (French) nightingale of the year this morning at Fontenille. nI the same area were two or three willow warblers also in song. Later in the day I watched my first common redstart of the year. His name does him no justice as he is surely one of the most brightly plumaged of our visitors. A black kite flew over the house to make it four new Charente species for 2012 today.
In total there were 44 species on show or to be heard around Fontenille. They included hoopoes (a pair) cuckoo, swallows, blackcaps, chiffs, tree pipit, serin and marsh harrier. These birds with the four already mentioned, confirm that migration is well under way...............but there is more to come!

Back from Spain

The trip to ndalucia went well with a trip list of exactly 150. Despite the mainly fine weather, evidence of summer passerine migration was less than expected. The raptor migration at Tarifa was spectacular however with flocks of 100+ black kites and griffon vultures occurring regularly. Highlights of the trip included some birds that are unlikely to make their way to Charente such as collared pratincole, lesser kestrel and black shouldered kite.
Charente had distinctly greened up during the two week absence and some summer visitors seem already well established. Swallows, cuckoos, hoopoes, chiffs, black redstarts and blackcaps are around daily and I have seen and heard tree pipits over the last two days.
I'm spending some time at Fontenille at the moment and song thrushes are particularly common at the moment both as singing birds and small flocks passing through. As always in this village, yellowhammers are particularly common even to the extent of small flocks. This species seems to be very localised in Charente and cirl buntings are much more widespread. Similarly, corn buntings are very plentiful especially in the dolmens area and flocks of ten or more occur. On the other hand, buzzards which are usually ubiquitous in Charente seem thin on the ground (and in the air) around Fontenille.
I'm still waiting for my first passage wheater but I did see a migrating marsh harrier today and Irv saw a black kite near Ruffec on Saturday. Every day in April can bring new visitors,

swallows and golden plovers

A welcome sight yesterday was of four early swallows on the Charente river at La Terne. Later, near the border with Charente Maritime was a large flock of over 200 golden plover which was feeding in a field with an even larger flock of lapwing. A similar sized mixed flock was flying north near Fontenille this morning.
Chiffchaffs, chaffinches and song thrushes are now singing everywhere.
Tomorrow I am off to Andalucia for a two week birding trip. By the time that I return many of the Charente migrants should have turned up.

PS  as I was packing to leave, a pair of swallows turned up around the house.

migration?

It was warm in the sunshine today and there was a lot of activity at La Poterie pond especially in last year's bulrushes. At least 3 chiffs were present with one of them singing (some surely must be arrivals) ;a male blackcap was also present.
. A bright (non migratory) firecrest was busy in the trees.

Black redstart

A trip to the Bandiat river yesterday turned up no signs of any early migration except that a male black redstart was sat in a ploughed field amid a flock of chaffinch and cirl bunting.
Another male was singing from the weather vane on La Tache church this morning. This is a popular perch for this species but has not been used as a singing post since last autumn.
A flock of 200 lapwings made its way north over the Bandiat and the appearance of three stonechats in the course of the morning was a welcome sight as they disappeared from view during and after the cold snap.
A bright male sparrowhawk raced across the Bandiat road bridge as I was watching two coypu swimming below it.
Buzzards seem to be pairing up and some are doing courtship flights.

chiffchaff

Few signs of any migration as yet-----but then we birders are always over optimistic----but a chiffchaff was singing at La Poterie today. This could, of course, be a wintering bird but I have not seen or heard any chiffchaffs yet this year in Charente and so I like to think that it's just turned up from the south.
A female hen harrier has been around La Tache for the last two days; perhaps she will team up with the male that has been around all week.

sunshine and cranes

It's been a gloriously warm and sunny week and the still conditions seem to have been ideal for the crane migtation. Well over a thousand have passed over La Tache in the last few days, usually in flocks of about 300. The highlight for me was yesterday as I was driving to La Poterie at 9.30. What I first took to be a large flock of sheep on top of the plains turned out to be about 300 cranes standing in the sunshine. Luckily I had a small camera with me but unluckily as I was about to snap them, a gyrocopter put up the whole flock.
I have seen small groups of cranes on the ground in the past but this was the first time I had come across a large flock which had presumably rested overnight.
Other birds of interest this week include my first yellowhammers of the year at Fontenille. (This species seems to be very localised in these parts.) A little owl was calling this evening at La Tache and a barn owl was screaming aroun the village on Tuesday night.Two snipe were in the wet meadow of the bio farm yesterday. Song thrushes are singing and I heard my first chaffinch song of the year at La Poterie yesterday. A male hen harrier has been a daily sight  hear La Tache and the very pale phase buzzard which seems to have been around for several years now, has frequented the road to La Poterie. Skylark flocks are still in evidence but some individuals are in full song.
This evening a flock of about 200 lapwing which was moving north included 6 golden plover.

                      The cranes which are taking off in this photo are hard to see against the trees behind.

Red admiral and peacock butterflies are on the wing, violets, celandines, daisies and dandelions are brightening everywhere up and my first house lizard of the year appeared under the gate at La Tache today.

water pipits

 A couple of days ago in a meadow close to Bourcelaine on the border with Charente |Maritime, Irv and I watched a small group of water pipits feeding in a flooded meadow. A flock of about 1000 starlings was filling the trees and wires nearby.
Yesterday, large flocks of lapwings, again about 1000 strong, were in the fields near to Terrebourg.

cranes and a few woodland birds.

The milder, calm weather, plus the time of year, made yesterday a good one for crane migration but as there was little else in prospect in the wide open spaces,we decided to visit the forest near La Tache to try and locate a few more woodland species.
We weren't disappointed.
 As so often, the forest was at first bereft of birds until we located a foraging mixed flock. The first one held the usual collection of long-tailed, blue and great tits but with only fleeting glimpses of firecrest, short toed treecreeper and lesser spotted woodpecker and it quickly melted away into the silence. Not long after though, and in a more open stretch of forest which contained lots of dead trees we were able to watch a second flock for some ten miutes. This one gave us good views of a lesser spotted woodpecker, several firecrest and at least two s.t. treecreepers. The first bonus was a group of four hawfinch and the second was the familiar bugling sound of cranes coming from behind the trees. A skein of about 150 birds soon revealed itself above us. They were not very high up as we were ourselves on one of the higher bits of land in these parts and we had a good view of them make their wavering way northwards.
Some twenty miutes later while we were walking along the road that used to demarcate occupied and Vichy France, we heard and then saw two further skeins, this time numbering about 300 in total.
So, as it turned out, we got the best of both worlds; a crane migration and a few more forest birds (which happily brought my 2012 list up to 100 species). There will probably be little new now until the Spring migration starts properly.....but then you never know.

woodlarks

The weather continues to improve with some sunshine today and the snow reduced to just a few patches with rhe rising temperatures. The most interesting birds around at present seem to be the woodlarks which are flocking in groups of up to 20 . They are easily distinguished from the more common skylark, even if they are not calling or singing, by their small size and short tails when in flight and the absence of any white on the wing edge. When on the ground, their supercilium is very obvious, stretching almost to the back of their heads.
Nuthatches and green and great spotted woodpeckers are easily seen at present and I watched a short toed treecreeper going about its business at La Tache again yesterday.

thaw?

The first signs of thaw are in the air today but snow is still on the ground everywhere. Yesterday was very bitter and yet another woodcock showed itself, this time by the side of the road at Valence. Several snipe are still in the shallows or on the river there and a flock of over 20 cormorants flew overhead in an easterly direction.
I've provided the 3 surviving male mallards at La Poterie's pond with some food and they are clinging on on a square metre of water which they have kept unfrozen. A rather desperate looking moorhen was wandering around in the partly re-built house. I hope he gets himself a share of the food.
At my brother's house at Laplaud (which is more like Lapland at he moment) a nuthatch and a great spotted woodpecker are regular visitors to the fat balls. I've had nothing more exotic than a cirl bunting at La Tache.

Arctic Charente

It was a bit nippy today to say the least and a walk across the plains revealed a landscape that resembled the Cairngorm plateau (but sadly with no ptarmigan). In fact there were few birds at all and I struggled to clock 20 species. Many of those I did see began with 'wood' and the best of these was woodcock, two this time and very close to where I saw yesterday's bird but giving even better views as I was on foot.
On a patch of road that had been blown clear of snow five woodlark were busy foraging for something and eventually flew off making their musical call. Woodpigeons were trying to feed on roadside verges that were partly sheltered form the wind and snow by trees and both green and great spotted woodpeckers showed themselves.
Blackbirds and song thrushes are still plentiful and desperately trying to find food where they can.

Still no cranes--and I don't blame them--- but my brother reported seeing some yesterday near Roumazieres.

woodcock and jack snipe

Two good species today.
 I can thank the chasse for the woodcock. They were (very unsportingly given the freezing conditions) out in force around a La Tache wood  this afternoon. As I was manouvering around one of their parked vehicles in the snow, a woodcock flew up from the roadside and moved ahead of me along the road , its slow wingbeats being very reminiscent of an owl. Fortunately the men with the guns did not seem to see this beautiful and secretive creature and it crossed the road to enter a wood in an adjacent field.
 On reflection, the hunters were probably intent on bigger game; I had seen four young wildboar and heard the adults in the same wood earlier in the day.
The mainly crepuscular woodcock is supposed to breed in the Charente forests but this is the first one that I have seen here.
I risked driving down to the  Son-Sonette river at Valence (and only just made it back as the wind had drifted the snow across the road over the plains making them virtually impassable). Birdwise the trip was worth it though as a flock of 9 jack snipe were feeding in the shallows. They were nervous and occasionally they silently flew off and circled low down through the poplars before coming back to the same spot. About the same number of lapwings were with them.
 One advantage of severe weather conditions is that unusual birds can turn up anywhere and that usual ones can turn up in unusual places.
I just managed to get beyond 30 species today ! When the weather improves we might get some cranes.

snow

The snow is still lying deep and crisp and even but the skies are blue and the radiant temperature from the sun is 14C despite the fact that the air temperature is below freezing.
I managed a walk along the River Charente at Montignac yesterday and watched a water pipit feeding with a few redwings close to the river. A snipe was another interesting sight on the river bank where the snow had melted. The only other bird of note was a male blackcap.

Feb 2012

It's seems like a long time away but I'm finally back in Charente and a cold one it is! On Thursday when I arrived, the temperature was below freezing and several inches of snow are lying on the ground today.

Nevertheless the birds need to be recorded and so I've braved the elements.  The most notable thing on Friday Feb 3 was the large number of song thrushes that were feeding by the roadsides and in the fields. there were also plenty of blackbirds but no sign of redwings and fieldfares which are the usual thrush suspects at this time of year. Brambling were also distinctly absent from the chaffinch flocks and I managed to see just one, albeit my first of the year. A short toed treecreeper was a welcome sight in the old sweet chestnuts.
Yesterday produced 29 species of birds around La Tache including two more s.t.treecreepers, a nuthatch and three woodlark.
Today (in the snow) 29 species again revealed themselves--but a slightly different bunch. A male hen harrier was having a tough time trying to see anything to eat as he flew over the snow drifts. Several cirl buntings were feeding with the chaffinch flocks but the largest flocks by far were those of skylarks which were in the hundreds as they whirled about and dotted the snow.
At the two opposite ends of the bird size spectrum, three big mute swans flew low over my head while I was on top of the plains and a tiny, bright firecrest was feeding with long tailed tits among the hedgerow trees as I dropped back into la Tache.
I note that the signs have gone up on the plains to indicate that 8 wind turbines are soon to be built there. At 105 metres in height they will dominate the landscape and probably completely end the sense of the wide open space.  I know they are all part of the grand plan for renewable energy but I have become increasingly sceptical about their real contribution to this laudable end and although arguably more attractive that the electricity pylons which have scarred our landscapes for so long, I think they nevertheless are an unwanted visual intrusion into the rural scene. Any impact on our birds remains to be seen.