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.
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