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.