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