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.