Even More Cranes

Today was warm and sunny and a good one for cranes (gru cendré) although, given the numbers that have already passed through, you would think there were no more to come. About 450 passed over Fontenille in mid afternoon and another skein of 85 birds came low over my house at 5pm. Whether either of these were the flocks which Diane mentions in her comment on the previous post I do not know. There is a french site which collects and provides data on the crane migration and I have been feeding my info into it. It's accessible by just googling 'gru migration' .
The warm weather has also brought in some chiffchaffs (pouillot véloce) These inconspicuous warblers are always the first of the migrant warblers to arrive. None of the ten or so which I have come across in the last few days were singing though. Several were in the wet meadows at Fontenille as were reed buntings (bruyant des roseaux) and both species were near the Bandiat river yesterday.
Also at Fontenille today were sparrowhawk (épervier), female hen harrier (busard st martin), a single redwing (grive mauvis) and my first yellowhammer (bruant jaune) of the year. Large flocks of lapwings (vanneau huppé) are still around, some feeding in the fields and others passing north.