Not a white stork but a black one was the big event of today at Fougère.
" Les Oiseaux de Charente" records just one previous individual back in 1970. This beautiful specimen was flying around in the late afternoon of a day which was curiously bereft of any other herons/storks/egrets. It is the first that I can remember seeing in France although I have seen them on several occasions in southern Spain and on one occasion on the Isle of Wight .
The bird should still be down in Spain or over to the east of Europe but I'm happy that this lost individual turned up on my patch and hope it manages to get to its destination.
The very warm weather continues to produce some other new migrants, today there was a male whinchat at Fougère and several dozen blue headed wagtails. The only wader there was a green sandpiper.
Yesterday I saw my first tree pipit of the spring which was singing at La Poterie, and two bright male common redstarts. There was also a whitethroat at La Tâche.
Away from migrating birds, I came across my first red legged partridge of the year yesterday (remarkably really) .
Carrion crows form large flocks hereabouts but the one I saw today of over a hundred birds was of rook proportions.
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