Reed Warblers.... And others.

It definitely seems to be warbler time at the moment. I took a walk along the Son-sonette yesterday where at least two reed warblers were present in the usual reed patch which has survived the poplar plantations. Other warblers there were whitethroats, chiffchaffs, blackcaps and melodious.

There are three Charente warblers which I have yet to come across this year :

Dartford:   I've never yet managed to find one here but its range seems to be very limited and in the high Charente.
Cetti's:  usually around but yet to be located in its usual waterside haunts.
Bonelli's. The Forêt de Braconne is the best place for this species so I must get there again soon.

Willow Warbler

As a follow up to yesterday's post, another trip to the forest revealed that the suspected willow warbler did in fact turn out to be one, or two in fact, as a pair seemed to be feeding young deep in a clump of bracken. There was never any song but both birds called incessantly and were incredibly active hunters of grubs, settling in one place for hardly a second and twitching their tails sideways in the manner distinctive of the species. They are classed as a breeding bird in Charente but I have come across them rarely and then mainly as a passage bird.
The good news about the red backed shrike is that he was together with a female yesterday so it looks like they will breed again in the same location.
Back to the forest, I located a different wood warbler singing in an area where I have found the species in earlier years.
Close to my house, the first hawfinch that I have seen for some time flew across the road in front of my car.

Honey Buzzard and Wood Warbler

Just when it seemed that things were starting to quieten down on the bird front, today produced a few pleasant surprises. The weather is still not very late Mayish but I risked a trip to the Forêt de Belaire this morning (and only got wet once). Several cuckoos were calling as I arrived but I was drawn to a sound which I had not heard since 2012 and located a wood warbler among some beech trees. He was quite confiding and I presume holding territory. He sang incessantly but resorted almost all of the time to the second half of his two part song, shivering his wings to accompany his trill which sounds something like a spinning coin.
A heavy shower caused me to take refuge under an oak tree but it proved to be a fortunate choice as a pair of crested tits were feeding above me. This is the the third location in the Charente where I have come across them. A very elusive bird which was also feeding nearby was almost certainly a willow warbler but I could not get on to it well enough for a definite i.d.
After the shower passed I came across my first honey buzzard of the year soaring above a clearing, his pigeon like head and his distinctively barred tail showing well. This migratory raptor is sadly a frequent victim of the hunters on the Mediterranean Islands.
There was plenty of birdsong to be heard; tree pipits, serins, melodious warblers, whitethroat, turtle doves and golden orioles were singing along with at least three nightingales.
I had quick look over the plains as I passed by; three or four black kites were flying around or sitting on the ground and a late pair of passage yellow wagtails were near the éoliens but there was no sign of the stone curlews.

Red Backed Shrike

It's been a couple of weeks since my last posting, partly because of the appalling weather which has not been conducive to doing much outdoors but also perhaps because the main Spring migration tends to fizzle out by mid May.
There are always the late arrivals to look out for though and the red backed shrike is one of them. The male is surely one of our most elegant birds and with the intention of seeking one out I detoured from a trip to La Rochefoucauld to the hedges around the bio farm near La Tâche where they have bred in recent years. Sure enough, one was there and typically perched on the top of a bush to let me watch him for a few minutes.
From a wheat field nearby at least three quail were calling and by the eoliens two harriers were hunting; the male was definitely a hen harrier but the female could have been a montague's.

Mystery Waders

I've been busy building a swimming pool over the last week and this has left little time for birding other than around the house.
A pleasant sight was when a male redstart appeared in the garden yesterday but around 9pm this evening while crossing the yard I caught sight of a fast flying group of waders heading north west more or less along the line of the D27. I had no binoculars with me and glimpsed them for only a few second but they were of medium size and had sharply pointed wings. Golden plovers immediately come to mind but why they should be flying past the house at this time is a bit of a mystery.

Melodious warbler

Most of the summer migrants are in now with just a few late species such as the shrikes to make an appearance. A melodious warbler showed up today or at least was singing from within a bush in my garden while I was busy working.
In fact it was a good day for birdsong, perhaps the hot weather was encouraging. Besides the usual suspects I heard cuckoo, oriole, hoopoe and firecrest while shovelling a few tons of calcaire.

Hobby

The weather has been decidedly cool over the last few days and this has slowed the birding down but a few observations are of note.
I came across my first migrant hobbies this week, one near Vadalle and the other above the Bandiat .
There was a little sunshine yesterday albeit with a cool northerly wind, and this allowed for some canoeing on the Charente where a common sandpiper was flying around near Mansle.
A golden oriole was very vociferous near the house this morning and a black redstart is sitting on eggs in the garage.
A pair of stone curlews are still crouching motionless in a ploughed field on the plains