Herring Gulls

According to 'Les Oiseaux de Charente' herring gulls are listed as accidentals in Charente, ie occurring irregularly. As I cycled over the plains yesterday I watched five of them accompanying a tractor which was ploughing. Three black headed gulls were with them as was a black kite. On one occasion a herring gull with something in its bill was chased for some distance by another and was forced to release whatever it was in flight.
Much of the grain is now harvested and ground-nesting birds are being displaced. I heard several stone curlew calling in the distance but could not locate any.
Later, near La Rochette, I watched the family of red backed shrikes which I had first come across as just a pair some weeks ago. It has been a very good summer for these migrants and I found yet another (the5th) adult male in the Bonnieure valley yesterday.
Black kites always become more evident during the harvest and no fewer than eight birds were circling with a few common buzzards near La Tâche last week.
Speaking of flocks of birds, over twenty corn buntings were together on the plains in recent days and what must have been more than a single family of orioles, as more than one adult male was present, were feeding on elder berries near La Moulin d'Oiseaux.
I usually make mention of the weather in these posts and it is perhaps described as still rather unsettled with more cloud cover and rain than is usual fot July. Several days recently have been extremely hot-- in the upper 30's-- but there have been cool and overcast days also and the evening before last produced a long and violent electrical storm with considerable rain. In consequence everywhere is still looking remarkably verdant for this time of year.