Stone curlew and other migrants

It's turned out to be a hot end to the summer and this has perhaps encouraged some visitors and passage migrants to linger.
I thought that stone curlews had already departed but one flew over my head last Sunday. It seemed he had been flushed by a solitary hunter with his dog but. Either he was undetected or the chasseur recognised him as a protected species.
I have seen occasional wheatears, redstarts pied flycatchers and whinchats this week but chiffchaffs have been the commonest migrant along with the swallows which seem now to be moving southwards rather than feeding.
Meadow pipits began to appear on the plains yesterday but among all this movement the black redstarts are still singing from rooftops and two arrive each evening to roost on my terrace.

Short-toed Eagles

Yesterday was one one of those delightful early autumn ones, sunny and still but with clear light after the recent storms and it encouraged me to take a longer bike ride than usual. It turned out to be a good thing because while cycling in the Braconne forest not far from Le Grande Fosse I heard an unfamiliar call which turned out to be coming from the sky rather than a tree. It took a little time to get a view above because of the canopy but when I finally found a gap I was treated to the sight of  a family of short-toed eagles circling above.
I watched them for some twenty minutes, never seeing more than three at a time because of the obstructed view but there were possibly four individuals. They were circling quite low and calling incessantly, the sound being wader- like and plaintive. They held their wings with the carpal joint well forward and with the primary tips often upturned. The barring on the pale underwing was clearly visible as was their dark breast.
It's the first time I've seen these summer visitors this year and I think the first time ever in the Braconne though they are recorded as breeding there.

The forest was surprisingly full of migrants. They were feeding on the swarms of flies which I mentioned in my previous post. Every ride that I went down had common redstarts, flycatchers, chiffchaffs and robins darting out from the bushes or landing on the ground.
On the way to the forest, near La Rochette ,  I came across a flock of about twenty blue-headed wagtails together with a couple of wheatears and whinchats
Large numbers of swallows were feeding on dark columns of flies high up in the sky..

After The Storm

After last night's electrical storm today's weather was fresh and breezy but still warm.
Swallows have been around in some numbers during the last few weeks, not so much heading determinedly southwards but busily feeding over the fields. This morning there were literally hundreds of them around La Poterie, exploding from the overhead wires as I cycled by.
Speaking of flocks, starlings have also been gathering in tightly packed numbers over the last week or two, most of them in their bright new speckled plumage.
A few flycatchers are still around, both pied and spotted but blackcap numbers seem to be diminishing.
The plains were pretty empty of bird life today except for buzzards which were present in double figures and a few kestrels.
I know little about insects but the swarms of tiny midges which I have referred to recently seemed to have been replaced today by equally large swarms of more substantial flies which were a little painful to cycle through. Several passerines were enjoying the food supply though including the flycatchers, chiffchaffs and a family of stonechats near the bio farm.

Another Kingfisher

In his novel 'The Spire' William Golding has his despondent main character say 'No kingfisher will fly for me' and I have come across numerous people who say that they have never seen this not too uncommon bird. It's understandable why, as views are often fleeting ones of a fast-flying and compact bird which might not reveal the blaze of colour if the light is wrong.

 Luckily kingfishers often announce their arrival with their high piping call as the one on the Bonnieure did yesterday. It's the second bird that I've seen within a couple of weeks so maybe post breeders are revealing themselves more at the moment. (In days gone by when there used to be fish in the pond at La Poterie I was treated to views or a kingfisher sitting in a tree in my garden.)

Wheatears on the plains numbered seven yesterday but there were no whinchats. A single blue-headed wagtail was calling as it flew around.
The sunflower harvest is underway at the moment and this may generate some bird activity.

The Chasse Begins

A quick trip to the coast on the last day before the chasse began produced surprisingly little of note. Sacred ibis, wood sandpipers, hobby, cetti's and fan-tailed warbler were probably the highlights but perhaps more interesting was seeing not only double figures of French bird watchers but bird-ringing taking place at the reserve at Moëze. It's easy to start thinking that not many others have an interest in birds in these parts.
Back on the local patch, wheatear and whinchat numbers have tailed off in the last few days but common redstarts, tree pipits and pied flycatchers are still around. Sadly, one of the latter fell victim to my (or rather, my wife's) cat in the garden this week.
A single golden plover was flying around and calling on the plains on Sunday, not the wisest thing to be doing on the first day of the chasse.

Twenty Plus Wheatears

It's been a good autumn migration for wheatears this year; I cannot remember ever seeing as many in one day as the twenty or so which were on the plains and in the Tardoire valley this morning. Other migrants included the occasional whinchat, yellow wagtail, willow warbler, whitethroat, redstart and tree pipit. There was no sign of the golden plovers or any stone curlews.

Resident birds of note were grey wagtail on the Bonnieure and several jackdaws near Fougère . I think that I've noted before that this latter species, like the rook, is very localised around here.

The weather continues to be very hot and there has been only a gentle breeze for several days.

Golden Plovers

A cycle ride around the Lairiere Plains turned up a few wheatears, Whinchats and tree pipits but the sight of three golden plover was more unusual. I first saw them as they flew across near the eoliens but they circled around and landed in a recently planted rape field. They were still feeding there when I left some twenty minutes later. I hope they have moved on before the chasse begins on Sunday.

There are still plenty of swallows flying around and another ploughed field held about a dozen white wagtails while above, eight buzzards were sharing the same thermal.

Blue-headed Wagtails

I had the chance today to take a quick look again at the nondescript area mentioned in my last post ( I was returning from a shopping trip). Only two wheatears were present in the field and just a single whinchat but at least a dozen blue-headed wagtails were feeding there, some of them in replendent yellow plumage. I'm still not sure what the attraction of this particular ploughed field is.

Nearby, at Les Vielles Vaures, a female sparrowhawk was causing some consternation among the birds but there was nothing there of note except for three coypu which ran across the track.

Later this afternoon a tree pipit alerted me by its call to its presence in my garden before showing itself at the top of a tree.

It may be a result of my feeding grain to the three mallards on La Poterie's pond but the moorhen population there was well into double figures today.

Wheatears,Whinchats and Returning Migrants

Despite the recent hot weather (yesterday in my garden it was 33C in the shade and 54C in the sun !) the migrating birds seem to know when it's time to leave and the last few days have seen plenty of evidence of this.
There is a stretch of a quiet, nondescript road in the Tardoire valley just west of La Rochette which seems to appeal to some migratory birds. I have come across wheatears and Whinchats there before, both in Spring and Autumn, and yesterday six of the former and three of the latter were in the same field. Some of the wheatears showed vestiges of their male summer plumage. A further three Whinchats were together near La Poterie later.
The number of pied flycatchers in my garden has increased to three or more and a spotted flycatcher accompanied them yesterday. At least two robins have also moved in and when not singing their plaintive autumn notes they are busily chasing off the flycatchers. To be fair though, the flycatchers also often refuse to let each other settle.
The value of hedgerows to migrating birds seems particularly important at this time of year. They provide fruit, insects and corridors of cover which attract passerines and it's a great shame the the agricultural practice of grubbing them out continues. Last Friday, near the bio farm at La Tâche a short stretch of hedge held several migrating birds including at least four redstarts, a whitethroat, a red backed shrike and several willow warblers. Elsewhere, I have seen a few tree pipits which seemed to be on the move.
I must not have spent much time looking at river this year as it was not until this week that I came across my first Charente kingfisher of 2014. It obliging sat on the bridge just below me as I paused on my bicycle at the beautiful Charente River crossing at La Salle.
The only hen harriers I have seen this week have both been males but I have not seen stone curlews for a few days although I have heard them.