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..
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