My bike trip took me to the flooded Tardoire valley but with little in mind other than the outside possibility that a few cranes might be taking a stopover there.
There were no cranes but remarkably there were geese, five greylags, standing quietly on the far side of the flood. I watched them for some time before they became aware of my presence and began to get a little agitated. They eventually took off high to the southwest but by the time I'd cycled to the next viewing point, where about two hundred lapwing were feeding, the geese had resettled close to them only to be disturbed again by two very noisy trail bikes.
Les Oiseaux de Charente describes greylags as rare migrants in the departement but nevertheless still chassée. Sad really.
The only other birds using the floodwater were a pair of mallards and that species took the day's total to thirty five, the most noteworthy of which were a female hen harrier, a small flock of woodlark and the regular firecrest which was waiting for me outside my window when I got home.
No comments:
Post a Comment