Bonelli's Warblers and Black Woodpecker

There is still a cool northerly breeze but the sun has been mainly out during the last few days so the thermometer is showing the upper 30's when it's not in the shade.
I went for a longish walk rather than a bike ride on Wednesday and I finally caught up with Bonelli's warblers in the woods near Goise. Their short trill is very distinctive and is invaluable in tracking them down as they prefer to forage in the canopy. Once located,though, they are quite obliging as they don't tend to move far.
Cetti's warblers have an even more distinctive song and two different individuals were making their loud noise (hardly a warble) from the damp vegetation near the Son-sonette; along with chiffs, blackcaps, whitethroats and melodious they brought the day's warbler species total to six but the reed warblers were not yet present at their usual location, I hope they arrive soon.
A big surprise on the other bank of the river, near Valence, was a black woodpecker. I first heard him call from a group of tall pines before he flew across in front of me towards the poplar plantation from where he eventually started to drum loudly. This impressive species seems to be coming much more common as I have seen several already this year.
Rather more difficult to find nowadays are the stone curlews. One was present in the on the plains near the turbines although I could not locate his partner who I had seen earlier in the week. My farming neighbour described this species to me and asked me to identify it as he had seen one close to his tractor in a different field. He was not aware that it was a rare migrant species or that it nested on the ground.
The species count for the whole walk was 46.

Golden Oriole

Despite the northerly wind it's been very warm in the sunshine and perhaps this is what has made the Orioles burst into song over the last couple of days. Another familiar addition to the summer visitor list was the turtle dove which I heard purring on the edge of the Braconne Forest this morning. Not far from it I watched a black woodpecker fly over, issuing a strange flight call that I've not heard before.
I called in at Fougère on the way to the forest  and found a late Greenshank feeding in the tiny bit of flood water which remains.
A visit to Le Forêt de Belaire yesterday was delightful except for the near absence of birds and it was a similar story in the Braconne today so I'm still looking for my first Bonelli's warbler of the Spring.
In the garden the blackbirds' eggs have hatched and the starlings are also feeding young. The redstarts seem to have abandoned building a rather ridiculously precarious nest on top of a beam as most of the material they took up there almost immediately fell down. I hope they find somewhere else to breed.

Black Stork and Swifts

Without my checking back I think it was last Spring when I came across a rare black stork near Fougère. Very surprisingly on Thursday and Friday an individual was sitting in exactly the same spot and very likely was the same bird which was following the same migration route as last year. A black kite was also present.
My first two swifts of the year flew over Saint Angeau as I passed through.

Woodchat Shrike, Whinchat, Melodious Warbler

Wednesday was warm but overcast and that may have encouraged some migrants to drop in rather than fly over as it turned out to be a good morning's birding. I haven't seen a woodchat shrike for a couple of years and so the perfect specimen which was sat atop a hedge near the bio farm was a great surprise. Perhaps there is something about this hedge which shrikes like as its where the red backed shrikes traditionally nest.
He was very confiding and after watching him for some ten minutes I left him in peace. The location held othe birds too; my second melodious warbler of the day (and spring) was busy in a nearby tree as was a singing willow warbler.
The rape fields are places to find whinchats during autumn in my experience but at least five migrants were taking advantage of them near La Tâche today and all sitting prettily on top as they always seem to do.

Willow Warblers

The last few days have been on the damp and dull side to say the least but I managed to dodge the showers this morning and visited the Son-sonette near Ventouse. Willow warblers were singing and I saw at least four birds in the space of five minutes; I suspect there were many more. These were the first that I have heard this year so it is likely that there was an influx last night. The other four warbler species which were around on this short trip were Cetti's, chiffchaff,  blackcap and whitethroats. Nightingales were singing everywhere, a few cuckoos were calling and a female hen harrier was hunting near Lairiere. On the way back a female wheatear was obligingly sat on a post at Bois Bernadette as I cycled by.

Yesterday I had a look at Fougère but there were no waders present, just three little egrets paddling in one of the few remaining pools. Several tree pipits were in the tree tops though and a male wheatear was on the Lairiere plains close to where one stone curlew was doing its usual imitation of a statue.

Male Wheatears and Stone Curlews

I came across my first male wheatears of the year on Tuesday, three of them in fact, in a ploughed field on the plains. Two females were also there.
The stone curlews were close by and although they stayed very still as always, their greyish plumage did not camouflage them very well against the dark earth background or the local creamy stones.
Today's bike ride turned up over forty species but no new arrivals. The floods at Fougère have now virtually disappeared but a little egret was taking advantage of the little water that remains.

Bullfinch, Common Redstart and Tree Pipit

The last two days have seen temperatures in the low 20's but with some strong winds, heavy showers and even storms and hail at times. Nevertheless migrant birds continue to arrive and my first tree pipits of the year were singing in the Bonnieure valley. Another first was a male common redstart in all of his far from common finery.

Nightingales are also singing in many locations and I had the relatively rare pleasure of actually seeing one do so today as they are usually so well concealed.

Sunday's strong winds helped direct me to the shelter of Le Forêt de Belaire and my reward was not only a black woodpecker feeding mainly on the ground but also a superb male bullfinch. I've not checked back. But I think it's a few years since I've seen this Charente resident. Chiffchaffs and firecrests were plentiful there and a cuckoo was calling.

Of note among our regular birds is the stunning male hawfinch which is still visiting my feeders and the hen harriers of both sexes which have been a daily sight throughout the month.

Wheatear,Nightingale and Whitethroat

Very remarkably, my first Charente wheatear of the Spring turned up in my garden and even more curiously she has hung around the house for the last two days. She won't stay of course as these are not her breeding grounds but I was very pleased that she popped in.

The second wheatear which I came across some twenty four hours later was also a female but this time in the more predictable location  of a ploughed field. Usually the first wheatear arrivals are males but I'm sure a few will turn up during the next week or so.

While checking for any wetland birds at Fougère (there were just a few green sandpipers) I heard a nightingale singing from a nearby garden. Despite being a very early arrival it was already performing most of its full repertoire... except for the 'jug-jug-jug' bit.

The whitethroats,which were also singing,were at the Bandiat and there were at least two of them. Nothing else of note was there though except for a little grebe, a hoopoe and half a dozen mallards.

A female black redstart turned up at the house today presumably to team up with the male who has been here for over a week now. Also in the garden was a mistle thrush which after collecting some grubs flew off into our little wood where I assume he is nesting. He has been remarkably secretive for such a big bird.

Hoopoes and Waders

There is little left of the flooded area around Fougère despite the substantial rain which my quarter-full wheelbarrow tells me fell during my UK trip. Nevertheless, passage waders are making use of it and there were 22 green sandpipers, 2 greenshanks and 3 little ringed plovers there today.
Hoopoes and cuckoos were calling and I noticed that swallows on the wires in our village and house martins circling around their regular nesting haunts in Saint Angeau. Several serins were also in song including one in my garden.

Stone Curlews, Cuckoos...and a Yellowhammer

I was visiting the UK last week so I'm not up to speed with what's been happening here but a cuckoo was calling close to the house as I arrived home this afternoon and a couple of stone curlews were standing in a field near Romefort just before I turned onto the D27.
I did manage a bike ride around the plains around 7pm hoping a wheatear might be about especially as I had seen my first of this Spring in Gloucestershire a couple of days ago. Alas, there were none to be seen but a male hen harrier and a high flying merlin were some compensation.
Yellowhammers are not really Spring migrants but the few that we have hereabouts seem to disappear  in the winter months. I saw several in England last week and so was pleased to see the bright yellow head of a male bird in his usual nesting place near Lairière as I returned from my short cycle tour.