The Spring of 2017 is the first one for me when I heard a nightingale before I saw a wheatear but then we live in strange times. The bird was singing near the Tardoire near La Rochette and the stork was circling above the same river near Fougère.
Except for a wettish weekend, it's been a hot sunny end to March and April 3 was another hot day. Despite the absence of any flooding, I took a ride down to the Tardoire valley in search of early migrants. Besides the nightingale and the stork I had a two other firsts for this year, a male common redstart in Saint Angeau and a hoopoe near Saint Colombe.
Singing serins and black redstarts seemed to be everywhere although blackcaps are by far the commonest songster (including one in my garden) and it's a delight to hear the near cacophony at times from so many species defending a territory or seeking a mate. All in all, 43 species came my way today and only the moorhen was making use of any water.
Speaking of which.... I mentioned at the end of my last post that I would take a trip up to the Charente lakes. It proved to be a very successful one despite the absence of the reported little gull. The ducks were distant and I had not taken my scope but I clearly picked out three male garganey among the mallard and wigeon and also came across three shelduck which were resting on the lakeside during their migration along with four shovelers which were gliding on the water. The only waders that were around were two green sandpipers while other birds of note were a teal, several great crested grebes and a black kite.
If I can get away from the garden, which demands a lot of attention at this time of year, I will visit the area again this week as according to reports its waters have already attracted several passing waders including avocets and black winged stilt, and ospreys have been seen on several occasions.
No comments:
Post a Comment