Paul 42
Thursday 23rd January 2003, 14:25
To the north of Saint-Etienne the river Loire runs through a broad plainin between two mountain ranges. On both sides of the river there are dozens of "etangs", man made lakes dug by the monks in the middle ages as fish farms. They are now greatly appreciated by anglers and birdwatchers and an important wintrting site for wild fowl. We set of for our 10 km tour under a light drizzle (Manchester sunshine), which soon eased off and we had an hour or so of glorious weather, a nice change after the very cold conditions this winter (-16C last week). The first etang we passed had been emptied in the autumn, a couple of inches in the far end with four rather miserable looking Herons standing there. A flash of white in the far treeline and I've got an egret. Little or Great White??? I've soon got another in flight, certainly looks big and I have seen them here before,albeit in summer. The jury is out for the moment. Next a nice Kestrel (dont you just lurve them??) drying out on a wire, a commun Buzzard doing the same on a tree stump, flopping down onto the grass to take an imprudent rodent. In the distance a flock of passerines (is that the right word in english?), too far away ti identify with my £40 Jessops bins. Must invest in optics!! Had an impression of larks, I believe they form groups in winter, but then every outing is a learning experience for me. A nice muddy track runs past isolated farmhouses, full of tree and house sparrows, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long-Tailed Tits, Robins, Wrens etc. Collared doves cooing away, springs just around the corner!! Well, in fact they forecast snow for the weekend, but I'm an optimist! Plenty of Jays screeching away like stuck pigs, Starlings doing their strange whistles, a Green Woodpecker cackling away (are you taking the....?), Nuthatches sending secret morse code messages to each other (at least it always sounds like that to me). I've found that with a few years experience I can tell which birds are about without seeing them. Good job really as I'm not exactly hawk-eyed! Next etang, very small but with plenty of reeds, always looks ideal for bitterns to me, needless to say theres nowt. picnic anyway, sleeves rolled up, jet black clouds start rolling in from the mountains, that strange light you get when 2/3 sky's black and 1/3 brilliant sunshine, anegret takes off and flies majestically overhead, lit up against the black clouds. To me moments like that are what its all about. At least this time I rest level headed enough to have a good look at the legs. they are black so sure enough its a Little Egret. Take a quick look at the etang next to this one, a few mallards, couple of wigeon, thats about it. Trouble is, theres just so many etangs that it changes from day to day, especially in the hunting season. The ducks soon figure out which etangs are hunted over and which are reserves, or at least less hunted. Set off under the now ever increasing rain, stopping only to watch a Kestrel do the "holy spirit", if I'm allowed to say that here :). Another flock of passerines overhead, this time I manage to spot Siskins, a Robin pops out of the hedge and tells me to **## off. on to the last etang, a charm of goldfinch tinkles overhead(good job I've got my hood). A pair of Buzzards fly off as we aproach, leaving a dead ragondin (musk rat???) on the grass. These water mammals are becoming a real pest in France, threatening the return of the otters and beavers (competition). Under the pouring rain we are greeted by the sight of at least 40 little egrets in the etang, wheeling up and round in the sky every time a car goes past (busyish road) only to return to the same spot again. The 15 or so herons just stand there, hunched up under the downpour, looking very sorry for themselves as usual. Leaving the road behind we follow the public footpath as it winds through farmyards under a beautiful rainbow(aaaah!). Feirce looking dogs do their best to break their chains as they lunge at as, snarling and slavering. "Don't worry" I tell my missus, "their tails are wagging". Glad to get past in one peice though.. Long walk back to the village under a huge sky. This is horse training country, lots of racehorses in the prairies, of course Valerie has to say hello to them alm. Also to all the cows, goats, pigs, rabbits, hens that run around free (until its time to eat them of course).On the way back to the car nothing special, chaffinch looking very very pink, yellowhammer looking very yellow, quick beer in the village cafe and back to town. Not a mad birding day, if you don't count the Egrets, but a nice breathe of fresh air to help us keep going till spring; its just started snowing again!!!