La Dombes region (1 Viewer)

As there is very little information on this forum about La Dombes region in the department of Ain, in south central France, I thought I would post a brief summary of my experience there last week.

I was actually in the region just north of Lyon for work, but I managed to spend a couple of evenings birding some of the many hundreds of lakes in the region.

Just a first comment about the region itself. It was rather a revelation, as there are perhaps 200-300 lakes in a relatively small area (perhaps no more than 10x15km), most of which are originally man-made and many of which, I believe, date back 500 years. As well as supporting agriculture, there is clearly a heavy reliance on fishing and many lakes seemed to be set up for breeding/trapping frogs for the traditional regional delicacies.

Although I only managed about an hour each evening by one of the lakes, I think I possibly saw more herons than I have ever seen before! Even from the car, it was quite possible to see lakes on which there were three or four species of heron, sometimes with 40-50 birds on a single lake. Most numerous were grey heron, but most lakes also held great egret and little egret, and some also had night heron, with cattle egret also noted in one location. Cormorant were very common, as were great crested grebe, and among the duck species seen were mallard, common pochard, red-crested pochard and teal. Common buzzard and kestrel were seen frequently, but the raptor highlight was a magnificent osprey seen near Versailleux. Fields of lapwing and an occasional common sandpiper were the only notable waders I saw, while the overall highlight came in the form of three white stork flying over Villars-les-Dombes. As far as passerines were concerned, wheatear, pied flycatcher and black redstart were seen in several locations. Good views of kingfisher were had at both lakes I visited properly.

The two lakes I managed to spend some time at were Etang Turlet (near to Villars-les-Dombes) - where the 3 stork were seen, and where a large flock of little egret came in at sunset - and Etang Chapelier (near to Versailleux), where there were some 20-25 night heron. Both these lakes had screens from which to view the lakes, while the latter also had a decent sized (but open-topped) hide stuck out on stilts above the water and reeds. I didn't manage to find any other lakes with easy access, although I managed views over a good few other lakes from roadside verges and farm tracks.

Thanks for posting your expériences in the French 'Lake District' Lazza. I believe it was the monks who established the majority of the lakes, you may have noticed that often there is a lake on one side of a road or raised bank, and a field of corn or other crop on the other side. Fish (carp and perhaps other species), grow big in the lake until suitable for 'harvesting', the water is drained from the lake so they can retrieve the fish and the water passes into the adjacent 'field' via a sluice system, the field becomes a lake which they stock with young fish, and the ex-lake has lots of fish-produced nutrients in the soil,making it good for crop growing, clever n'est-ce pas?
It's an area that pulls in the migrants, we saw a Black Stork and Short-toed Eagle migrating through there last spring, there's a 'Parc ornithologique' in Villar les Dombes, White Stork and Night Heron both nest within the grounds, but also in the surrounding area. A pair of Whooper Swans have also bred in the area for a couple of years now! As you state, viewing the lakes is not always easy, and lakes are not always shown on the maps (for the reasons I've mentioned above), but it's well worth visiting, especially from spring to September. There's a huge amount of wildfowling (due to start soon) so birding is difficult in the shooting season (and possibly dangerous!).

Interesting. I read a little about the history, and "functionality" of the lakes, but it seems a very smart system based on making the most of an impermeable ground. I nearly crashed my car on the first drive through the area, as I'd previously only seen great egret quite distantly, and suddenly I was driving right past lakes full of them!! I noticed the bird park when I went to Villars-les-Dombes, and I guess the overflying stork were heading there.

In terms of hunting, I can imagine that it's quite a popular area, as it would be a little like shooting fish in a barrel, you're so spoilt for choice.... maybe they should be encouraged to shoot the invasive coypu, which seemed to be everywhere!!