aythya_hybrid
real name Jonathan Dean
A weekend in Provence,
24-27 March
(Highlights Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Slender-billed Gull, Alpine Accentor, Eagle Owl, Spectacled Warbler...)
Myself and my Colchester based birding chum Sean Nixon are just back from a weekend in Provence. Our main targets were Wallcreeper and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, although we were mindful of the fact that the former species might well have departed its wintering grounds by late March. We stayed in the fantastic Mas d’Isnard guest house, c10km west of Arles, which provided fantastic food, comfort and hospitality at a very decent price.
Most of what follows is already well covered in existing trip reports, but hopefully some might find the up to date info contained herein helpful.
Camargue, 24th March
We flew into Montpellier mid afternoon on 24th, and headed for Santes Maries-de-la-Mer on the Camargue coast. En route we had our first taste of various common species in the area such as Greater Flamingo, Little and Cattle Egret, Black Kite, Buzzard, Kestrel, Black-winged Stilt, Zitting Cisticola, Cetti’s Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Crested Lark, Med Gull, Yellow-legged Gull.
On reaching Santes Maries-de-la-Mer we drove to the east end of the town and walked a track that leads east overlooking the saltmarshes. Excellent views of Greater Flamingo were had. Other birds included Sedge Warbler, Grey Plover, a female Hen Harrier, Avocet, Sandwich Tern, Ringed Plover, Black-winged Stilt. We got a brief view of a female Spectacled Warbler in the salt marsh and, better still, had an excellent close encounter with a lovely pink fly-by Slender-billed Gull. On the way back what appeared to be another, less pink, Slender-billed Gull gave decent views as it bathed a short distance away. Close to the town, one Black-necked Grebe showed well just offshore, while a flock of c30 were present a little further out.
Les Baux-de-Provence, 25th March
A few hours at this spectacular tourist spot north of Arles ultimately drew a blank on the Wallcreeper front. Whether this is because they have departed to higher terrain for the summer, or because of a lack of birding prowess on our part, is unknown. We did, however, get a decent haul, the highlight being an Alpine Accentor, perched atop a wall on the north side of the village, with presumably the same bird later seen very well indeed perched and singing atop a building in the same area of the village. We didn’t pay to enter the chateau, so this remained the only individual of this species we saw. Other goodies - mostly seen from the Chemin de Tremaie footpath around the base of the cliffs - included Blue Rock Thrush (with at least two pairs showing well around the cliffs), Crag Martin (lots of them circling overhead), Alpine Swift (c10 or so in flight), Firecrest, Crested Tit, Black Redstart, Serin, White Stork overhead, one Short-toed Eagle in flight.
After lunch we walked round the town - seeing the Accentor a second time - and had another walk around the cliffs early afternoon but with little to show for it.
La Caume
Mid afternoon we drove to this site NE of Les Baux and walked up to the large aerial, but it was pretty birdless. No Bonelli’s Eagle (although to be fair we didn’t try very hard), and hardly any small birds.
Mas de L'Oulivie
After our uneventful afternoon, we rounded things off with a visit to this well-established Eagle Owl site SE of Les Baux. There was a lot of finch action while we waited: throughout our stay, we encountered regular large flocks of migrating Chaffinches, which at this site were joined by Siskins, Serins and Goldfinch. We also heard a Brambling call as one of the many Chaffinch flocks flew by. Crag Martins and a few Alpine Swifts flew overhead. A little after 6pm, an Eagle Owl started calling to the east of our stake-out (next to the fire hydrant just beyond the hotel). Although the calls were clearly audible there’s was still no sight of the bird when we left shortly before 6.45pm.
La Crau, 26th March
We spent all day today exploring La Crau, an isolated area of dry, steppe-like habitat south of St.Martin-de-Crau. We concentrated our efforts on the Peau-de-Meau nature reserve, stopping there after - as per instructions - buying our permits from the EcoMusee on the high street in St.Martin-de-Crau. Mid morning we did the circular walk as per the map given to us in the museum, although it was fairly quiet on the bird front. Stone Curlew were heard calling, and we saw Skylark, Black Kite, White Stork, Buzzard, Crested Lark, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Serin, one Wheatear, Corn Bunting, a few Crag Martins, but nothing rarer. On the way back we stopped by the derelict wagon on the road leading to the reserve, but added nothing to our tally.
We lunched in a nice restaurant in St. Martin-de-Crau, and then drove along the N568 SW of Peau-de-Meau. We grilled some Kestrels (Lesser Kestrel breeds here), but the only one we were conclusively able to identify to species was a female Common (its black claws giving its identity away).
Late afternoon (round 1730) we walked west along a track from the Peau-de-Meau car park, where we saw Red-legged Partridge, heard Green Woodpecker, had Corn Bunting in good numbers, and had reasonable views of circa 12 Stone Curlew. We then began walking anti-clockwise around the official reserve trail, clocking a nice Great White Egret in flight over the car park. After another quiet period, as we approached the barn (the main one with the “observatoire”) from the south the source of an unfamiliar, Med Gull-like noise proved to be a flock of 9 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, flying low over the steppes. They landed out of site, but soon took flight, gained height, and remained in view for some minutes as they circled round high above the reserve, before eventually coming to ground some distance away. We got decent flight views, particularly at first, and were immensely relieved after our faltering efforts earlier in the day. I’m actually fairly sure that a very very distant flock of c50 fast flying birds I had seen looking north from near the car park about an hour earlier were also PTS, but were way too distant to be 100%.
27th March
On the our accommodation we saw a Hoopoe briefly in flight, and heard a Lesser Sotted Woodpecker drumming, although we were unable to see it despite a brief search.
Cacharel area, Camargue
By the time we got to the Camargue, the weather had closed in and there was persistent rain with very poor visibility. We drove along the track that leads NE from Cacharel - a well documented area in existing trip reports. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t get a sniff of Spotted Eagle. We did, however, see: 1 Slender-billed Gull on the shoreline east of the track, c10 Kentish Plover, 1 Great White Egret, Black-winged Stilt, Little Egret, c10 Spotted Redshank, Snipe, Avocet, Sardinian Warbler, Crested Lark. An area of open freshwater with reeds near Cacharel produced decent numbers of Glossy Ibis (perhaps around 20), as well as 2 drake Garganey. The Chaffinch passage noted on 25th continued unabated…
Driving around the Camargue in the rain thereafter saw Marsh Harrier added to our list, and we saw a Hoopoe in flight as we pulled into the airport.
24-27 March
(Highlights Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Slender-billed Gull, Alpine Accentor, Eagle Owl, Spectacled Warbler...)
Myself and my Colchester based birding chum Sean Nixon are just back from a weekend in Provence. Our main targets were Wallcreeper and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, although we were mindful of the fact that the former species might well have departed its wintering grounds by late March. We stayed in the fantastic Mas d’Isnard guest house, c10km west of Arles, which provided fantastic food, comfort and hospitality at a very decent price.
Most of what follows is already well covered in existing trip reports, but hopefully some might find the up to date info contained herein helpful.
Camargue, 24th March
We flew into Montpellier mid afternoon on 24th, and headed for Santes Maries-de-la-Mer on the Camargue coast. En route we had our first taste of various common species in the area such as Greater Flamingo, Little and Cattle Egret, Black Kite, Buzzard, Kestrel, Black-winged Stilt, Zitting Cisticola, Cetti’s Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Crested Lark, Med Gull, Yellow-legged Gull.
On reaching Santes Maries-de-la-Mer we drove to the east end of the town and walked a track that leads east overlooking the saltmarshes. Excellent views of Greater Flamingo were had. Other birds included Sedge Warbler, Grey Plover, a female Hen Harrier, Avocet, Sandwich Tern, Ringed Plover, Black-winged Stilt. We got a brief view of a female Spectacled Warbler in the salt marsh and, better still, had an excellent close encounter with a lovely pink fly-by Slender-billed Gull. On the way back what appeared to be another, less pink, Slender-billed Gull gave decent views as it bathed a short distance away. Close to the town, one Black-necked Grebe showed well just offshore, while a flock of c30 were present a little further out.
Les Baux-de-Provence, 25th March
A few hours at this spectacular tourist spot north of Arles ultimately drew a blank on the Wallcreeper front. Whether this is because they have departed to higher terrain for the summer, or because of a lack of birding prowess on our part, is unknown. We did, however, get a decent haul, the highlight being an Alpine Accentor, perched atop a wall on the north side of the village, with presumably the same bird later seen very well indeed perched and singing atop a building in the same area of the village. We didn’t pay to enter the chateau, so this remained the only individual of this species we saw. Other goodies - mostly seen from the Chemin de Tremaie footpath around the base of the cliffs - included Blue Rock Thrush (with at least two pairs showing well around the cliffs), Crag Martin (lots of them circling overhead), Alpine Swift (c10 or so in flight), Firecrest, Crested Tit, Black Redstart, Serin, White Stork overhead, one Short-toed Eagle in flight.
After lunch we walked round the town - seeing the Accentor a second time - and had another walk around the cliffs early afternoon but with little to show for it.
La Caume
Mid afternoon we drove to this site NE of Les Baux and walked up to the large aerial, but it was pretty birdless. No Bonelli’s Eagle (although to be fair we didn’t try very hard), and hardly any small birds.
Mas de L'Oulivie
After our uneventful afternoon, we rounded things off with a visit to this well-established Eagle Owl site SE of Les Baux. There was a lot of finch action while we waited: throughout our stay, we encountered regular large flocks of migrating Chaffinches, which at this site were joined by Siskins, Serins and Goldfinch. We also heard a Brambling call as one of the many Chaffinch flocks flew by. Crag Martins and a few Alpine Swifts flew overhead. A little after 6pm, an Eagle Owl started calling to the east of our stake-out (next to the fire hydrant just beyond the hotel). Although the calls were clearly audible there’s was still no sight of the bird when we left shortly before 6.45pm.
La Crau, 26th March
We spent all day today exploring La Crau, an isolated area of dry, steppe-like habitat south of St.Martin-de-Crau. We concentrated our efforts on the Peau-de-Meau nature reserve, stopping there after - as per instructions - buying our permits from the EcoMusee on the high street in St.Martin-de-Crau. Mid morning we did the circular walk as per the map given to us in the museum, although it was fairly quiet on the bird front. Stone Curlew were heard calling, and we saw Skylark, Black Kite, White Stork, Buzzard, Crested Lark, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Serin, one Wheatear, Corn Bunting, a few Crag Martins, but nothing rarer. On the way back we stopped by the derelict wagon on the road leading to the reserve, but added nothing to our tally.
We lunched in a nice restaurant in St. Martin-de-Crau, and then drove along the N568 SW of Peau-de-Meau. We grilled some Kestrels (Lesser Kestrel breeds here), but the only one we were conclusively able to identify to species was a female Common (its black claws giving its identity away).
Late afternoon (round 1730) we walked west along a track from the Peau-de-Meau car park, where we saw Red-legged Partridge, heard Green Woodpecker, had Corn Bunting in good numbers, and had reasonable views of circa 12 Stone Curlew. We then began walking anti-clockwise around the official reserve trail, clocking a nice Great White Egret in flight over the car park. After another quiet period, as we approached the barn (the main one with the “observatoire”) from the south the source of an unfamiliar, Med Gull-like noise proved to be a flock of 9 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, flying low over the steppes. They landed out of site, but soon took flight, gained height, and remained in view for some minutes as they circled round high above the reserve, before eventually coming to ground some distance away. We got decent flight views, particularly at first, and were immensely relieved after our faltering efforts earlier in the day. I’m actually fairly sure that a very very distant flock of c50 fast flying birds I had seen looking north from near the car park about an hour earlier were also PTS, but were way too distant to be 100%.
27th March
On the our accommodation we saw a Hoopoe briefly in flight, and heard a Lesser Sotted Woodpecker drumming, although we were unable to see it despite a brief search.
Cacharel area, Camargue
By the time we got to the Camargue, the weather had closed in and there was persistent rain with very poor visibility. We drove along the track that leads NE from Cacharel - a well documented area in existing trip reports. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t get a sniff of Spotted Eagle. We did, however, see: 1 Slender-billed Gull on the shoreline east of the track, c10 Kentish Plover, 1 Great White Egret, Black-winged Stilt, Little Egret, c10 Spotted Redshank, Snipe, Avocet, Sardinian Warbler, Crested Lark. An area of open freshwater with reeds near Cacharel produced decent numbers of Glossy Ibis (perhaps around 20), as well as 2 drake Garganey. The Chaffinch passage noted on 25th continued unabated…
Driving around the Camargue in the rain thereafter saw Marsh Harrier added to our list, and we saw a Hoopoe in flight as we pulled into the airport.
