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Birding sites near Cherbourg (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter AndyC
- Start date
TwoDipsfromAmsterdam
Anything About?
I've only visited the southern part of the Cherbourg peninsula so am not familiar with the immediate Cherbourg area. However, there is a reserve (freshwater lake and reed, plus some heathland) west of Cherbourg at Vauville. Might be worth a look. In the event there's a good blow from the north/north-west/west then Cap de la Hague is a must for sea-watching. Reputedly on a par with some of Cornwall's best.
St Vaast-la-Hogue on the eastern side of the peninsula has a good reputation. Down in the south-east corner there are the Cotentin Marshes and a reserve at Les Ponts d'Ouve that has good birds and facilities for visitors. Also in this area is the Domaine de Beauguillot reserve (which I have been to, although in winter rather than summer). Again, good facilities, well a couple of hides at least. Follow signs to the Utah Beach Museum then turn right for 2+k - there's a car park on the left. Just follow the track; it's reasonably well signed.
Hope this helps.
David
St Vaast-la-Hogue on the eastern side of the peninsula has a good reputation. Down in the south-east corner there are the Cotentin Marshes and a reserve at Les Ponts d'Ouve that has good birds and facilities for visitors. Also in this area is the Domaine de Beauguillot reserve (which I have been to, although in winter rather than summer). Again, good facilities, well a couple of hides at least. Follow signs to the Utah Beach Museum then turn right for 2+k - there's a car park on the left. Just follow the track; it's reasonably well signed.
Hope this helps.
David
Mallyshag
Member
Hi,
When we've visited Cherbourg/Normandy on birding trips in early September we head straight for Gatteville (Barfleur) lighthouse. This is on the NE tip of the peninsular. The lighthouse is at the end of a causeway and you can watch from the base of the lighthouse, in the shelter of the buildings. Depending on weather conditions, you can get very close views and high counts of seabirds passing east. To the west is a pool with a reedbed and a shingle beach with a wader roost. To the east there are small fields (with Cirl Bunting... but getting harder to see).
Here is a report of a day trip from 15/9/04 on a quiet day in less than ideal conditions:
We got to Barfleur when it was still dark. Unfortunately the wind wasn't really NW, more WNW at best and stayed that way all day. At first it was quite breezy but the wind had dropped right away by the evening. It was low tide when we arrived and high tide at midday. We had some company as DBW was staying there for a week. He hadn't seen any good seabirds as it had been SW all week but did see a RBFly on Friday. His only passage of note was 100 Bonxies on the first day when it was strong NE.
At 06.05 it was light enough to see the first Gannet and half an hour later the first shearwater passed by. At first light there were lots of gulls out over the sea which seemed to be coming into shore. Numbers of these built up on the rocks including a few Yellow-legs but not many Meds this time (no flocks). We watched until 10am then had a walk along the coast to the west. However shearwaters continued to trickle through all day and every time I had a look back over the sea there were birds passing. We returned to the lighthouse at 1.50pm and watched until 4.30 when we had a short wander along the coast to the east. Shearwaters continued to move until we left but Gannets were only passing in low numbers in the afternoon. Gannet passage was probably the highlight for me. They were coming in from the east in big flocks, high up and strung out. It was possible to see 200 birds at a time looking to the east in flocks of up to 50, and by the time they passed the point many were very low. The Manxies were mostly v close but only one Sooty came along through the surf. One of the last Manxies actually passed OVER the shore, and that was when there was no wind. Skua and tern passage was v disappointing, it was really just Gannets and shearwaters this time. There was no vis mig of passerines either. Small but steady arrival of hirundines from mid morning.
In 7hrs watching:
97 Manx
36 Sooty
8 Balearic
1 Fulmar
2 Bonxie
1 Arctic Skua
c125 Common Tern with one flock of c100
c70 Sandwich
4 Guillemot
up to 4 Black Tern (birds lingering)
1 Whimbrel
4 Golden Plover
1 Great Crested Grebe
juv Peregrine chasing a Redshank
The walk along the coast as usual produced v few migrants. It looks so good but seems eerily devoid of birds. About c15 Wheatears, a Redstart and two Whinchats in total in the area plus a scattering of Chiffs and three groups of Stonechats. We had good views of one of two Fan-tailed Warblers seen. On the beach there was a group of odd looking alba wags - all as pale as Whites but with dark rumps, only one had the classic pale rump. Two Common Sands on the beach. At the lagoon a Marsh Harrier appeared over the reeds and there was a large flock of waders of the beach with 6 Kentish, 80-100 Ringed and 11 Golden Plovers, plus Sanderlings and Dunlins. Not many gulls roosting this time. One Swallowtail seen.
In previous visits we've had a juv. HB in/off the sea and low over the beach, LT Skuas, loads of Arctics and Bonxies, high counts of all the gulls but still no Sabines. Lots of Little Egrets and we've had Spoonbills fly in and land on the beach. If you're lucky you may see Dolphins as there is large resident Bottlenose population on the west coast of Normandy. There are Serins in the parks in Cherbourg in late Spring and Fan-tail Warblers can be found along the coast line. We 'kicked out' a couple as we were walking through the dunes on the east coast in February when we were looking for Snow Buntings. There should be Storks in the area as we've seen them in early February.
Hope this helps,
Chris
Some pics. from previous trips:
When we've visited Cherbourg/Normandy on birding trips in early September we head straight for Gatteville (Barfleur) lighthouse. This is on the NE tip of the peninsular. The lighthouse is at the end of a causeway and you can watch from the base of the lighthouse, in the shelter of the buildings. Depending on weather conditions, you can get very close views and high counts of seabirds passing east. To the west is a pool with a reedbed and a shingle beach with a wader roost. To the east there are small fields (with Cirl Bunting... but getting harder to see).
Here is a report of a day trip from 15/9/04 on a quiet day in less than ideal conditions:
We got to Barfleur when it was still dark. Unfortunately the wind wasn't really NW, more WNW at best and stayed that way all day. At first it was quite breezy but the wind had dropped right away by the evening. It was low tide when we arrived and high tide at midday. We had some company as DBW was staying there for a week. He hadn't seen any good seabirds as it had been SW all week but did see a RBFly on Friday. His only passage of note was 100 Bonxies on the first day when it was strong NE.
At 06.05 it was light enough to see the first Gannet and half an hour later the first shearwater passed by. At first light there were lots of gulls out over the sea which seemed to be coming into shore. Numbers of these built up on the rocks including a few Yellow-legs but not many Meds this time (no flocks). We watched until 10am then had a walk along the coast to the west. However shearwaters continued to trickle through all day and every time I had a look back over the sea there were birds passing. We returned to the lighthouse at 1.50pm and watched until 4.30 when we had a short wander along the coast to the east. Shearwaters continued to move until we left but Gannets were only passing in low numbers in the afternoon. Gannet passage was probably the highlight for me. They were coming in from the east in big flocks, high up and strung out. It was possible to see 200 birds at a time looking to the east in flocks of up to 50, and by the time they passed the point many were very low. The Manxies were mostly v close but only one Sooty came along through the surf. One of the last Manxies actually passed OVER the shore, and that was when there was no wind. Skua and tern passage was v disappointing, it was really just Gannets and shearwaters this time. There was no vis mig of passerines either. Small but steady arrival of hirundines from mid morning.
In 7hrs watching:
97 Manx
36 Sooty
8 Balearic
1 Fulmar
2 Bonxie
1 Arctic Skua
c125 Common Tern with one flock of c100
c70 Sandwich
4 Guillemot
up to 4 Black Tern (birds lingering)
1 Whimbrel
4 Golden Plover
1 Great Crested Grebe
juv Peregrine chasing a Redshank
The walk along the coast as usual produced v few migrants. It looks so good but seems eerily devoid of birds. About c15 Wheatears, a Redstart and two Whinchats in total in the area plus a scattering of Chiffs and three groups of Stonechats. We had good views of one of two Fan-tailed Warblers seen. On the beach there was a group of odd looking alba wags - all as pale as Whites but with dark rumps, only one had the classic pale rump. Two Common Sands on the beach. At the lagoon a Marsh Harrier appeared over the reeds and there was a large flock of waders of the beach with 6 Kentish, 80-100 Ringed and 11 Golden Plovers, plus Sanderlings and Dunlins. Not many gulls roosting this time. One Swallowtail seen.
In previous visits we've had a juv. HB in/off the sea and low over the beach, LT Skuas, loads of Arctics and Bonxies, high counts of all the gulls but still no Sabines. Lots of Little Egrets and we've had Spoonbills fly in and land on the beach. If you're lucky you may see Dolphins as there is large resident Bottlenose population on the west coast of Normandy. There are Serins in the parks in Cherbourg in late Spring and Fan-tail Warblers can be found along the coast line. We 'kicked out' a couple as we were walking through the dunes on the east coast in February when we were looking for Snow Buntings. There should be Storks in the area as we've seen them in early February.
Hope this helps,
Chris
Some pics. from previous trips:
