Another Great Day in the Pyrenees - 2020 (2 Viewers)

Great Stuff indeed! :t:

54 Long tailed Tit
55 2 Hobbys seemingly passing north. As per previous post.
56 Mallard - forgot to add after shopping the other day...

Also the Dipper flew over the garden - I wasn't in it because I had wandered down with the girls to check the nest out. He flew up the stream then out over my garden and back along the stream...

99.9% certain that birding groups will be cancelled in June and rescheduled for end of August. Lets hope that travel restrictions are lifted quickly and safely, better add that.

That said we start to come out of confinement on the 11th May. Can then travel up to 100kms without a 'permission' slip. There is another thread on the subject but I have 4 immediate things to do in mind - find a Wallcreeper territory, check out the Tengmalms Owl and a the Eagle Owl, head to the next valley for some Hobby action (the spot mentioned previously where they flock pre-breeding - up to 80 counted) and find me a bee-eater colony... Actually thats 5 - so there are five things Wallcreeper, Eagle Owl, Tengmalms Owl, Hobby, Bee-eater and the Lammergeier - oh thats 6.....

Well, Lincoln to Luz, let's see, yes it's 99 km isn't it? ;o)

PS Nice shots, they look clear and sharp.

dragnil said:

Well, Lincoln to Luz, let's see, yes it's 99 km isn't it? ;o)

PS Nice shots, they look clear and sharp.

Click to expand...

I think that I have got closer with the camera and lens combo - now its down to technique....

I'll be sure to save some birds for you Dragnil.

57 Stonechat
58 Marsh Tit

Does feel like cheating as both were away from my garden... I drove round past a couple of Red Backed shrike spots but without success.

Oh yeah had 37 Griffons over the house the other morning! And a further 2 Egyptians. My friend had some Bee eaters over his house...

So here are some shots after some tinkering with my lens and the micro focus

Pretty happy apart from getting the colour balance wrong on one of the sparrows

Great Tits beak looks little bit over grown.

PS. Vultures an Bee Eaters must be some Fantasy creatures... 8-P (Here anyway)

So now move into partial lockdown and immediately there were fisherman, cyclists and a lone birdwatcher in the shape of me up the mountain.

This consisted of a trip to Gavarnie and the relentless, annual, search for a wallcreeper nest. I figured I would make life easy and opt for a slightly longer drive but a flatter walk. The rain was intermittant, the sun warm when it shone and the wind refreshing. There had been snow during the night on the higher peaks but the beauty lie in the peacefulness. There was a farmer and two commune workers passed on the track on the way down but otherwise no one else at these far reaches of the valley.

I was rewarded immediately with a pair of Lammergeiers in the cloud. I didn't have my scope so couldn't properly check out the nest. I am told that there is a chick though. These were followed by some Alpine Choughs and some Red Billed (outnumbered in these parts).

I tried for Citril Finch and Rock Thrush but they were absent from the higher slopes.

So the track. In normal circumstances this road is NOT accessible until the end of May so it was important(!) to try it. Lack of snow this winter made it easy. The carpark produced a pair of Rock Thrush (in both directions) and scores of Water Pipit, Crag Martin, Wheatear all vying for there signing and territorial look outs.

I trekked for 40 minutes and at the end was surprised by the avalanche depth in a couple of places maybe 10-15 or even 20 metres!

Sadly no Wallcreeper. I think I have found my preferred area though so in better weather... That said I now need a Wallcreeper to agree with me.

A pair of Golden Eagles passed overhead and I was constanly supported by Marmottes whislted as I walked by. They were incredibly tame so I suspect younger ones that may not have seen humans, ever.

Even in the light rain it was fairly pleasant to be at the base of a glacier in isolation. The only thing missing was a picnic (I hadn't packed food or water) and a couple more ticks. I picked up the call of a Citril Finch but couldn't find him.

The Rock Thrushes were still near the car park and another a little bit lower. An Eagle not far from a previous years nest. I spent some time listening to the Garden Warblers, Blackcaps as I surveyed another cliff for the Wallcreeper but again no joy.

A couple of trips for the Eagle Owl - I'm really expecting to see a chick any day but not yet...

Nice Booted over the house this morning.

So ok the pictures are almost there but slightly out, see previous efforts. That said the light wasn't good, the birds weren't close and the speed not fast enough.

It wasn't a day to worry about detail...

And todays Booted which crashed into the wood in front the house but I missed the dive!!

Grrr, please don't rub it in. We were due to set out to your patch tomorrow...
Enjoy the relaxed restrictions and good luck with the wallcreeper!

edited photo

Sorry that you can't be here Dragnil. The weather doesn't look promising for a few days but there is plenty about and some things to come...

I'm going a little further afield on Friday and hope to find bee eater and maybe something special - its Red Foot time...

dragnil said:

Grrr, please don't rub it in.

Click to expand...

This might hurt a little...

Did get 1 Snowfinch but he dissappeared over to La Mongie side of the mountain.

You can go off people you know! Nice Marmite ;o)

Headed to Lannemezan for the weekend. Got the car to service - changing brake callipers and pads which looked pretty dangerous.

Anyway, took the circuitous route to search for bee eater. Not sure sounds strange but not sure. Did hear a Golden Oriol, and picked up first Red Backed Shrikes of the year, and second and third etc etc. In fact around one small cow field were three cracking males and one female so a total of 6 on my short drive!

That isn't the biggest news of the day. I had a bet with the parc guy about where we would find the Wallcreeper nest - expressing great confidence in our abilites. I have been saying for years that they have to be at the entrance of the valley whereas he was saying the top. So I got a text saying I had won the bet! Even more incredible was that the bird was sneaking into the Lammergeier nest and stealing wool to furnish his own nest a little bit higher on the cliff...

I can't get there until Sunday/Monday but I'm super stoked!

Is this the site in Val d'Ossoue?
Bizarrely, we saw a pair in the shale quarry beside the road in that valley on a warm September day in 2002.

It is!

I found a really old map for a nest site in 1993 in this area - with an old school hand drawn trip report - which I had just circulated to the parc. I will find the name of the drawer/author when home...

I have been searching this area for about 3 or 4 years for a nest site.

5 Golden Oriols so far! Including one female and great views of one of the males. RB Shrikes into double figures, cracking Whinchat this morning...

Ok so Wallcreeper hunting!

Headed up to gavarnie once the kids were at school - a huge distance of 12 miles. Immediately rewarded with two Citril Finch flying out of the roadside - pictures to follow when I can edit.

I decided on a more distant but higher view to begin with. Again scored an Egyptian Vulture as I was parking - these are not massively common at this altitude - probably single figures in 15 years here. I found the Lammergeier nest with one adult and the chick moved into view after a couple of minutes. I scanned for some likely nesting areas but no Wallcreeper.

So moved to the nearer spot but a worse angle. Through bins I could see a Wallcreeper as it flew just above the lammy nest. No scope as only just pulled up! I couldn't see where or how far it flew left. Out with the scope and typically nothing for 20 minutes. Then the bird again, a male. He paused in front of a likely nest entrance but then flew off. Again couldn't see how far...

I stayed for an hour and had 6 viewings of the Male. He flitted above to the left and right but sadly I never saw him enter into any of the crevices. On one occasion he flew out away from the cliff. But otherwise scooted along ledges, flitting his wings, did a couple of peregrine like dives to the general nest area - on one occasion landing and the other swooping back up before landing. I was trying to imagine the bird calling from various vantage points around his nest. He seemed to favour one crack/hole but I wonder if I was actually getting the right angle - it felt the right area but I think I will have to play a bit more...

During this time the adult Lammy came and went, and another adult passed. The sun was beginning to hit various parts of the cliff and seemed to be working up the face - below the overhang. To me it seemed like the birds - Wallcreeper and Crag Martins were following the sun - almost like playing around the shadow line.

Also interesting was the Crag Martins landing and feeding around the Lammergeier nest. I'm guessing that particular nest is a great source of insects for both these birds.

All around Garden Warbler and Blackcap were chirping away, bit derogatory sorry, and I did get one Rock Bunting...

rosbifs said:

Even more incredible was that the bird was sneaking into the Lammergeier nest and stealing wool to furnish his own nest a little bit higher on the cliff...

Click to expand...

I seem to remember something else about vultures and Wallcreepers ....the Wallcreeper wasn't suspiciously close to the Lammergeier's head was it?