French Assortment

I spent last week in France at a holiday cottage near to Perassay, a small village in the Indre region. Me and the wife were the first people to stay at our friends (Mo and Steve) newly restored and converted dwelling.

They've done an excellent job in converting the building (part of a very old barn) from a sheep shelter! See here - Stargazer Cottage

The cottage is in prime birding terrortory too. For example, Golden Orioles can be heard from the garden. Seeing them is another matter though as anyone who's tried to spot this elusive bird will testify. I just wish I'd got there earlier in spring before the green canopy covered the trees!

Besides the birds there is plenty of other wildlife in the area. Red Squirrels, Wild Boars, Pine Martins are some of the species that I failed to see. Here are some pictures of the stuff that I did manage to photograph...

Swallowtail Butterfly - Mo had kept a pupa in a glass jar all winter long and as luck would have it the butterfly emerged whilst I was there to photograph it.

We spent a day at La Brenne. Known as “The Land of a Thousand Lakes” it is a nature park which covers a large area and is home to many wetland birds as well as other interesting plants and animals.

Grey Heron 

You would have thought that large, juicy Frogs living in France would keep a low profile but not a bit of it. This lot could be heard from the car park. In fact they were so loud that at first I thought they were some type of exotic duck.

 Great White Eagret

Purple Heron 

Fresh Water Tortoise

I thought only turtles had tails but the info board on the wall of the hide said that these were Tortoises?

I spent a while driving around the deserted country lanes near to our cottage and did the bird watching from the car. I heard and caught fleeting glimpses of many birds but the only ones to pose long enough for me to stop the car, lean out of the window and get some shots were these Red Backed Shrikes - male first then the female.

I thought it a bit strange to find this Roe Deer(?) feeding during the daylight hours.

Cyprus

I spent a couple of weeks on holiday in Cyrpus in mid-September 2009. Probably not the best time of year for birdwatching but certainly not the worst. I was a little too late to see any Demoiselle Cranes on the Akrotiri salt lake and too early for the Flamingos on the Larnaca salt lake but apart from that there was plenty to see.

The most prevalant and visible were the Bee Eaters. Especially to the north-west of the Akrotri peninusar where the local farmers had many beehives dotted around the area.

This female spent a couple of minutes trying to repel the male's advances but he persisted and she eventually (just about) gave in.

By far the most productive site was Achna Dam, close to the border with Northern Cyprus. The only drawback was the local fishermen who seemed intent on turning the place into a rubbish tip. The waders having to negotiate the tin cans and plastic bags left behind by these people.

I cleared the mess away after this Spurwing Plover had moved on but more rubbish had been deposited by the next day when I returned.

A solitary Great White Egret could be found at the dam each time I visited.

Keeping it company was this Little Egret

Making up the numbers was a Black Ibis

Ruff

Cyprus Pied Wheatear

I found this friendly Kestrel in the grounds of the hotel we stayed at for the first week of our holiday.

Sardinian Warbler

Winchat

Great Reed Warblers were very common