13th... Unlucky for some!

It is with regret that I have to report the probable passing on of our male Water Vole...
I have just returned from the village to find Jerry trotting towards me with something large in his jaws.
Large and dark.... it was a Water Vole... I managed to get it off him long enough to see that it was a mature male.

My greatest regret is that it wasn't the Rat that has recently taken to gleaning under the bird feeders.

Gleaning under the feeders.

Heard a seed drop!

I am happier that it wasn't a pregnant or lactating female Water Vole... we will be keeping our eyes peeled for signs of activity along the water's edge outside the kitchen window.... it might not have been OUR male....Jerry does go off to the banks of the Aigronne to hunt... and we haven't got through the bramble yet to see what's around down there..

Spring Cyclamen

Way back in 2003 when this lovely place first became ours, we planted half a dozen corms of each of two species of cyclamen under the lime tree. Cyclamen hederifolium, the ivy-leaved cyclamen known in Britain as sowbread, flowers in vast pink drifts in many gardens here every autumn. This has settled in nicely and is spreading. The other species, cyclamen coum, flowers in spring and I thought we had lost it, as there was never any sign of it. Last week a little pink whirlygig showed itself among the ivy and dead leaves - one brave cyclamen coum flower!

Cyclamen Coum amid the ivy leaves

The leaves look very unhealthy, as you can see from the photo (bottom left and top right). This may be down to the cold - unusual to find temperatures below -20 in its native Eastern Mediterranean, I suspect.

Sous l'Étang - A Grand Day Out... the final part.

From the Maison de la Nature, we drove the short distance to the other new hide at the Étang de la Sous.
This is beyond the older hide overlooking the ponds at the back of Étang Ricot...
so drive on past the first parking area and stick to the D44 until you reach the second. [Near a slight bend to the left]

The Étang de la Sous information board.

This was going to be a short stop to see what the lake had to offer... before driving back to to the Étang Purais to see what afternoon light gave us at the viewing point.
There was a lot of activity, but nothing really special... some good views of Teal [Anas crecca] Sarcelle d'hiver... along with coot, cormorants and colverts [Mallard duck]... so the rest of this blog will be in pictures...

Coot [with a tide line!]

Cormorant

Colverts... and a couple of female Teal

A'dabbling we will go...o... a'dabbling we will go!

Teal... one up... three down

Teal... two up... two down

Six posts from a trip to the Brenne... and in winter, too... must go more often!

Go on! Quack orf outa here! 'Smy trunk!!

And we never did make it back to the Étang Purais.

Mallard Airways... flight 4468 (short-haul)... leaving for another étang!

Gadwalling around... More from a Grand Day Out

Reed at the Étang Ricot

From Rosnay we drove back towards the Maison de la Nature and the Cherine Nature Reserve [part is also hunted over... this is France!]. A lot of management work has been undertaken in the last couple of years, cutting down an overgrowth of scrub and clearing space into the reserve and this has improved the view considerably... whether or not it was for the hunters or the wildlife, it helps both!

If you are coming from the direction on the Maison du Parc there is, at the bend just before the entrance to le parking for the 'original' hide overlooking Étang Ricot a point where you can pull off the road. This overlooks the Étang de Monmélier, opposite the bulk of the Cherine. The bank of the étang rises quite steeply away from the road to a flat area overlooking the water or, sometimes, mudflat if the lake has been drained.
This is a fabulous spot for a bit of "birding"... we've watched Stilt, Whiskered Terns , Purple Herons and deer at this spot... and the new clearance work gives you a very good view over some of the reed beds and clear water that can't be seen from the hide on the Étang Ricot... look out for harriers working the reed beds.
Étang de Monmélier didn't disappoint on our "Grand Day Out" either.
There were two large groups of Greylag geese in the distance, and we heard, then saw, Wigeon [Anas penelope] Canard siffleur - the whistling duck... there were Shoveler [Anas clypeata] Canard souchet, Pochard [Aythya ferina] Fuligule milouin and Teal [Anas crecca] Sarcelle d'hiver... but the sighting that excited me the most were some Pintail [Anas acuta] Canard pilet [here is a link to a super picture taken in the Brenne]**... my best sighting for around twenty years... they were hidden in the reed when on the water, but were flying around quite a bit; the male looking quite spectacular in the low angle,  harsh, golden sunlight. **[the picture link opens in a separate window.]


We then drove on to the Étang Ricot... and the 'original' hide.

New Étang Ricot board and map of Cherine Reserve.. click to enlarge and read.

There was absolutely nothing about... but the light on the reeds was attractive.

Ricot Reflection [enlarge this]

So we rapidly departed for the Maison de la Nature itself. There was nothing doing in the visible water in front of the big viewing windows of the centre itself, so we bought a new guide on Reptiles an Amphibians and, as that was open, walked down to the hide overlooking Étang Cistude.

Étang Cistude board and map of Cherine Reserve.. click to enlarge and read.

There were a number of people already in there... and there was a lot of activity out on the water... particularly Gadwall [Anas strepera] Canard chipeau. I find these a most attractive bird with their tones of grey, brown and gold. Our attention was drawn by another watcher to some European Pond Terrapins that were trying to get some sun. That, and the way the light was catching the Gadwall, made me decide to go and get the camera... it was in the car as we don't, normally, lug the bag around when we go to the Maison de la Nature and I had binos "in pocket". There was then a "French Ramble" [1.5km route march] to the car and back to the hide.

While Pauline took pictures of the cistudes[Here's the link back], I concentrated on trying to get a good shot of the ducks. They were swimming quite close by and the light was still good.

Gadwall pair... the blue LED light is not a recognition feature!
[Caused by reflection through a water droplet!
They are "dabbling" ducks.]

The male Gadwall... the subtle colouration shows up well here.

I also took pictures of the terrapins... but as they don't really move much, even in warm weather.... there is no point in putting up pictures that are already on the blog!
After a bit more watching we decided it was time to move on to the other new observatory at the Cherine... the Étang de la Sous.

The Thick-necked Heron [Ardea grossneccus] - More from the Étangs Foucault...

The Thick-necked Heron

This is a picture blog with the stories in the captions.

The headline story will follow...
first a couple of Great Crested Grebes [Podiceps cristatus] Grèbe huppé displayed...

First the grebes swim towards one another... but not looking at each other...

...when they meet, they gradually rise out of the water, flicking their heads from side to side...
occasionally banging their bills together...

...then they dip their heads away alternately... before...

... turning to swim parallel with each other and...

...diving at the same time to get a bit of weed.

So good so far... but this pair didn't continue by rising at the same time with weed in mouth and then walking on the water towards each other. [Like this] A shame... perhaps they weren't that interested in each other... or there was too little weed... or they were new to the game...who knows.

And now the headline...  a sighting of the rare Thick-necked Heron [Ardea grossneccus] Héron gôutpikée...

The heron mentioned in the last posting seems to have been successful... it looks large though...

....but, it doesn't seem to be dead yet...STAB with the bill...

... is it dead yet... picks it up again... wow! It is big... no wonder it is having difficulty... it is as big as its head!

Ahha! It's caught a good sized Pike [Esox lucius] Brochet...
no wonder it is having difficulties...
it has caught more than it can eat in one go.

It is a bit of a beak full...
he's going to have fun flying off with that!

No... he's not happy with it... another STAB... will that finish it?

Now what's he doing? Looks as though he's getting ready to fly off with it...

Yes... that's well positioned... he'll fly off now and eat it elsewhere.

No.... I think he's going to swallow it now.... he'll choke!!

By George...he's going to do it!!

And there you have it The Thick-necked Heron [Ardea grossneccus] Héron gôutpikée... in all its glory!

And that's what comes of large lunches... 

...now take off.

We then moved on towards the Cherine...

The Étangs Foucault -- A grand day out... part the third

The first things we saw as we approached Étang Foucault were more Grand Aigrettes...
just how many of them are there in this area?
Mind you, we aren't too unhappy about seeing them... all the Heron family are magnificent birds...
a good second in my mind to the Raptors.... there is just something about their body language.
Tall... slow... proud...

We parked and strolled gently towards the hide... more white birds off to the right...
but two of these turned out to be mute swans... increasing our bird count by another species.
We entered an empty hide... it was lunchtime, after all!
In truth, there had been people there just moments before... they were just leaving the hide as we pulled in...
and were down by their car by the time we'd started getting things out of the back of ours.

The hide at the étangs.... there are four of them.... actually looks out over the Étang Barineau...
with part of the Étang Foucault barely visible through the window at the left end.
This end window also looks directly at a large tree beside the hide...
a good spot for watching warblers, flycatchers and other small birds.
A third étang is visible directly ahead through vegetation that is rapidly gaining height!!

This is the view directly forward from the hide. [ to see properly, open in a new window by clicking on the picture]

We made ourselves comfortable, scanning the area through the binos [jumelles] with the Mighty Midget 'scope out on the shelf with the guide. We have two large telescopes [long-vue] as well, one each for serious birdwatching... but the MM52 is very compact and handy on a 'troll' around such as this.
There was a lot more activity than we'd previously seen here...
but again, that might be down to the time of day...
we were much earlier than usual!

Out on the water were Great-Crested Grebes, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Shoveller and Cormorants... two of the latter being in full breeding plumage.One so much so that I had to look it up, in the guide, as it looked very odd.
The male Cormorant [latin]French gets a stripey head in breeding colours...
usually a darkish blue-grey stripe... and there was one on a post that answered this description...
the other one looked almost as though the patterning on a Great-Crested Grebe's chick had been super-imposed on the head and neck... the grey was almost white...
but all this was happening too far away to take pictures.

Then, much closer, right outside the hide in fact, a Grand Aigrette came to fish...
it stalks much the same as the Grey or Purple Herons do... very slowly, very carefully.
These pictures show what we saw...

The plumes are clearly visible... click to view.

Flying away from the hide... because it saw me slowly opening the flap to get a better picture!

There are Mallard, Teal, Wigeon and Pochard on the island in front... view large by clicking on the picture

That last picture is cropped from a much bigger view... the egret was on the far side of the étang.... I've put it here because it shows the beautiful curve of the wing tips... unlike the "fingers" formed by a Heron's primaries.
I turned to watch a heron, which was fishing in the deeper water... it was definitely stalking something.
But I was distracted by the movement of something flying to my right...
a Hen Harrier [Circus cyaneus] Busard St.Martin.

1] Wheeling in over the islets....
2] and into a glide... (the heron is in the background)...
3] then turning towards the hide...

It began to fly towards the hide... I swopped binos for camera and caught it just as it arrived... "hover" searching over the islets in front of the hide... and then flew towards the hide so fast the autofocus couldn't cope.

1] wind 'hovering' in front of the hide
2] and past us...
3] then off and away...
[the last shot shows the typical harrier hunting flight when they are 'quartering' a field, lake or marsh...
all three species we see here exhibit this behaviour.]

It then "hovered" in the wind... slowly passing in front of us... until a couple walked into the hide and stuck their heads out of the hide window!!... and it was off... wheeling away back towards where I first saw it.... where it continued to hunt, over the headland.

Our attention was then caught by a pair of Great-Crested Grebes..... but you will have to wait for that... and for more news of the fishing heron.

Grues...STOP, grues!! Part the second of a good Sunday out.

Having left the hide at Purais, we returned to the car. Just before we got there we heard what sounded like the "grue" of a crane.
We both stopped stock still and listened for another... but no, it was just the one, difficult to locate... but behind, the way we'd come...
Continued to get sorted and into the car... Carpe Frites awaited.

We continued on our way, slowly, towards the Maison du Parc at le Bouchet, but saw little other than more Great White Egrets.

The car park was almost empty at the Maison...
parked, went in, restaurant had about half-a-dozen people in....
"table pour deux, SVP"...
have you reserved?
No we hadn't...
"Desolé"... they were full...
some comfort shopping in the 'boutique' was called for!
Yet again... NO CARPE FRITES!!

We had a look around the exhibition en-route through the shop....
it was on Eco-building... and there was a very good photo exhibition as well.
Back down the stairs and we found a new book...
Les plus belles balades du Parc naturel régional de la Brenne
[The nicest walks in the Brenne National Park] published 2011...
explains why we hadn't seen it before!!
we will be doing some of these this year...
but, typical of French walks books, a 7km walk will take you 2hrs...
not if you've got binos and/or camera with you it won't!

The book and a peek inside... note the illustration of the correct IGN map for the walk... but NO latin names!
[However, there are Latin names for some of  the  fauna shown in the identity guide at the back]

We also bought a get-well card for Céléstine...
a perfectly apt Hirlay cartoon...
then we set off for the Étang Foucault.

We went down via the Étang de la Mer Rouge... but apart from a rather nice 'blasted' tree...
pile of wood to some, habitat or feeding station to others... and yet another Great White Egret!
So carry on via the D20 towards Rosnay [pronounced Ronnae] overtaking a couple of cyclists.
Suddenly Pauline yelled "Grues...STOP, grues!!"
There, to our left were three Common Cranes... feeding in an ex-Maize field...
camera in back of car... creep out of driver's door...
[thank goodness we were in the re-registered old Merc... right-hand drive!]
Extract camera from bag and slowly rise over top of car...
cranes didn't seem at all worried... just kept feeding [same as when Simon and Susan saw them the other day.]

Took some pictures... but they were a little distant, even for the long lens.

Just milling around in the maize stalks...

and marching in line.

But... it was Pauline's first ever sighting of cranes on the ground... and my second.
The first being in the late '70s at Hickling in Norfolk. It was the first to be seen...
and I was out walking with the "thenwife" and the dog...
didn't even know what all the fuss was about until I asked one of the hordes looking out over the broad...
and I think we were probably the only ones to actually see it... it was feeding, like these three were, in a field... behind them!

The cyclists came up and asked what we were watching...
"Les Grues"... "oh, yes", came the reply as they glanced in the general direction of the troupe...
obviously an everyday occurrence for them.
They asked to look at the map as they wanted the Maison du Parc.... back the way they'd come....
but, having looked at the map, they decided to carry on via the long route.
That delayed us a little, fortunately, because seven minutes after the first pictures I was taking pictures of more!

We'd just turned up the D27 to Rosnay when there were four more, right by the road...
on the nearside of the car....
                       and where was the camera....
                                            in the bag, in the back of the car....

yet again!

I'd pulled up a little beyond the opening in the rather decayed hedge the we'd seen them through, so it was out of the car very, very slowly...trying to keep my head beneath the hedge top.
Got the camera and turned round even more slowly... taking the first shots through the hedge...so I moved into the gap in the hedge... they weren't at all concerned... just kept walking and feeding.

Cranes do Country... or line dancing to all but the French.

It seems that either they are not concerned by the presence of people... or feeding is a priority....
when one stopped to have a good scratch, I leant towards the former conclusion.... we don't worry them....
a nice feeling that these huge birds are more concerned about living.

When you gotta scratch... you just gotta scratch!!

Pauline noticed on Grus-Grus, when we got home, that 25,000 had been reported leaving Spain on Saturday... so they were  probably spread all over the Brenne.... fuelling up for the next leg!

Onward and upward?

Watched them walk over the crest of the field and then it was on towards Rosnay...
wow, what a sight, cranes that close.
Rosnay on the horizon with the masts of the Nato communications centre towering over it...
Left just through the village and past the triple fence... all electrified...  
No Photos, No Stopping.... cameras facing the road.... tank traps.... were there mines?
It is probably a wildlife haven, though! Most bases and Army ranges are.

Had there been space in the restaurant... we wouldn't have seen these... I don't mind missing me Carpe Frites if I see things like this...The next part is the Étang Foucault.... and can the day get better.... yes it can!