Following migrating birds at the Franc-Comtois migration hotspot of Pont-de-Roide has never been (nor ever will be) my favourite activity. Despite this, every Autumn I often spend my Fridays either freezing my arse off or baking under the hot sun counting birds of all shapes and sizes as they pass through. Coordinated counts have taken place here since 2008 and I've helped as and when I can (and feel like it) since 2018. Today was my first visit to "Le Caillou" this season. I admit I had't been very motivated to make the journey this year as many days have been hot and windy under a blanket blue sky - far from ideal conditions. In the end today wasn't too bad for the weather, not extremely hot, very slight wind and a good few clouds in the sky to offer relief from the sun and useful markers to help others get onto the birds. Upon arrival at 7am I almost regretted not waiting another week as there was bugger all seen or h...
An early start on the patch to enjoy the time left before the guns arrived. About 50 Corn Buntings left the roost just before 7am. They left in a tight group so it was impossible to count them accurately. A minimum of five Yellow Wagtails that had also roosted in the reeds left at the same time. The 80 or so Mallards that were on site flew off before it got light. Maybe they knew what was coming! Compared to when I started birding at Pagney more than fifteen years ago, the number of hunters has declined considerably and so this morning only seventeen gunshots were heard and the two hopefuls that came to have a look around the place didn't find anything to shoot and moved on. The number of bird species that are still on the quarry list in France is disturbing and far higher than in any other EU country. Species present at Pagney today that risked their lives were: Mallard, Teal, Moo...
Anybody who has had the immense pleasure of going birding with me more than once will confirm that I have a reputation for being negative, cynical and pessimistic. They are right. Indeed I have two well-known catchphrases. "Fuck a pig!" is an exclamation of surprise and/or joy and "Il y a rien, c'est nul" (There's eff all, it's shite) for everyday use. This Autumn (so far) has been the crappiest of all Autumns on the patch, not just for the low numbers of birds but also the poor variety of birds and the fact they take one look at the site and then bugger off almost immediately. Some rather good birds recently that have been quick fly throughs include: Two Caspian Terns, two White-winged Black Terns, two probable White-winged Black Terns that flew through and off with their backs to me, three Avocets that didn't even bother losing any altitude to check the place out, opting to carry on to somewhere else instead. And the list goes ...
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