Pagney 18/10/2026

     Bloody cold and wet - had to put my gloves on and constantly wipe the rain off the scope and binoculars. Also the holes in my wellies don't seem to be repairable so will have to buy a new pair and I managed to rip a hole in yet another pair of trousers climbing over some barbed wire. On a positive note there were no hunters today.

    Bird wise there were a few things of interest with fleeting appearances from two Greylag Geese, three Pochards, four Teals and four Pintails. A Black-headed Gull flew around with three Yellow-legged Gulls. A Penduline Tit was seen very briefly by the little cabin. Reed Buntings were dropping in and out of the reedbed almost constantly, I have no idea how many passed through but nine were together feeding and bathing on the path. The highlight of the day were four Spotted Redshanks that flew through rather quickly as they were being pursued by a Peregrine. A Dunlin was also present.

 26 Collared Doves on the TGV power lines in Jallerange was a decent count. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pont-de-Roide 9/10/2026

Image
      Migration count between 7am and 2pm with cool temperatures, lots of cloud and some fog in the valley. Surprising for the time of year was the virtual lack of Woodpigeons (~274) and Chaffinches (~717). Red Kites (116) and Buzzards (37) were more normal figures, eight Sparrowhawks , fifteen Kestrels (almost all adult males), two Marsh Harriers and a local Peregrine completed the birds of prey. The stars of the show were ~299 Song Thrushes with the first two or three Redwings and ~247 Woodlarks . Pipits were annoying as it's really not easy to distinguish Meadow and Water on call, I presumed most if not all of the twenty or thirty odd going through were Meadow but Water is a common bird here too. Six Swallows , seven Crossbills , one Linnet , ~22 Hawfinches , ~135 Siskins , two Serins , one Goldfinch and one Reed Bunting added some variety.     A male Black Woodpecker gave some nice views in the open as he enjoyed a bit of sunshine Birding Wizard
Read more

Daurian/Turkestan Shrike - Saint-Apollinaire 8/10/2026

Image
      Once again the rare birds have shunned the Shire and are in Mordor. Yesterday a what we used to call Isabelline Shrike was found on the outskirts of Dijon. Only being an hour away, it would have been silly not to go so with Théo and Willy we set off this afternoon. The star was seen on arrival, flying across the path in front of us, showing off its rusty nightingale-like tail, and quickly disappearing into some bushes. It took a good twenty minutes before Willy picked it up again in what seemed to be its favourite area along a hedge in the sun and out of the wind. It spent the next few hours not caring about us being there, catching a few insects and crapping at least four times.  With Daurian and Turkestan shrikes being indistinguishable at this age, we'll perhaps never know which species it is - unless someone (not me) gets some DNA from one of its turds. To be honest, it doesn't really matter, for one, it's a beauty whatever, and two, I don't keep a Mordor l...
Read more