We finally made it! To the renowned Camargue National Reserve. This reserve is a vast stretch of marshland, woodland, farmland, coastal habitat and salt plains. Hundreds of species migrate here to breed or winter. What makes this reserve so enticing is the number of interesting and threatened species that breed here. I had so many target species that I really wanted to see, so I was going to work really hard to try and see the majority of them. I worked harder for some species than I did for some others, but that was all part of the adventure.
We woke up at a quarter to seven, quickly ate, and headed out by 7:30. But before leaving, I couldn't help but notice the bevy of Common House Martins flying to and fro their nests constructed underneath the eaves of the roofs. Like most swallows, this species underwent a fantastic migration to reach their breeding grounds. They spend the winter in Africa, beneath the Sahara, where insects, their food-source, abound. However, when summer approaches, the number of insects dwindle, and they are forced to fly elsewhere to find more nutritious bugs. This then brings them to Europe and parts of western Asia, where the insects once again abound. These birds greatly resemble their North American cousins, the Tree Swallows. However, Tree Swallows lack the forked tail and white rump of the Common House Martin.
To begin our birding in the Camargue National Reserve, we decided to head to the "Parc Ornithologique du Pont de Gau", a preserved marshland where there is one main trail that goes around the entire marsh. Along the trail, there were various blinds that offered great opportunities to view the birds fairly closely, all while not disturbing them.
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| Common House Martins on nest (notice the blue on head and back, and the white underparts and rump) |
The first wildlife we saw actually wasn't a bird, but an introduced mammal: a Nutria, known in French as the notorious "Ragondin". This is a non-native rodent species introduced from South America. This surprisingly tame animal was just feeding on the side of the trail, perhaps oblivious to our presence, which would however be surprising.
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| Nutria |
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| Mediterranean Gull (notice the black, the thick red bill, and the light gray mantle and wings) |
As we continued down the trail, a medium-sized bird hopped onto the trail. It was rather erect as it scuttled on the ground. It hopped a few times and would pause as I approached it. It repeated this several times. I was able to take a mediocre picture of it. This bird was the Common Nightingale, a bird that has captivated the minds of authors, poets and playwrights for centuries thanks to its magnificently melodic voice. Unfortunately, this bird was too preoccupied with its little game to sing us a quick tune.
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| Common Nightingale (notice the all brown body, its relatively upright posture, and long legs) |
Another interesting sight that we noticed along the trail were 5 white horses. These were the emblematic "Chevaux Camarguais". These ungulates used to roam free in the extensive and pristine marshlands, that once extended across much of southern France. Once the settlers arrived, they domesticated the horses because of their utility. These horses are different from other horses because they are much smaller in size, but have much wider hooves. This helps them maneuver through the muddy waters without sinking. So to get across the marshes, they settlers rode horseback.
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| Chevaux Camarguais |
Shortly after, we arrived at the first blind. It was basically a small room with several openings to view the birds on the adjacent marsh. It was a very pleasant way to bird because there were benches where we sat down, and small platforms where we could rest our arms as we peered through our binoculars. The marsh was booming with bird activity! There were so many new, colorful and lovely birds to watch, I didn't know where to start. So I thought I would just pan from right to left. To the right of the blind was a flock of Common Shelducks and Black-winged Stilts foraging in the shallow water. The shelducks were especially interesting to see because of how colorful they were. I had never such a bird. It was just a fantastic sight. Then as I panned to the left, I began noticing the Greater Flamingos. I had seen these birds the previous day when we drove through the reserve to a town where we had dinner, and was enthralled when I first saw them. However, I began to realize how abundant these birds were in the reserve, and they started losing their "pizzazz". I was nonetheless happy to see them, because they are undeniably beautiful birds.
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| Greater Flamingo and Common Shelduck |
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| Greater Flamingo (notice the distinctive bill, the long neck, and red-pink secondaries) |
Then, on one the islands in the middle of the marsh, I noticed a small yellow speck hopping around. After I put my binoculars on it, I learned this was my lifer Western Yellow Wagtail, my last European wagtail species.
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| Western Yellow Wagtail (notice the yellow underparts, the olive green back, the gray head and the white throat) |
Suddenly, a small gray sandpiper-like bird flew onto a nearby island. This quickly caught my attention, because I was under the impression that I was in the region a little too early to be seeing any shorebird migrants. But I was wrong because this sandpiper-like bird turned out to be a Wood Sandpiper, another lifer for me!
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| Wood Sandpiper (notice the slight supercilium, and the light streaking on its breast) |
As most of you know, shorebirds are world-class migration champions that undergo an incredible migration twice a year. During the breeding season, they fly all the way up to the Arctic (this individual most likely bred in Scandinavia, or in nearby Russia). Once the breeding season is over (or if breeding fails), this bird will migrate all the way to southern Africa to spend its fall and winter. All this from a bird less than two feet long and that barely has a three foot long wingspan. A real globetrotter!
What I found especially fun about this marsh is how close all the birds were. Through my scope, it wasn't uncommon to have 3-4 species in one view. On one of the islands I even came across five resting birds in a single view.
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| Top to bottom: Mute Swan, Graylag Goose, Little Egret and 2 Black-winged Stilts |
Another fun aspect of birding from the blinds is that the birds would get remarkably close to you, without knowing it. This offered fantastic intimate and up-close views of interesting species. This one Black-winged Stilt was foraging only a few feet away from where I was sitting.
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| Black-winged Stilt (notice the white head and black wings) |
On the other side of the blind was a family of Eurasian Moorhens foraging, not quite as close as the previous stilt, but closer than I had seen them in the past.
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| Family of Eurasian Moorhens |
As I observed the moorhen family, I noticed a white winged ardeid land a little further back. It was buffy on the back and neck, which I knew immediately indicated Squacco Heron, an African migrant that breeds in southern Europe. What made this lifer even more interesting was that fact that in its bill, it held a large frog that it then swallowed whole!
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| Squacco Heron with its prey (notice the white wings, the buffy neck, and the blue-green bill) |
We left this blind right after to go to another. This blind offered a view of the same marsh but at a different angle, so there were therefore different birds. The first bird I noticed was a tern species sitting near an island. Unfortunately, it had its head tucked in so I couldn't confirm an identification. So I focused on the nearby birds in the meantime. What surprised me the most was the high number of Northern Lapwings present. This bird was already a lifer for me, so this was exciting for me. But I believe that I counted a total of 15 lapwings, a bird I wasn't even sure of seeing on this trip.
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| Northern Lapwing (notice the iridescent green-purple wings, the black chest, and the white underparts) |
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| Northern Lapwing (notice the extensive white axillaries, and the white tips on the outer primaries) |
These plovers were really charismatic and fun to watch. I decided to check back on my mystery tern, and to my luck, it took its head out! This tern ended up being my lifer Gull-billed Tern! This is a species also found in North America, but mostly in the Gulf of Mexico region, parts of the east, and even in southern California.
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| Gull-billed Tern (notice the black stubby bill, the black hood, and the dark gray primaries) |
We finally left our final blind, a finished walking down the remainder of the trail. I didn't think I was going to see any new species walking down the rest of the trail, because it seemed rather dry and deserted. But once again, the Camargue National Reserve didn't disappoint. Directly in front of me, a Zitting Cisticola flew into a bush. This tiny little bird is found throughout Europe and Africa, residing mainly in reedbeds in marshes, but will venture out into the more dry parts near a marsh.
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| Zitting Cisticola (notice the brownish cap, and shortly decurved bill) |
The final bird we saw as we were exiting the "Parc Ornithologique" wasn't a lifer, but an interesting species nonetheless. It was a female European Pied Flycatcher in molt. What surprised me about this bird though was that I wasn't expecting to see this species on my trip. In the Camargue National Reserve, these birds are merely transient passersby. Songbirds don't generally begin their migration until the end of August and beginning of September. It is possible that this is a post-breeding dispersant, or perhaps its second clutch may have failed, and it gave up. Whatever the reason, it was an exciting find.
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| Female European Pied Flycatcher (notice the overall light brown color, and the white patch on the secondaries) |
This concludes my morning in the "Parc Ornithologique du Pont de Gau". This was the only actual "park" we visited that day. The rest of the day was just birding from the car, which proved to be just as fruitful as walking down a trail. For example, on a seldom used road in the middle of the reserve, I came across my lifer Crested Lark, only the second species of lark I've ever seen.
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| Crested Lark (notice the dull-colored plumage, and the namesake crest) |
It was only at the end of the day where we saw the most exciting birds of the day, and perhaps the trip. These two species are emblematic of the Camargue National Reserve. Both African migrants, they only come up to Europe to breed, spending the rest of the time in southern Africa. The first was my lifer European Bee-Eater, a very colorful bird that feeds mainly on insects, but has quite an affinity for bees.
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| European Bee-Eater (notice the yellow throat, blue-green belly, russet-colored back, and the long plume in the middle of the tail) |
The second was perhaps a tad more exciting, only because it's much harder to come by in the region and throughout its range. This is the only bird in its family that frequents Europe, which makes its unmistakable (not that that it looks like its kin). It was my lifer European Roller, a crow-sized bird that's difficult to miss when you drive by it. But despite its egregious colors, people can miss this species when visiting the region because of the low numbers that breed in Europe. I would say they were uncommon in the Camargue National Reserve, because I only saw a total of 4 individuals during my three-day visit.
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| European Roller (notice the rusty-colored back, the sky blue color on head and underparts, and the big bill) |
This concludes my first day in the Camargue National Reserve. It was a very successful day, and the Coraciiformes certainly helped with making it a success. I couldn't wait until the next day, and see what else the reserve had in store for me!
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