After a well-deserved, good night's sleep, we awoke at the same time as the previous day to head on out early enough to avoid the heat, the crowds and to be able to see the birds fully active. We spent the previous day in the middle and eastern parts of the reserve, so we decided to visit the western part, colloquially called "La Petite Camargue". We drove towards "L'Etang de Scamandre", not surprisingly a vast marsh with designated trails and boardwalks, some leading to some bird blinds. As we drove, we came across a tall tower with a White Stork's nest built at the top. This fascinating structure was at least 4 feet across and 5 feet tall. It was so enormous that there were even little House Sparrows that had built their own nests within that nest, veritable commensalism (one-way symbiosis).
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| White Stork on nest. Look at its massive size! |
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| White Stork (notice the white on its body, the red bill, and the black primaries) |
Unfortunately, the "Etang de Scamandre" didn't open for another hour. So we kept on driving, hoping to perhaps come across a different marsh we could check out. To our luck, along the side of the road was a marsh that seemed to host many different species. Every 10 meters or so (I was in Europe so it's the metric system), there were gaps in the reeds and they would substitute as blinds. I also sat on the roof of car if I wanted a better vantage point, but I had to do so carefully because the birds were skittish and would flee if they saw me. Anyways, the first bird I noticed was actually one of the best birds of the trip! It was a Little Bittern, a very cryptic and secretive species that isn't seen all that often. Most experiences that birders have with this species either involve hair-tearing, binocular-tossing or just plain rage. This is because this bird is most often heard calling deep in the reeds. Already seeing a brightly colored bird in reeds is difficult, so imagine trying to find a bird with a plumage adapted to render it nearly invisible in this environment. That is this species's best defense, and best offense. It'll use its brown-yellow streaks on its throat and breast to mimic the tall reeds to escape the sight of any possible predator. However, this camouflage also serves as a means of sneaking up onto an unwary fish or invertebrate, that it'll then devour quickly after a quick snap of the neck.
This was quite the find and was a great way to kickstart my day! After perusing the marsh thoroughly with my scope, I learned that there were many species to be found, from Black-winged Stilts, to Squacco Herons, to an immobile Purple Heron on the prowl.
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| Little Bittern (notice the brownish streaks on the neck, and the gray-blue cap) |
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| Purple Heron (notice the orange neck with the purple streaks, and the dark colored wings) |
As a huge flock of Black-headed Gulls took off, I noticed some smaller terns amongst them. To my great pleasure, these darker colored terns ended up being my lifer Whiskered Terns! This tern belongs to the unofficial complex known as the "marsh-terns", along with other species like the Black Tern and the White-winged Tern.
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| Whiskered Tern (notice the gray underbelly, the black cap, and the white cheek) |
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| Great Reed Warbler (notice the relatively large beak) |
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| Eurasian Spoonbills (notice the all-white body, and the spoon-shaped bill) |
Once we left the blind, we were greeted by three small juvenile Bearded Reedlings that were remarkably showy. When these birds reach their adult plumage, they develop these black feathers that extend from their eyes, down their cheeks, to the bottom of their head (which is how they earn their name "Bearded" Reedling). However, as these were juveniles they lacked these mustaches. They were nonetheless pretty and pert little birds.
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| Juvenile Bearded Reedling (notice the pattern on its back, and the dark lores) |
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| Reed Bunting (notice the black head, the white malar and nape, and the brown back) |
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| Glossy Ibis (notice the blue-green face, and the iridescent green wings) |
The trail soon led to a forested area right at the edge of an open pasture. This ecotone (where various habitats meet) boasted many European Goldfinches, Common Nightingales, a European Bee-Eater, and my lifer Melodious Warbler. The trail meandered through this zone until it brought us back to the entrance. Before leaving the reserve, we decided to stop for lunch and eat at one of the picnic tables (as it was 12:30 PM by then). As we were eating I noticed many numbered birds boxes under the eaves of the roofs, and banded House Sparrows would fly in and out of the boxes. This was a funny sight for me because in North America, House Sparrows are an introduced species and are considered a nuisance, so nobody would ever bother studying them. But in Europe, they're a native species, so studying them would make sense. It was somewhat of a culture shock for me. Among the House Sparrows foraging in a nearby tree, I also spotted a single Eurasian Tree Sparrow, my second during the entire trip.
Unfortunately, that's about as far as the birding here went. So we decided to venture further east than we had the previous day. We began arriving in this area that didn't resemble the Camargue that we were used to whatsoever. It was remarkably arid, open and windy. There were very few people, and the birds were nonetheless present. Several Greater Flamingos congregated in the middle of a pond, and a few Yellow-legged Gulls reposed on the ground, incapable of escaping the afternoon heat. The shorebirds were interesting here as well. My dad pulled over, and I rolled down the window to bird from the car. A few feet away from me was a Little Ringed Plover, a lifer for me on this trip (I saw one during our brief stint in Nice), but this was a much better view.
Not knowing where to go next, we decided to wander and see if we could come across a field or a marsh worth scoping out. As we drove, I noticed a large field with a large number of Cattle Egrets. Enticed, we pulled over and I scoped it. As far as shorebirds went, this was the place to be. I saw 4-5 Northern Lapwings, about 3 Wood Sandpipers, and over 45 Black-winged Stilts. However, the shorebird that truly blew me away was a European Golden-Plover, a very early arrival! In my guide for birding the Camargue National Reserve, the abundance of the golden-plovers in the month of July is a 0 over 5. This was an exceptional and unexpected find that really made my day.
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| European Golden-Plover (notice the black on face and belly, the white lining, and the gold cap and black) |
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| Little Ringed Plover (notice the yellow eyering, the white collar and front, and the brown head and back) |
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| Common Sandpiper (notice the relatively stout bill, the white underbelly, and the brown-gray head and back) |
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| Kentish Plover (notice the overall light colors, the plover bill, and the dark collar) |
As I birded the nearby shrubs, I didn't notice any birds. The area was actually devoid of any sort of life. But just as I thought this, I flushed a fairly long bird with white outertail feathers. This indicated that it was most likely a pipit. But there were so many possibilities that I couldn't confidently identify it. After twenty minutes of searching I finally rediscovered it, and to my great pleasure, it was my lifer Tawny Pipit! This is a species that breeds throughout much of Europe, but it sticks primarily to the more arid areas. Seeing how we were in a very arid area, that should've been enough of a clue.
Just as I was about to leave, another bird catches my eye. However, this wasn't a pipit. From a distance, I was able to tell from its overall structure that it was a Sylvia warbler. Using the same logic that I realized I should've used for the pipit, I was able to deduce that it was actually Spectacled Warbler! A range-restricted species, the Camargue is definitely one of its strongholds. This was definitely a wonderful way to end the day. By then it was 5:00 PM, so we decided to head back home. That concluded our second day in the Camargue National Reserve, and what a day it was. What really made that day special was the diversity of habitats we visited, from the marshes, to flooded fields, to open and arid salt plains. This diversity of habitats yielded a vast diversity of species, which made for a great day of birding!
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| Tawny Pipit (notice the overall tan-brown color, and the black lores) |
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