My aim for this trip was to gather a good selection of bird and wildlife photos to improve the ones already incorporated into the talk I give to RSPB members. These here are 2nds as I keep the major ones for the talk as some members look at this site beforehand and it would be rather tedious for them to sit through the talk having already seen the photos.
Day 1: Travel and local walk:
Arrived and was rapidly out, heading east along La Digue a la Mer footpath, which runs to the south of the Reserve and a path I would cycle in its entirety later in the trip.
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| hovering common tern |
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| inquisitive little egret |
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| same egret |
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| distant hoopoe |
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| looking north: greater flamingoes |
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| yellow legged gull fly past |
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| hovering and moulting sandwich tern |
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| wood sandpiper |
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| typical Camargue scene |
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| one of many lagoon along La Digue path |
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| Presumed black tailed skimmer dragonfly. |
Day 2: Pont de Gau, Boat trip and general wander around:
Bus trip to Parc Ornitholique, boat trip up the Petit Rhone and then a good wander having picked up a push bike for a few days.
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| Another hoopoe |
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| black winged stilts |
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| black kite |
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| cattle egret still showing breeding plumage |
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| Skulking black crowned night heron |
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| ringed white stork |
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| Ring details sent to Parc Ornithologique and confirmed that it was ringed at the Parc in May of this year. Bred, had 3 young that have fledged. |
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| very much the business end of a grey heron |
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| suspected garden warbler, although beak doesn't look right in this shot. |
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| whimbrel at La Capeliere |
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| common tern |
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| little tern |
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| Mouth of the Petit Rhone |
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| Large Camarguias bull |
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| bulls feeding on the salicornes |
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| Stes Maries de la Mer from the sea. Note church, used as a guide for ships to find the dock |
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| La Guardian |
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| La manade, driving the cattle and horses to pastures new |
Day 3: 70km cycle ride over saltpans, along La digue, La Capeliere, Villeneuve and Albaron:
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| greater flamingo |
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| slender billed gull |
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| running kentish plover |
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| garden warbler |
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| spectacled warbler |
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| black winged stilt |
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| juvenile black winged stilt |
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| coypu |
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| great white egret at La Capeliere |
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| very high short toed eagle |
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| Route to the lighthouse and then on to La Capeliere |
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| La Digue a la Mer cycle track |
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| Phare de la Gacholle |
Day 4: Petit Rhone, Paty de la Trinite, path to Mejanes:
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| to be id'd butterfly |
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| zitting cisticola |
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| gull billed tern |
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| tourist trip on Petit Rhone |
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| vagrant emperor |
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| looking south along the path from Paty de la Trinite |
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| Scarlet dragonfly |
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| Immature male red veined dragonfly |
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| yet to be id'd grasshoppery thing |
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| adult male scarlet dragonfly |
Day 5: airport and home
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| stonechat |
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| zitting cisticola |
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one of 30+ corn buntings.
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Species List:
Over the days I was here, I kept a list of the species seen, shown below. Whilst only a fifth of the birds recorded on The Camargue Reserve (total is around 350 species) it reflects the birds present in mid July. I was not expecting too many other species, so a pleasing list, with a couple of new ones for my Camargue list.
little grebe, cormorant, night heron, cattle egret, squacco heron, little egret, great white egret, grey heron, purple heron, white stork (10) glossy ibis, greater flamingo, mute swan, shelduck, mallard, gadwall, red crested pochard, short toed eagle, black kite, marsh harrier,(20 sp) common buzzard, kestrel, pheasant, water rail, moorhen, coot, oystercatcher, black winged stilt, kentish plover, lapwing (30 sp) wood sandpiper, common sandpiper, greenshank, whimbrel, black headed gull, slender billed gull, mediterranean gull, yellow legged gull, little tern, sandwich tern (40 sp) gull billed tern, common tern, wood pigeon, collared dove, turtle dove, common swift, pallid swift, hoopoe, kingfisher, bee eater,(50 sp) roller, skylark, crested lark, sand martin, swallow, house martin, nightingale, stonechat, garden warbler, sardinian warbler (60 sp) spectacled warbler, sedge warbler, zitting cisticola, cetti's warbler, reed warbler, marsh warbler, great reed warbler, melodious warbler, great tit, blue tit, (70 sp) magpie, carrion crow, starling, house sparrow, chaffinch, serin, corn bunting.
In total, a pleasing 77 species.
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