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Purple Heron

Rotation of photos has made it to the first day of our visit to the Camargue. After Flamingos, the European Roller, and the Purple Gallinule, it is this…

Collared Dove

Collared Doves are not exactly rare – we see them in the UK as well – but we saw great numbers of them in rural areas of France….

Cattle Egret

Cattle Egrets are called that for a reason – they usually hang around grazing cattle. I tried to get a nice photo with a cow next to this…

House Sparrow

Not a rare bird at all – but this one is very photogenic indeed. It was waiting for me at a spot with nice background and at just…

Pied Wagtail

Another photo from Wales – this Pied Wagtail was actively hunting insects in the River Usk and appears to have caught a dragonfly larva.

Stonechat

The background in this photo was not blurred in editing – it is so blurry because it is kilometres away. The photo was snapped at the very top…

Reed Bunting

Back home now with a treasure trove of photos from August to keep me less worried about what I am going to send out tomorrow morning. Any day…

Spoonbill

On the way home we decided to sneak in one more bird-site visit – Parc du Marquenterre in Somme Bay, Hauts-de-France. It is a lovely reserve with a…

Green Woodpecker

Last day in Normandy, so we decided to revisit our favourite site where we have seen so many interesting birds. I managed at least four decent bird photos,…

Osprey

Today was a rolling outing day – we covered two sites, each requiring a bit of a drive between points of interest. My main hope was to snap…

Great Crested Grebe

Today’s outing was to a disused gravel pit in search of waders. It was a very serene walk, but we did not manage to see anything very exciting…

Goldfinch

At the very start of the Heurteauville reserve is a good place to see Goldfinches – especially juveniles. I chose this photo for the nice colours – but…

Greater Cormorant

A photo from yesterday, shot during an afternoon stroll in Pont-Audemer – the closest town to where we are staying. It sits on the River Risle, hence the…

Kingfisher

We saw Kingfisher twice yesterday, and at the very beginning of our walk in La tourbière d’Heurteauville (literally, the peat bog of Heurteauville), we saw a Kingfisher again…

Linnet

Over the next week or so we are going to do slightly larger outings, and the first was to the Seine Estuary reserves near the Pont de Normandie….

Blackcap

We are staying in a birdwatcher’s dream home in Normandy. There is a pair of Wrens living inside the thatched roof, and the ancient apple tree in the…

Cuckoo

Today’s email is #150, and I have another rare bird fitting the occasion: a Common Cuckoo. Last few days left when we are birdwatching locally, and we decided…

Kestrel

We have arrived at our destination in Normandy, where the birdwatching scene is somewhat different but still enjoyable. While driving around on errands, I have noticed that every…

Glossy Ibis

Keeping up with the very rare birds – here is the Glossy Ibis. In fact, we stumbled upon a whole group – at least five – feeding in…

Purple Gallinule

As some might have noticed – I am cycling through the two days in the Camargue. Another highlight from day one was this bird, for which I found…

Black Stork

When we noticed these birds flying high overhead, we first thought they must be some kind of bird of prey. Then we realised how huge they really were…

European Roller

A very rare bird I was writing about a few days ago – which got superseded by the Flamingos – was the European Roller. This is another bird…

Bee-Eater

Because of a fantastic outing yesterday, we decided to stay an extra half-day in the Camargue – and oh boy, it was the right decision. We visited the…

Greater Flamingo

We had an absolute blast of a day today in the Camargue, and believe it or not, a Greater Flamingo in the wild was not the rarest catch…

European Siskin

Another photo of a unique bird on a conifer tree, snapped in the sunset light. And again, it is slightly off the quality I would prefer to publish…