After a request from good friend Andrew Hargreaves, who owns and runs www.wildlifeprovencale.com Birding and Wildlife Holidays, for a bit of help Guiding/Driving 2 large parties of holiday makers around Southern France, it didn`t take long to answer "YES PLEASE"!
Andy, as some of you will know, is an ex- Rossendale Ornithologists Club member and former Dunnockshaw resident who now lives in Provence, S E France running Wildlife Holidays 12 months a year.
So after a short debate, Susan and the kids also fancied a holiday. Flights were swiftly booked to Nimes, a quick visit to the docs for 2 "magic" tablets to ovecome my claustrophobia problem on planes and we were off. The omens looked good as a Med Gull was seen out of the Airport departure lounge window.
Mon 1st.
A short 2 hr flight was followed by a 1 1/2hr drive,(courtesy of Andy`s better half, Thanks Ruth) Northeast through beautiful scenery, fields of Grapevines and the fruit trees of the Rhone Valley back towards Andy`s home village of Ste Jalle, situated in the Baronnies Mountains which are the foothiils of the southern Alps. A quick drive around the valley in Andy`s car doing a bit of sightseeing for Susan and the kids included a visit to a superb local "Col" migration watchpoint for a few minutes.
Birds seen included - Blk Redstarts, Cirl and Rock Bunts everywhere. Lots of Woodlark, Crested Tits, Firecrests etc were plentiful and were numerous everywhere we went in the mountainous areas. A Black Woodpecker, 2 Golden Eagles and a Dark Phase Booted Eagle were seen at the Col along with numerous flocks of Chaffinch migrating South. A quick hello to the already arrived clients and an early start planned for the morning.
Tues 2nd.
Spent local seeing the stunning scenery and wildlife of Andy`s valley.
Birds seen inc- 10+ Griffon and 2 Blk Vultures, G G Shrikes, Goshawk, Serin, Dartford Warb, Reed, Rock and Cirl Buntings, a 30+ flock of Rock Sparrows roosting in a Poplar tree in the village, and lots of the commoner species.
Wed 3rd.
A short 40min drive North to a beautiful Gorge targetting Wallcreeper produced the goods with 2 seen along with 2 Red Kite, Pallid Swift, G Eagles, Crag Martins, lots of Vultures, male Marsh Harrier, Firecrests etc plus great views of 2 Chamois.
On the way back to Ste Jalle a bit of time was spent at the "Col" to see what was on the move south.
40+ Griffon Vultures over, 2 Short Toed Eagles, Red Kite, Blk Woodpecker showed really well, Sparrowhawks moving south, Stonechat and lots of commoner migrants going through! A Good day, again.
Thurs 4th.
Started local in a new area seeing lots of birds inc a late Honey Buzzard, G Eagles and G G Shrike.
Evening short drive to target Eagle Owl produced great views of 2 birds again.
Fri 5th.
Last full day for this weeks group so we headed 20mins drive North to a plateau where views of Vultures surely cant be bettered anywhere on the planet!! Absolutely brilliant place and really good general birding too..
Birds seen inc - 100+ Griffons, 5+ Blk Vultures. 1 Lammergeier, superb close views (mega rare), Nutcracker, Tree Pipit, Skylark, 6+ Citril Finch (another good bird), 30+ Woodlark, several Ring Ouzel, 2 Redwing (1st of Autumn there), + lots of commoner species.
On drive back to base we saw Marsh Harrier, imm Goshawk and Buzzard almost altogether..
Sat 6th.
A 1hr+ drive to take the clients back to Valence TGV Train Station for their 11am high speed train journey home and 8hrs to wait for the new clients arrival whom were already en-route. So Andy and I took part in a International Lammergeier Vulture counting survey covering most of the Alps. Our watchpoint(1 of 26) was a mountain top watch from 12-4pm on the Col de la Bataille, overlooking the Rhone Valley and the Vercors, looking for the rare Vulture but also other migrant Raptors. No Lammergeiers but lots of Griffons and a noticable southerly movement of Common Buzzard in groups to 7-8`s. Good place to pass some time!!
Picked new clients up and transport to Ste Jalle for evening meal.
Sun 7th.
Local area again and a repeat of last week for the new party. No new species for me but lots of birds for the group to see. A noticable increase in Thrushes since last week - Song Thrush and Ring Ouzel in particular.
Mon 8th.
A 2hr drive South to the Camargue brought a complete new selection of species with Marshland birds being prominent now.
Birds of note seen - 4 Black Stork, White Stork, Osprey, Marsh Harriers, Hobby, Peregrine, 50+ Avocet, Curlew Sandpipers, 20+ Little Stint,Common Sand, Kentish Plover, G W Egrets, L Egrets, Purple Herons, 100`s Black Necked Grebes, Cetti`s Warb, Fan tailed Warb, Tree Sparrow, Yellow legged Gulls, Slender billed Gulls, 5+ Caspian Tern, Kingfisher plus 1000`s of common Waders. Another super days birding.
Tues 9th.
A short 45min drive South to the prominent Mount Ventoux area. Rising to over 6000ft high, the strange rocky summit gives stunning 360degree views inc east to Italy and South to the Med.
Pic shows East towards Mont Blanc and Italy.
Birds of note seen - 4+ Nutcracker, 6+ Citril Finches, 20+ Crossbills, Blk Woody, Goshawk, G Eagles, Ring Ouzels etc and lots of common stuff, most of which were very close views. Drive back later gave us very close views of 2 G Eagles and a G G Shrike.
Wed 10th.
Targetting Wallcreepers again to the North, we were lucky again seeing 3 very well. Blk Woody also.
Drive back through "Col" produced a close-up Hobby, lots of migrant finches inc Serins and Goldfinches in big numbers. Lots of birds on outskirts of Ste Jalle also.
Thurs 11th.
A morning off for me as clients visited the local town, Nyons, for the market!! After lunch we drove 1hr to the West, to the other side of the Rhone Valley in search of the rare and endangered Bonelli`s Eagle. Lots of birds seen but unfortunately the first "dip" of the hols so far..The Eagles were away hunting from there usual area. Birds seen inc - 2 Peregrine, 80+ migrating Cormorant, Crag Martins and the 1st Dunnock.
Big thunderstorm during the night gave us our first rain since we arrived!!
Fri 12th.
Started dull and misty but this soon cleared again to hot sunshine again.
Last day again for the clients took us back to the Vulture plateau, afterwards we drove around several local spots all of which held good numbers of birds.
Birds seen inc - 50+ Griffons, 3 Blk Vulture, Short toed Treecreeper, Blue Rock Thrush, Sardinian Warb, Dartford Warb, Woodlarks, Firecrests etc + lots more, giving a good ending for the holidaying guests.
Sat 13th- Sun 14th.
Days off spent sightseeing with Susan and the Kids before our departure back the following day.
I did get chance to do a Migration watch count on Saturday morning from 8.45-11am which was superb and i have never seen migration on that scale before. Really difficult to count as so much was piling through the "Col" all the time. Andy even brought his new group of clients up to see the movement.
Figures for the 2hr 15min count as follows -
Chaffinch 2141 well undercounted.
Swallow 653 "
Starling 280.
Linnet 180 lots missed.
Goldfinch 111 "
White Wagtail 76.
Siskin 75 lots missed.
M Pipit 70.
W Pigeon 52.
Greenfinch 38.
Brambling 38.
Cirl Bunt 33.
Hawfinch 29.
Coal Tit 27!!
Song Thrush 19.
Woodlark 18.
G Tit 15.
Rock Bunt 12.
Blackbird 11.
M Thrush 9.
R Ouzel 9.
Goldcrest 9.
Jay 8.
Fieldfare 2.
Tree Pipit 2.
Blk Woodpecker 1.
Nutcracker 1.
Reed Bunt 1.
Bullfinch 1.
Crossbill 1 N.
Clowbridge looked a bit dull on my return!!
Pic shown watchpoint view to the North from the Col. Birds migrating low overhead.
A total of 134 species were seen and considering nearly all Summer visitors had left and some of the northern Winter visitors had yet to arrive, it was a terrific 2 weeks birding in stunning scenery, great company and hospitaliy from Andy, Ruth and their daughter Alice, and a good laugh with the 2 large groups of London RSPB Group Members. The weather was superb with most days reaching mid to high 20`s, sunny and calm. Cooler nights, perfect..
For anyone interested in taking a Birdwatching/Wildlife Holiday to Southern Europe, look no further. The area and its wildlife is spectacular. Birds usually seen further south in Spain etc are nearly all present in Provence and the Camargue area but with better scenery.
The Holiday price includes Eurostar/TGV High speed train to and from London to Southern France, collection from and returned to Valence TGV Train station, all day everyday guided trips out, your accomadation in local holiday homes(gites), all meals, wines!! picnic lunches - which i have to say is an" incorrect wording" for the superb feast you recieve every day.. including local dishes and plenty of Wine.
All this for a little over £1000. Superb value.
Please take a look at www.wildlifeprovencale.com for all details or ring Andy direct on 0033 475 273173( in France). Andy`s Mum in Crawshawbooth on 01706 225407, or email andyrose@club-internet.fr
