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Faunus Eco Holidays
- Share the Pyrenees with the amazing bone breaker! All you have to do is get here! Accommodation, meals, transportation and tours all included. Discover a diverse range of birds and amazing wildlife including the rare Bearded Vulture in the spectacular Pyrenees of the Ariege, France. All bookings help towards conservation For more information visit
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Corsica August 2012 
- Although I have been to Corsica before and saw most endemics like Corsican Nuthatch and Corsican Finch, I still missed the endemic race of Treecreeper (corsa) that could be evaluated to a full species in the future...Eric Alblas reports.
La Clusaz, French Alps 23rd August-1st September 2011
- In La Clusaz itself, House Martins, Black Redstart, White Wagtail, Greenfinch and Goldfinch were common, Crag Martins appeared to be nesting on the Church spire in the centre of the village. On the Beauregard Plateau a Nutcracker was seen on two occasions....Bob Shiret reports.
Île d'Ouessant 7th - 12th & 14th - 19th October 2010
- With a few birders about, we get word of “un oiseau Americain avec yeux rouges”, and so we make a bee line for La Chapelle de Notre Dame de Bon Voyage, an ironic location as this bird has just crossed the Atlantic from North America!...Chris Hall reports.
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Marais Poitevin, France. 7th August to 21st August, 2010
- An early start ensured we were sat in the car on a tiny side road just before first light. With the windows down we quickly identified two Quail calling. As the light improved we could make out quite a few birds flying in the surrounding fields - landing and taking off - Montagu's Harriers were plentiful...Clive and Jack Oldham report.
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Corsica 2nd - 9th May 2010
- An afternoon stroll at the Etang de Biguglia, where this huge lagoon meets the sea, netted hundreds of Swallows, 21 Bee-eaters in the same tree, a dozen Marsh Harriers overhead and a fall of Yellow Wagtails including flava, thunbergi and cinereocapilla races..Chris Hall reports.
Vendėe and Charente Maritime 14th to 29th August August 2009
- A family holiday on the Atlantic Coast of France provided some excellent birding opportunities at a fairly leisurely pace....Geoff Dicker reports
The Camargue 11th-18th March, 2008
- On our way ‘home’ for more exquisite cuisine, we revisit the domain of ‘Le Grand-duc’ and at 6.35pm he starts calling. This time our luck is in and we have him in our scopes, calling from the rocks above, but better still, he glides towards us and lands on a closer perch....Chris Hall reports.
La Brenne National
Park, France June 2007
- La Brenne contains a mixture of species that are familiar in
the UK, and others that would set off a twitch. Red-backed Shrike,
Melodious Warbler, Whiskered Tern and Purple Heron proved to
be common and widespread....Steve Newman reports.
Provence,
Southern France 18th. – 21st.
June 2007
- Here
was my 1st. tick of the trip a Stone Curlew flushed
from almost under my feet the site also held a few
Cetti’s
Warblers lots of House Sparrows...Séamus Feeney reports
Corsica
and Sardinia 16th-27th May 2007
- It is not the sheer number of bird species
that draws a birder's attention to Corsica. It is rather species
poor, but it is blessed with many interesting endemic subspecies
and two of the very few true European endemics, the Corsican
Nuthatch and Corsican Finch....Jan Vermeulen reports
Corsica and Sardinia 22nd-25th March 2006
- Up 6.30 am to get the 7.30am ferry to Corsica. By the harbour
we found Spannish Sparrows and many Yellow-legged
Gulls.
As we left the sheltered inlet at Santa Teresa we saw several
Mediterranean Shearwaters, a few Cory’s Shearwaters and
a European Shag...Bob Swann reports
Provence, Southern
France Feb 24th - March 3rd 2006
- A team of three spent a week in Provence
based at La Barben east of Salen seeking the winter specialities
of the area whilst still finding time for sampling the local
food & culture. A gentle approach was taken but still most
key birds seen...Mike Robinson reports.
Camargue France 5th
to 15th October 2004
- After reading a few trip reports for the
Camargue, we decided to try early October. We knew we should
be happy seeing large numbers of Greater Flamingos...Ron
and Val Moat report.
Charente-Maritime, France 22nd
July - 6th August 2004
- First two days stayed on Ile de Re staying
at Rivedoux Plage, plenty of birds in the sea, flying past and
on the shore with plenty of Little Egrets present. We did
go to The Lilleau des Niges Nature Reserve that is at the far
end of the island. There is a visitor centre there but
no hides or map but they do speak English....Les Hull reports
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The Ebro Delta,
Spain and the Ile de Re, France May
2004
- During May we made a trip to France and
northeast Spain, partly business, partly birding; there
was no rigid birding itinerary. The Ebro Delta was the
only site we had definitely planned to visit. In the
event, we managed to squeeze in a fair amount of birding,
including a few days at the Ile de Re, a large island
in the Bay of Biscay...Nick Ransdale reports
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Camargue, Les Apilles & Le
Crau, France 12th March - 15th March
2004
- We followed the eastern shore of Étang
du Vaccarès to La Capelière stopping several times
for interesting pools and one turned up a Slender-billed Gull,
adult-winter feeding in a shallow roadside pool...David
Arch reports
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Provence 10th – 16th
January 2004
- This clifftop village of Les Baux
is an excellent winter site for a number of Montane species.
We observed two Wallcreepers here. The scrub at the base
of the cliff and the nearby gardens held a number of
Sardinian Warblers, Serin, Blackcap, Siskin and Crested
Tit....Jez Robson reports.
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Southern France
in winter: Alpilles, Camargue, Crau and Nice Feb
'03
- The trip potentially presented me
with five new Western Palearctic birds: Wallcreeper,
Greater Spotted Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Yelkouan
Shearwater and Indian Silverbill. All these were seen
along with some other excellent birds...pictures too! Chris
Batty reports
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Cross Channel Birding
(Updated)
- The Calais/Boulogne area harbours some very
interesting species and has superb birding sites (despite many
areas being heavily shot over). For birders based in south-east
England the area makes a very good day trip, but a long weekend
is really needed to explore all the sites mentioned. Visiting
two or three sites in one day is usually quite enough.....John
Cantelo reports.
Where to see the birds of Vaucluse
- The Vaucluse is a small département
in the South East of France. The main town, Avignon, is at the
Rhône-Durance confluence. This two valleys are very important
for bird life as Ventoux and Luberon mountains....Georges
Olioso
Mousterlin, Brittany 31
Aug– 6 Sept 2002
- This was not meant to be a birding holiday.
I let my wife choose the place and just tagged along meekly ("No,
dear, this is your break: I'm honestly not bothered about
the birds.") Unwittingly, she picked somewhere right on the doorstep
of a nature reserve..Jason Smart reports.
Central France July
2002
- This year's family summer holiday was 2
weeks early in July spent at a gite in the small French village of Mandegault.
This is in the Deux-Sevres region about 50 miles south of Poitiers and
a similar distance east of La Rochelle.
It is a very agricultural area with arable crops of sunflower,
rape and grain being the principal products. There were a few
cattle and sheep but not many round the village...Mike Millar reports
Beaucoup de Herons and Funny
Pheasants, Bassoles-Aulers & Maresquel August
2001
- Our family holiday this summer was a two-centre
holiday in Northern France. Although not essentially a birding
trip I planned to do what I could. As it turned out I amassed
a list of over 100 species, plus some new butterflies and a few
mammals. The first week we were based in Bassoles-Aulers in Aisne
province and the second week was based at Maresquel in Pas-de-Calais
province...Mike King reports.
Corsica and the Camague 28th
May– 3rd June 2001
- At the Asco Valley ski area Citril Finches displayed
but it wasn't until 17:00 hrs that a Lammergeier was spotted
flying across the valley. Just before the ski area were
some pines, one of which had the number 13 on it. Here
two Corsican Nuthatches, (an adult and a juvenile) allowed exceptionally
close views...Jean Roberts reports
Atlantic Coast of France,
Charente Maritime Spring 2001
- The area is definitely well worth
a trip, probably at any time of the year and whether you are
birding seriously or just casually. The area is potentially
very good for ‘finding your own stuff’ (actually
that’s probably the only way to do it!). Not far
away, there are summering Little Bustards and Stone Curlews,
whilst in recent years rarities have been turning up in spring
and autumn (mainly waders, but I am absolutely sure autumn
passerine migration could be very good)....Daryl Rhymes reports.
Calaise region May
2000
- This morning I made a very early start and
set out to find Le Marais des Guines, a small reserve which was
quite difficult to find, but well worth the trouble...The reserve
was Warbler Central, almost all the common ones were singing,
and it didn't take me too long to locate three uncommon ones
as well....Mike King (The
Gloster Birder) reports
La Brenne
- The Region of Brenne, also called "la
Région des 1000 étangs / the region of the 1000
ponds" is little known by tourists but very liked
by birds (and ornithologists) because of the quietness of the
landscape, the multitude of biotopes (hedgerows, moorland,
woods, fields) and the presence of so many ponds / lakes....Ivan
Steenkiste reports. Excellent photography.
Western Loire May
1999
- I walked up to the railway line above the
farm. Here I could hear an unfamiliar birdsong but I could not
see the bird. After waiting for a few minutes I saw a bird plunging
from the depths of one bush into the next. I could see that it
was a warbler. I suspected that it was Melodious Warbler....Mike
King reports
Brittany May
1998
- I always love the first birding sortie of
a holiday, so I got up early and slipped out quietly to explore
the surrounding countryside. I walked a longish circular route
around the holiday camp. The birds were plentiful but mostly
common. More notable ones included a male Bullfinch, two Green
Woodpeckers, two Jays, two Nuthatches and a
family party of Stonechats, male, female and four juveniles...Mike
King reports
Spain and France May
13-27, 2000
- Phil Cruttenden and companion called
in at several sites in France on their way back from Spain. La
Brenne, Fontainebleau and Calaise were among the sites visited
Vendee June
'97
- We stopped in a Gite in a little village
called Chevrette ..... It is situated between Lucon and Fontenay
le Comte. To the north of the village, the land is intensively
farmed with Arable crops. The land is quite undulating and reminded
me of farmland up on the Yorkshire Wolds...Derek Cooper reports
Charente Maritime Easter
'95
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