The Dark side of the French

Last Friday a flock of about 2,000 Starlings arrived on our hill and most of our neighbours noted this slightly unusual occurence and enjoyed the aerial antics and vocalisations of these birds.  Suddenly at least two shots rang out from one French owned farm and then a single shot from another farm at the other end of the hill.  At this time we were walking around our local campsite with the French owner who was also captivated by the birds.

She was furious at the shooting and over the last couple of days we have picked up similar outrage from Dutch and Irish neighbours.  It is hard to explain why the birds were shot.  They certainly were not killed for food.  Maybe there was a perceived threat to the vineyards or local property.  Sadly it is most likely an act of complete ignorance. Whatever we returned home to find a shot Starling in our driveway.

This is the first time any of us at Montcelebre have experienced such behaviour.  We are aware of local hunters but they seem to be OK and concentrate their efforts on Wild Boar and Rabbits which they obviously eat.  We all feel a bit helpless as we live amongst local people and cannot see a way of stopping this sort of incident in future.  It may be though that there will be few less volunteers to harvest grapes at one particular vineyard in future years.

On a brighter note an Eagle Owl was calling in the distance last night as we returned from supper with a neighbour.  Also this morning a superb male Hen Harrier swept down the valley in front of our house.