Back to Wales via The Brenne.



La Crapaudine


Whenever we drive down to our place in the south of France we always stop off at The Brenne which is in the centre of the country and breaks up the journey so well.  We stay in a wonderful Chambre D'Hote know as La Crapaudine in Rosnay and run by Max and Thierry.  It is a real heaven of a place and worth the effort.  Waking yesterday in glorious sunshine House Martins and Swifts were energetically circling the place whilst a superb Black Redstart sang from the top of a building.



Black Redstart singing

We had time for a bit of birdwatching before we set off north.  We saw and heard a Savi's Warbler and was generally impressed with the number of warblers singing everywhere.  One Melodious Warbler sat up for just a second or two whilst belting out his very unmelodious song.



Melodious Warbler

One of the species of note was Red-crested Pochard. I normally think of this duck as a Mediterranean species but numbers here are very high.  Thirty years ago when I first visited the Brenne there were none but in the last decade they have colonised.  In 2012 over thirty nests were discovered but there seem to be even more birds this year.



Red-crested Pochards



Pair of Red-crested Pochards

We also had many other great sightings including pal Tony Williams who directed us to a hide which we never found.  We did have good views of a Honey Buzzard at close quarters sitting in a tree but I failed to get a decent photograph.  Now time to look for a Welsh Wood Warbler.