What have red buses to do with birds here in Provence? In as much that most of us who have waited for a bus in London, and in other towns, will know the situation when no bus appears for many minutes and then three or four all together. In their marvellous song about the London bus, Flanders & Swan described them as gregarious; quite right.
The same thing happened last week with the Sardinian Warbler.
(Male above left, female right)
We cannot recall ever using this name before & had certainly never seen this bird. Then, on Sunday, friends came to lunch. One of them described a bird with pale underparts, light brown upperparts & a black cap. We immediately said "Blackcap" but when we showed him the picture, he said the cap was bigger, more like a hood. Further investigation resulted in a tentative identification of a Sardinian Warbler. In French a "Fauvette Mélanocéphale!
Another friend at the same lunch had brought me some copies of the LPO magazine (la Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux), the edition for PACA (the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) which contained a supplement on the Vaucluse, our neighbouring department to the south. Still with me?
Surprise, in the supplement was a picture of a Sardinian Warbler as they could be seen often in the Dentelles de Montmirail (limestone crags about 10 kilometres south of us) and also near Malaucene, about 8 kilometres away!
On the Monday, the weather was glorious, warm & sunny, so we took Crevette for a walk down by the River Ouvèze in Mollans. You've guessed; stopping for some bird watching, we clearly saw both a male and female Sardinian Warbler.
Finally, to really confirm our identification, we mentioned all this to an English friend of ours who lives in Mollans and a keen birdwatcher, who has seen them in his garden!
Four mentions & one sighting in 2 days! An exciting first of a bird not normally seen in the UK.
We cannot recall ever using this name before & had certainly never seen this bird. Then, on Sunday, friends came to lunch. One of them described a bird with pale underparts, light brown upperparts & a black cap. We immediately said "Blackcap" but when we showed him the picture, he said the cap was bigger, more like a hood. Further investigation resulted in a tentative identification of a Sardinian Warbler. In French a "Fauvette Mélanocéphale!
Another friend at the same lunch had brought me some copies of the LPO magazine (la Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux), the edition for PACA (the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) which contained a supplement on the Vaucluse, our neighbouring department to the south. Still with me?
Surprise, in the supplement was a picture of a Sardinian Warbler as they could be seen often in the Dentelles de Montmirail (limestone crags about 10 kilometres south of us) and also near Malaucene, about 8 kilometres away!
On the Monday, the weather was glorious, warm & sunny, so we took Crevette for a walk down by the River Ouvèze in Mollans. You've guessed; stopping for some bird watching, we clearly saw both a male and female Sardinian Warbler.
Finally, to really confirm our identification, we mentioned all this to an English friend of ours who lives in Mollans and a keen birdwatcher, who has seen them in his garden!
Four mentions & one sighting in 2 days! An exciting first of a bird not normally seen in the UK.
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