Le Teich (1)

This is the first blog about the Parc Ornithologique du Teich on the Arcachon Basin near Bordeaux, France.

I first visited this excellent reserve in SW France two years ago.  29th April 2012 was the occasion of my second visit.  It is worth noting that RSPB Members are entitled to a 30% discount here.  You have to ask for it at the entrance and, or course, produce evidence of current membership.  That becomes an immediate topic of conversation, if there isn't a queue.

I'd travelled through storms east of Bordeaux on the A89 and it was still raining quite hard when I arrived.  The forecast had said the weather would be OK west of Bordeaux  –  the 'other side' of the narrow band of heavy weather that was hammering northeasterly from the Pyrenees across central France towards SE England and the Low Countries.  I had my fingers crossed.

One of first species you encounter after entry is White Stork.  I reached them and the rain stopped.  In an instant it was blue skies with lots of fluffy white clouds.  The dirty stuff was soon barely discernable on the eastern horizon.  I unpacked the camera.

They're very graceful on the wing:

"What?  No bundle?"

Well, most of the time!

There wasn't a great deal of activity and I moved on.  I was in a hide overlooking another, smaller lagoon, when I was startled by bill-clappering that seemed to be right on top of me.  I investigated and found that there was a nest immediately over the hide.  I wriggled about a bit and found a reasonably clear line of sight.

A tuck here; a tuck there

Moving on ... ...

Spotted Redshank  –  a first for me.

... and some of its cousins  –  (Common) Redshank.

This bird seemed to have an injured right leg.  It certainly seemed unable to put any weight on that leg and appeared to be using the log as a sort of support.

The lower-angled shots were made possible by the extremely useful provision of a viewing-port situated very near the floor of the hide.  It was possible to kneel right down or lie down on the floor and take photographs through this.  A French photographer and I took turns to use this facility.  Take note, UK hide builders.

To be continued ...