Weekly Bird Report (Oct 1st - 9th 2011)

Weekly bird report October 1^st – 9^th 2011 – In and around La Macherie, Vienne, France

The high pressure system that has given most of Western Europe some glorious early Autumn weather these past few weeks persisted into the first few days of October with 30C sunshine radiating down through trees already shedding their leaves. It was unusual to look up into blue skies and see not a single Swallow or House Martin but as if on cue, come October and they all but disappeared and with their departure Robins continue to stream into the countryside and it was slightly odd to see so many singing in bright sunshine.  

Star bird on the 1^st was a single Redwing flying over nearby fields and on the same morning an Osprey flew (S) over the village. Small numbers of Song Thrushes have been appearing (and quickly disappearing!) in the hedgerows and along with an increase in Blackbirds, Chaffinches, Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and Yellowhammers in and around the village is visible evidence of the mass North to South movement of small birds at this time of year. Typically I can sit in the back garden at any time of the day, look up, and within 30 mins (I'm a patient man) I'll see a small flock of Chaffinches, Meadow Pipits or Skylarks flying over. Not so typical was a fleeting glimpse of 2 Hawfinches (fleeting glimpse maybe IS typical of this big finch!) down by the river Gartemp on the 7^th

Fascinated? If you're a non birder probably not! Ok, well let me try and enthuse …. at the same time as I witness the arrival of birds that choose to over winter here or further South, I continue to see Summer birds hanging on and braving the ever cooling weather or more likely just passing through on their way further South. Fascinating moments of this kind from the first week in October include a male Redstart flitting about a local hedgerow on the 1^st , a singing Tree Pipit on the 3^rd , a late Whinchat feeding off sunflower heads on the 4^th, 5 House Martins speeding south through the rain on the 6^th and 3 Swallows overhead and south that seemed to come out of nowhere on a drab Sunday (today) … it might not be the Serengeti but migration is visible and wonderful wherever you are, you just need to keep your eyes open and look up every few minutes!

Been a bit quite on the raptor front all week with little or no passage of note but a Peregrine Falcon on the 8^th in local fields and worrying a group of Starlings was believe it or not my first in this country and maybe a passage bird.

As of today I'm still seeing Chiff Chaffs on a daily basis, 2 in the garden today for instance, but not seen a Blackcap since the 7^th. Marsh Tits seem to be more apparent and Long Tailed Tits are flocking in ever increasing numbers (had a max of 15 locally). Woodlarks continue to make their presence felt in just about any suitable field and not unusual to record 10 – 20 on a single local walk.

Today I've been tramping around the Camp Militaire nr Montmorillon and apart from the surprising late Swallows mentioned above good sightings included 3 Green Sandpipers, 2 Snipe, a single Golden Plover (flying over South) and 45 Lapwings on one of the numerous ponds in the area.

Overall, not a bad week for in and around my local patch here in central France. I look forward to more winter arrivals, especially Common Cranes, more Winter Thrushes, Geese and as ever some local surprises, however I'm back in the UK next week, for a week, so next report will be Franglais!

Magic Mushrooms!

A few weeks ago I spent a whole afternoon photographing mushrooms that had sprouted overnight following a few days of rain. There are said to be over 3000 different types of mushroom in France and although I've only captured a tiny fraction of these there are many types I've never seen before … so many different shapes, colours and sizes!

Mushrooms can sprout here at just about any time between March – November and more often than not after wet weather. Only a few of the many types are edible and although it was a plan to gather some to fry up and accompany a choice piece of steak for my tea, after being totally confused by the pictures of what you can eat, what folk say you can eat and what I'm actually seeing, I've decided not to risk a pricey trip to Montmorillon A & E and to stick to 500g box of button champignons from Aldi!

Maybe next year I'll get my wicker basket out, and yes it does have to be a wicker basket! Such is the interest in gathering edible mushrooms here that every region, department and local commune in France have set down rules to guide the would be fungi forager. The following is more or less standard when setting out -

Mushrooms must be a certain size before being picked so that they have a chance to release their spores Tools of any sort are forbidden with the exception of knives A knife must be used to cut the stem so as not to damage the mycelia (underground bit!) Mushrooms must be carried in a wicker basket to let the spores fall out and help propagation

Typical French pragmatic quirkiness! On the darker side it's thought on average 30 people die every year from consuming dangerous mushrooms (mainly due to the infamous death cap mushroom)

No idea whether any of the mushroom pics here are edible or dangerous and I'm hoping some bright fungus lover will help me out and save me the time of tagging these pics!

Last but not least, I stumbled upon this monster (below) whilst walking in a field. It's a Giant Puffball and most definitely edible. I was so intrigued by this specimen that I did pick it (no doubt violating several local byelaws!) and carried it home, a feat in itself because it was the size of a football!

In the end this beast remained uncooked because when sliced open it was a bit yellowish inside, not a good sign - shame, they're supposed to be quite tasty fried in batter!

If you're in France and not sure whether a mushroom you've picked is edible, take it along to any pharmacy - they're all trained to identify the good and the deadly!