moulin birding diary

9 February 11 & 12 March 10 - we have been hearing, and occasionally seeing, Golden Oriole every few days, in the mornings. We are able to see them occasionally because of the lack of leaves as yet on the trees.

15 April 08 - a distinctive Barn Owl as seen flying in daylight not too far from le Moulin.

20 April 08 - Shams (Arabic word for sunshine) the Moulin Cat, dislodged the nest of a Grey Wagtail from the bank at the side of le Moulin. Regrettably she had eaten the eggs. The following week Shams brought home two Dunnock - who used to be called Hedge sparrow. Dunnock is a more reasonable name because dunnock are accentors not sparrows.

Shams is a ginger female cat and ginger female cats are very rare. It is said that a ginger female cat can fetch more than $30,000 in China. Perhaps we should follow the money in the interest of the dunnock.

23 April 10 - Bluethroat seen by guests at bird reserve on Ile de Ré, near la Rochelle 1hr 30mins from la Moulin.

26 April 08 - the first Cuckoo was heard at le Moulin. Luckily we had money in our pockets! If you didn't already know this old wives tale it is that if you have money in your pocket when you hear the first cuckoo you will have plenty of money all the year.

27 April 08 - we had to slow-down in the car to avoid a Buzzard who was having difficulty making height on account of a 30cm to 40cm grasssnake in its claws, near the village of Pamplie.

29 April 08 - after discussing with neighbours why they are invaded by swallows, swifts and martins while at le Moulin there are none, a single Swallow was seen darting over the pool and lake, when a Goshawk (also never before seen at le Moulin) spectacularly gave chase. The hawk failed to catch the swallow, the swallow fled and has not been back.

Last weeks of April 07 - A wild Mallard with ten chicks in tow was seen on the stream at le Moulin. By 5 May there were only three chicks surviving, but by now they are getting quite large so the chances of survival are much better. By 15 May only two chicks have survived and they are still around on 21 May 07.

photo Dave Laming

End of April 07 - Grey Wagtail (who are yellow in summer) have a nest in the ivy on the lane leading to le Moulin. They are seen from time to time in spring and summer near the stream at le Moulin and also flitting across le Moulin's low pan tiled roofs.

First week of May: click here for Jane Turner's Moulin Sightings.

3 May 10 - Recently fledged Tawny Owl photographed near le Moulin (right).

3 May 07 - A Black Kite was seen at the turning to Puy-de-Serre just outside Vouvent. The kite was sectioning a field while hay was being cut. A common crow was seen to seize something mouse-sized and the kite spectacularly chased the crow, ducking and diving until the crow managed to land in a tree.

4 May 07 - Partridges (red legged?) are often seen on lanes adjacent to fields and one was seen, unusually, in the village of Scillé on 4 May 07.

First week of May 07 - Swallow, Martin and a few Swift were very evident and are very abundant in early June.

In May 07 Goldfinch are very much in evidence in on the lane verges. on 10 June what looked like a Yellow Finch was seen, but we were unable to identify it more accurately.

The daily dawn chorus at le Moulin is especially brilliant on account of le Moulin's abundant bird habitats, provided by woods and (organically farmed) pastures with ancient hedges as well as the lake and stream. The dawn chorus is first heard in early spring until the end of June or beginning of July. One first becomes aware of birdsong after the winter, in the middle of March with black birds and black caps very vocal. The dawn chorus becomes louder and louder each day until it reaches its maximum in May. At the beginning of June the dawn chorus has abated slightly.

13 - 20 May 07 - Blackbird and Song Thrush are feeding young in the sweet chestnut copse on the lane between our neighbour Pierro's and the D128.The song thrush has often been seen anvilling snails on the tarmac surface of the lane. In June it is rare to be out of earshot of blackbirds, and song thrushes are becoming common, again.

The European Yellow Wagtail (with pale blue cheeks) were reported by a reliable Moulin guest on 24 May 07.

bird fact: Owl vision Owls can turn their heads through 270° thanks to extra vertebrae as well as muscles that allow each vertebrae to move independently. The head-turning ability compensates for the fact that owls eyes can't swivel in their sockets like mammal eyes because owl eyes tend to be tubular rather than spherical. Forward-facing owl eyes increase binocular vision, allowing the possibility to see things in three dimensions. The tubular shape creates a bigger retina that allows more light to be captured.

A Tawny Owl's eyes are approximately one hundred times more sensitive to light than a human's. They can see a mouse in light equivalent to that of a single candle at 500m.

Birds have extra neck-vertebrae to permit them to preen (and to compensate for tubular-eye in owls). Owls have fourteen neck-vertebrae, ducks have sixteen and mute swans (the winners among birds) have twenty five, whereas humans and mammals generally have only seven neck-vertebrae.

John Lloyd & John Mitchinson in The Book of General Ignorance, Faber & Faber 2006

24 May 07 - The first hot day of the year and Tawny Owls started their hooting at sunset and sunrise, and the following day ..... and then the weather became cooler! In previous years owls have been very much in evidence all summer.

28 May 10 - Moulin guests were lucky enough to see a Golden Oriole at les Roches Broussignoux. We continue to hear them in the trees around le Moulin du Chemin.

28 May 06 - Redstarts seen by Scillé Maire and on le Moulin’s chemin.

In the second week of June 07, guest Dave Laming took these pictures of a Barn Owl, not far from le Moulin, and Fledgling Swallows at nearby Puy-du-Serre. Dave also reported seeing a pair of exotic Bee Eaters in a field near Maillé in the nearby Marais Poitevin.

At this period a call like that of a Guinea Fowl was heard from the woods adjacent to le Moulin. It could have been that a neighbour's escaped Guinea Fowl but we thought it more likely to be the noise made by a Pine or Beech Marten after mating. These animals are known to live in the vicinity of le Moulin.

bird fact: How songbirds stay alive and attractive The sexual-signalling 'badges' on the head and chest of songbirds have been shown to be more conspicuous to other songbirds than to their predators, allowing the songbirds to show-off without attracting the unwanted attention of hawks and crows. A study shows that sexual-signalling badges of songbirds such as gold crest, willow tit and long-tailed tit appear brighter to other songbirds than they do to predators in 80% of the cases studied.

Studies show that birds eyes have four colour receptors whereas mammals have only three. In songbirds the fourth receptor is sensitive to ultra violet light. In hawks and crows it is most sensitive to the violet end of the visible light range. By way of comparison, the difference in the ranges of sensitivity of these types of birds is greater than that between the green and red colour receptors in humans.

Anders Ödeen of Uppsala University in Sweden

3 June 07 - several Turtle Dove were seen at Frontenay-Rohan-Rohan. They were also observed on the same Sunday in 06 when we went there for the cycle race. Collared Dove are becoming very common as well as Ring Dove (Wood Pigeon when I was a boy) and Stock Dove.

8 June 07 - A bird that sounds like a the starting cough of a muffled chainsaw was heard again at le Moulin on following mornings. The sound (the bird, not the chainsaw) was first heard some years ago after one of le Moulin's horses was savaged by a large unidentified pray animal - we imagined the sound was that of a cougar in those days, but it's more likely to be some sort of Crow. Jay and Magpie are increasingly common. Common Crow, Carrion Crow, Rook and Jackdaw are all locally very evident.

10 June 08 - the first Hoopoe ever to be reported at le Moulin was seen during aperitifs-at-seven, disappearing over the wisteria around the pool.

18 June 06 - A pair of Swallows flew into le Moulin’s office, circled a few times and left. In 08 swallows were twice seen over le Moulin's picine. Each visit was for a short while before a white-with-black-speckles hawk disposed on one of them, the other left. Otherwise Swallows, Martins and Swifts are common in the region during their respective seasons.

SUMMER 22 June to 21 September

Short Toed Eagle are reportedly seen in summer in the Marais Poitevin.

Montigue’s Harrier are reportedly seen in summer in the Marais Poitevin.

First week of July: click here for for Robin & Mary Jones' Sightings.

15 & 16 August 11 - A Black Stork was seen to take-off from le Moulin's river field and was also seen wheeling over le Moulin with a group of buzzards who were displaying timidly-aggressive behaviour towards the black stork. Timidly-aggressive sounds like a contradiction in terms, but it a reasonable description of the way the buzzards were behaving. We have never seen a black stork in this region before this date. (Photo Ian Herridge)

27 August 10 - A Purple Heron was seen flying over Scillé. There have occasionally been other sighting of purple heron in the vicinity this summer.

The photo is of a purple heron who resided in the woods at le Moulin several years ago, apparently while recovering from an injury.

Buzzard (the local buzzard are known as Variable Buzzard are not unlike Honey Buzzard) are plentiful throughout the year and can be seen in many nearby locations. Buzzards are often seen circling above le Moulin and their plaintive mewing is a common sound in summer.

bird fact: Bird's breathing is 2½ times more efficient than that of humans Birds breath air far more efficiently than mammals. When a bird inhales, air fills its lungs and also air sacs further inside its body. Upon exhaling, fresh air from the air sac replaces the air that was in the lungs. Consequently, the lungs have a constant supply of fresh air and can therefore extract two-and-a-half times as much oxygen as can a mammal.

from New Scientist 21 March 2009

"birds have two-cycle breathing system"

.... and we presume that is why canaries were taken into mines, because they also extract two-and-a-half times the quantity of noxious gases as humans and therefore circum two-and-a-half times more quickly than humans.

bird fact: How ducks and waders stay alive and waterproof The waterproof quality of ducks is well known. They maintain this quality by application of wax from the "preen gland" in their bills. The wax is usually a mono-ester, which carries an aroma that could attract predators. To cut the risk of predator attack when incubating, certain ducks and waders switch to less volatile (so harder to sniff out) bi-esters for preening. It is suggested that the biological cost of producing bi-esters is greater than that of producing mono-esters.

University of Groningen, Netherlands, gleaned from New Scientist

Bar-tailed Godwit at Baie d'Aiguillon photo Joshua Comaish

Several Yellowhammer were visible in the first weeks of March 07 and through April and May in the hedgerows and fields around le Moulin, particularly on the left of the lane between la Basse Salmatière and la Vaud

Golden Oriole mostly heard, on account of foliage - throughout the early summer.

IHoppoe are fairly common, seen in pairs and occasionally with young in tow, in spring and early summer.

A young Hen Harrier with prey was seen on the Scillé-le Beugnon road, close to le Moulin. Hen Harrier are quite common in the region.

Blackcaps are often seen and heard at the top of the willow in the garden of le Moulin in early spring & summer.

Last week of August: click here for Jeremy Galton's Sightings.

Green Woodpecker are seen and more often heard at Michenot’s Lake adjacent to le Moulin

A pair of Nuthatch were seen on an apple tree at le Moulin du Chemin on 25 August 08.

A Black Stork was seen at le Moulin at end of August 05

2 September 10 - A Kingfisher was seen at le Moulin - an excellent view as the kingfisher turned in flight over the foot bridge at le Moulin. The picture is of another kingfisher, taken in nearby le Busseau by Dr Tom.

White Stork were seen near le Moulin for the first time in September 03. White Stork are more often seen in the nearby Vendée and particularly in the Marais Poitevin.

A Spotted Flycatcher was reported Jamie Walker at le Moulin as well as a Black Stork seen flying over le Moulin in the first week of September 07. In the same week a Hobby was reported at the next property, 600m away at la Barelle.

A Black Woodpecker was heard and then seen on 17 September 09 at la Boule, a couple of kilometres from le Moulin du Chemin (control-click for details)

AUTUMN 22 September to 21 December

ALL YEAR

We often see a small kestrels between la Basse Salmatière and Lavaud which we are pretty sure is a Lesser Kestrel on account of its Dijon-Mustard/golden colouring. The flight patterns are clearly more active that those of the common kestrel. Common Kestrel are seen often all year.


Images by young, aspiring professional wild-life photographer Joshua Comaish
Five or six White Egrets were seen in our neighbour’s river meadow early February 06 and in nearby Vernoux-en-Gâtine end of March 06. None were observed later in the year, however on 9 Nov 07 there were several white egrets on the field above Pierro's house, among Bernard's cows. By 12 Nov 07 the number had increased to 80 or 100. Then there was a very cold spell and the number dropped to about 20. By 20 Nov there were still about 10 or 15 white egrets which were moving between three fields, including the original field. The white egrets were still here in mid January 2008. None were observed in 2009 and 2010 and two in 2011. In living memory, prior to these sightings no white egrets were observed in the region. And the locals, who have names for regularly sighted birds, had no name for the white egret. Now they call it the white egret - an example of the English immigrant's influence on local culture. 12 March 11 - Black Woodpecker photographed in the woods of le Moulin du Chemin. photo Joshua Comaish
White (long tailed) Tit are very evident around le Moulin in the cold winter months – end December to mid February