Nightmare traffic and torrential rain dampened both car and spirits as I crawled through the middle of Paris (bloody Tom Tom!). The only consolation was a troop of 4Ring-necked Parakeets dashing through the Parisian gloom. It was still pretty slow all the way to Orleans, so I took an ad lib stop in the Sologne region.
A ropey lunch of cheese sandwiches and tomatoes was followed by some classic barbed wire fence climbing to view a few promising looking lakes south of the town of Saint-Vitre. Great birds straight away! A Purple Heron flew overhead, and before long I'd picked out two pairs of Black-necked Grebes on the water. A few minutes later, a Whiskered Tern started blogging along..quality. There was still time for me to add Mistle Thrush and some Black-necked Grebes, before continuing on towards la Brenne. The weather had brightened, and I was certainly in less of a bleak mood after seeing these specialities.
Tom-tom guided me into the heart of the Brenne and the habitat was brilliant. I stopped for a roadside scan of one of the 'thousand lakes'. Whilst chucking out a huge scan grenade, a lovely adult Red-backed Shrike flew through my field of view. I watched it flit from bush to bush, and then 2 monsters flew over - Great White Egrets. A great start at the Brenne.
I dragged myself on to Camping Rosnay and set up the tent by the side of a small lake. Straight away I heard bird song - Blackcaps, Corn Buntings, Whitethroats, Tree Pipits and something else...a more melodious song. The guide book had claimed Melodious Warblers bred on site, and sure enough I'd soon picked him out.
The campsite threw up even more surprises. A distant Short-toed Eagle hunting was quickly eclipsed by this cheeky git doing a spot of fishing by the tent.
I went on a run around Rosnay, leaving the binocs in the car and hoping to concentrate on my stride. Two Cirl Buntings, Stonechats and a load of Black Redstarts soon put paid to that idea.
A visit to Etang de Neuf just north of Rosnay yielded more B.N. Grebes, as well as G.C. Grebes and a few Dabchicks. Throughout the evening I was never out of earshot of a purring Turtle Dove.
Finally back to the tent for an evening meal of rice, tuna, and peas and carrots haha. Thought the wildlifing was over, but not quite... This beast started knocking around, apparently after a bit of the feast I was cooking up.
The Purple Emperor joins Wild Boar on best non-bird creature of the trip so far!
New list additions: Hobby, Red-legged Partridge, Black-necked Grebe, Whiskered Tern, Purple Heron, Ring-necked Parakeet, Mistle Thrush, Gadwall, Squacco Heron, Melodious Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Great White Egret, Red-backed Shrike, Pochard, Cirl Bunting, Black Redstart, Little Grebe, Short-toed Eagle (86)
Butterflies: Purple Emperor, Purple Hairstreak, White Admiral
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