Trip reports
Group Holiday to Camargue & Pyrenees
Thursday, 27 August 2009
We arrived at Montpellier at about 3pm, collected 2 minibuses to be driven by Russell and Mike Betts, and arrived at our comfortable hotel, the Hotel des Quatres Vents, just outside Aigues Mortes. Once allocated our rooms we soon met up for our first walk by the nearby Rhone á Sète Canal, gradually acclimatising to the heat of 30C. We saw Cattle Egrets, Moorhens, Jackdaws, Magpies, Tree Sparrows; many Swallows and Sand Martins swooped overhead and a Kingfisher flashed by 2 or 3 times. There were many different butterflies. Later we ate at the adjoining restaurant where we had an excellent 14 Euro meal with wine.
The next morning, after a substantial breakfast, sitting outside and hearing about Russell's solo early morning walk with enviable sightings, we set off after visiting the conveniently close supermarchés for picnic provisions. We jumped out by the road and saw 5 Purple Herons skulking in the grass, Marsh Harriers flying over, Corn Buntings and several Cattle and Great White Egrets. We also saw the distinctive black Camargue Bulls. We then visited the Scamandre Nature Centre, beautifully laid out with long boardwalks among tall reeds and tamarisk. Some lagoons were dried out, revealing cracked mud. We saw elegant Black-winged Stilts, many Wood and Green Sandpipers, Night, Purple and Grey Herons, many Bee-eaters and a magnificent group of c140White Storks thermalling above us as they migrated. Further on, from a hide, we saw Purple Gallinule, a relative newcomer to the Camargue, Ruff and Snipe and later Caspian Tern and Short-toed Eagle above us and a flight of Glossy Ibis, a first for me. Red and gold dragonflies were sitting everywhere, but our 'beavers' turned out to be Coypus! After lunch we walked in intense heat by the canal seeing fascinating butterflies and some of the lovely white Camargue horses, as well as a couple of stunning Rollers. That evening we walked into the attractive walled town of Aigues Mortes, full of tourists, and ate at an interesting and good value restaurant called Pinocchio's.
On Saturday, after our pre-breakfast walk, seeing flocks of Egrets and Bee-eaters setting off on migration flight, we drove with many stops to a good wetland area with many waders and terns and a huge nesting colony of Egrets. There was a strong wind blowing which made viewing difficult, so we left the rice fields and drove by the large Etang de Vaccares where I had my first ever view of Flamingos in the wild, in with many Black-necked and Great Crested Grebe. We were to see hundreds of Flamingos later, but that first sight of those lovely graceful pale pink birds, which always kept their heads in the water when I tried to photograph them, was special. We ate later in a welcome shelter and saw more Flamingos, Snipe and 3 Spotted Redshanks. I also saw for the first time pomegranates growing.
On Sunday we had a very early start at 7am, leaving before breakfast and driving as the sun rose to visit Saintes Maries de la Mer, a popular resort. We walked across marshes and had superb views of huge flocks of Flamingos, in the water and flying, Avocets, Curlews, Plovers and a large roost of Sandwich Terns. We had a welcome cooked breakfast at 9.30am at the Bamboo Palm Beach Restaurant, overlooking the Mediterranean. Later, with the wind rising, we had a long walk along a track and saw much, with the highlight being a Spectacled Warbler. That night we packed up, after a meal in Aigues Mortes, ready to move on to Vernet les Bains in the Pyrenees.
We moved on Monday, mainly by fast motorway. We stopped at a grotto just before Vernet les Bains for our picnic, in entirely different surroundings, by a narrow river surrounded by towering hills and caves. We saw a Short-toed Eagle above us and Yellow and Grey Wagtails by the river. There were many colourful grasshoppers and Swallowtail, Cleopatra and Silver-washed Fritillary butterflies and Hummingbird Hawk Moths. We settled into the Hotel Clair Canigou and then took a walk along the river, seeing yet more including a striking Jersey Tiger moth. We dined outside at our hotel, buffet style with copious free wine.
On Tuesday, 1st September, after a pre-breakfast walk with Jays, Woodpeckers and a Cetti's Warbler singing, we made up our substantial picnics and set out along a steep and hazardous road to St Louis, eventually reaching the Eyne valley, a migration watching point. On the interesting rocky walk through alpine-type flowers, we had good views of Linnet, Black Redstart, Whinchat, Stonechat and Wheatear hopping among the rocks. Then a Red-backed Shrike and a Southern Grey Shrike perched on conspicuous branches. We had a picnic sitting on big stones dotted on a sunny hillside while a Griffon Vulture obligingly flew just over our heads. We moved on, seeing many crickets and grasshoppers and 10 Lesser Kestrels flying round above us. The sun shone, the birds appeared, the crickets sang. What could be better? We even had a drink at a local café before returning to the Clair Canigou and supper outside.
There was a violent thunderstorm during the night, but it was clear by morning for our walk around the picturesque village. Mount Canigou towered over the village as we walked around, spotting a Black-bellied Dipper in the river and a sinister snake nearby. In a large tree in the park were all the Tits including Crested, but I did not manage to spot the Firecrest, which was also there. We had another trip to the grotto in the afternoon and, although the mist came down, saw Crag Martin, Buzzard and a quick glimpse of the Blue Rock Thrush. There was a Praying Mantis by the path.
On Thursday 3rd September we were to return to the Hotel des Quatres Vents for our final night, but before that we had an exciting trip to a chalet 6,000 feet up Mount Canigou in two 4x4s. We walked up the track and saw a large group of about 100 Honey Buzzards circling in a thermal, gaining height to aid their migration. We also saw Crossbills and Redstarts and 3 Marmots lying on the rocks. The mist came down but, even so, we spotted 3 Citril Finches as we returned to the chalet. A Chamois was fleetingly seen high up, but not by me! We bumped our way down the mountain and then set off back to Aigues Mortes for our last night at des Quatres Vents.
In the morning, after a final pre-breakfast walk, we spent a couple of hours at Scamandre, where we saw a Peregrine and Curlew Sandpipers which brought the final total to 142 species seen or heard. We eventually arrived back in Edinburgh at 8.30pm, having had a superb holiday. My total number of birds was 118 and Euan and I had enjoyed every minute. Many thanks to Russell for organising it all and to the group for being such good company. We look forward to our next trip.