Hi there,

As any tweeter going "down" in southern US or Central America and
gratifying all of us with a list of birds seen, I'll do the same after
I spent two short weeks in France.

The purpose of my trip was not at all birding, but I managed to do some
birdwatching 2 or 3 times in a local park for about 1 hour each time.
I was in Rennes (Brittany, west part of France), 60 km from the sea, so
don't expect to see many seabirds in my list.

As you may imagine it was very nice for me to see and hear "my" birds
again :-)

Now for the list (the species preceded by `*' were singing):

Great Crested Grebe _Podiceps cristatus_ (some in breeding plumage)
Horned Grebe _Podiceps auritus_
Grey Heron _Ardea cinerea_
Brent Goose _Branta bernicla_ (a flock calling in the sky at
midnight; Probably among the first migrants to head back north)
Mallard _Anas platyrhynchos_
Common Merganser _Mergus merganser_
Common Buzzard _Buteo buteo_ (a few in the countryside)
Eurasian Sparrowhawk _Accipiter nisus_
Common Kestrel _Falco tinnunculus_ (a few in the countryside)
Common Moorhen _Gallinula chloropus_
Common Coot _Fulica atra_
Northern Lapwing _Vanellus vanellus_ (big flocks in the fields)
Eurasian Golden-Plover _Pluvialis apricaria_ (together with the Lapwings)
Lesser Black-backed Gull _Larus fuscus_
Herring Gull _Larus argentatus_
Common Black-headed Gull _Larus ridibundus_
*Common Wood-Pigeon _Columba palumbus_
Common Kingfisher _Alcedo atthis_
Eurasian Green Woodpecker _Picus viridis_
Great Spotted Woodpecker _Dendrocopos major_
Meadow Pipit _Anthus pratensis_
White Wagtail _Motacilla alba_ (british subspecies _M.a. yarrellii_
which winters in western France)
Common Starling _Sturnus vulgaris_ (nice to see it *at home* :-)
Eurasian Jay _Garrulus glandarius_
Black-billed Magpie _Pica pica_
Rook _Corvus frugilegus_
Carrion Crow _Corvus corone_
*Winter Wren _Troglodytes troglodytes_
*Hedge Accentor (aka Dunnock) _Prunella modularis_
Blackcap _Sylvia atricapilla_
Goldcrest _Regulus regulus_
Firecrest _Regulus ignicapillus_
*European Robin _Erithacus rubecula_
*Eurasian Blackbird _Turdus merula_
Redwing _Turdus iliacus_
*Song Thrush _Turdus philomelos_
Mistle Thrush _Turdus viscivorus_
*Marsh Tit _Parus palustris_
Crested Tit _Parus cristatus_
*Blue Tit _Parus caeruleus_
*Great Tit _Parus major_
Long-tailed Tit _Aegithalos caudatus_
*Wood Nuthatch _Sitta europaea_
Short-toed Tree-Creeper _Certhia brachydactyla_
*House Sparrow _Passer domesticus_
*Chaffinch _Fringilla coelebs_
*European Serin _Serinus serinus_
*European Greenfinch _Carduelis chloris_
Eurasian Siskin _Carduelis spinus_
European Goldfinch _Carduelis carduelis_
*Cirl Bunting _Emberiza cirlus_

Interesting sightings/hearings were:
- the Brent Geese (Feb 24 is apparently an early date for northbound migration)
- all the singing passerines, especially the European Serin, which I don't
remember hearing so early in the year.


Though I was there very shortly and not for holidays, I appreciated
much seeing and hearing these familiar (to me) guys.


Good birding in Good Ol' PNW :-)


Serge "There's no place like home" Le Huitouze

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Serge Le Huitouze Intelligent Software Group
email: serge at cs.sfu.ca School of Computing Science
tel: (604) 291-5423 Simon Fraser University
fax: (604) 291-3045 Burnaby, B.C., V5A 1S6 CANADA