Hello Tweeters,

Earlier this month Bill and I spent about 10 days in France.
At first we were based near Arles and birded in the Camargue?places like
Salin de Giraud and Etang de Vaccarayes. North of there we spent time
looking at an interesting wasteland that used to be the delta of the river
Durance. Now it is a stony plain. After a few days we decamped and moved
to the northern Pyrenees to the village of G?dre. From there we birded up
the valley, reaching heights above 6000 ft on a day we hiked a trail that
took us over the Pyrenees and into Spain. Most of the birds we saw, about
130 in all, were not new to us because we had birded in Europe before. But
it was wonderful to be in France and see the area around Arles and G?dre,
places we had not visited before. Two of the new birds for us were Eurasian
Dotterel in the Crau and Alpine Accenor high in the Pyrenees. The link
below is just the birds we got pictures of?only about 38.



https://www.flickr.com/photos/29258421 at N07/albums/72157688949289116



The next set of pictures is just scenic shots and a few mammals. There are
a few pictures of bikers racing up the Col du Tourmalet, one of the hard
parts of the Tour de France:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/29258421 at N07/albums/72157686483200831



The season was quickly turning from summer into fall there. When we
arrived, it was quite warm, but the Pyrenees were much cooler. In Toulouse,
when we left, it was raining.



I hope you enjoy a look at some of these photos. Charlotte Byers, now in
Edmonds