Bassin d’Arcachon a bird watching paradise

The Bassin d'Arcachon, affectionately known by the locals as "le Bassin", is situated south of Bordeaux, in the département of the Gironde on the Atlantic Southwest coast of France.

  At the high tide, the Bassin is a mass of 150km² of water, but as the tide ebbs, the water level reduces to 40km²  laying bare a vast feeding station for the thousands of birds that over Winter and the many others that breed here throughout the summer.
It is also hugely important for migrating birds, so much so that there are only a few days of the year when no passage migrant can be seen.
Great birdwatching opportunities exist all around "le Bassin," none perhaps better than at Le Teich and its Parc Ornithilogic.
Here are some of those birds taken during a couple of recent visits.

We should have called this post Bills and Reflections!

Snipe (Common) Gallinago gallinago.

Great Egret, Casmerodius albus.

Little Egret, Egretta garzetta.

The previous photo shows the Little Egret treading the water, nearly dancing to disturb the hidden invertebrates, and then it seems frozen in concentration whilst awaiting the results.

A sleeping Avocet (Pied) Recurvirostra avosetta.

Enjoying the sunshine, a Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus.

(Northern) Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus.

A Mute Swan, Cygnus olor, getting airborne.

Early morning sunlight reflects across this Great Egret.

Black-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus.

Kingfisher (Common) Alcedo at this.

This one is a Female, identified by the red base on the bill.

Always alert to the danger of predators.

In a quiet and dark corner, Little Egret takes a bath.

Subsequently, it appears to stand on water.

Elsewhere, this Little Egret is very busy searching for a meal.

A juvenile Spoonbill (European) Platalea leucorodia, prepares for landing.

Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea.

The tide is out, and so is this Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus.

It's a great place to Birdwatch, especially when the sun is shining, which is often!

One of natures greatest wonders, Common Cranes (Grus grus) on their migration.

One of the most enthralling wildlife experiences in Europe and the World is happening. The Crane migration is underway; they are returning to their breeding grounds north.
Their deep trumpeting calls fill the air as these magnificent birds pass overhead wave after wave.

Their journey north from the winter feeding grounds was found in North Africa, Spain, Portugal, and the Landes region of France.

 Not long before, the unfavourable winds brought large numbers of Cranes lower, spiralling around as they sought the thermals that would convey them higher, returning them to their passage route.

At this time of the year here in the Southwest of France, it is customary to witness hundreds of Cranes a day heading North, and for us, this is usually found to be the afternoons. One day, though every year, is an extraordinary day when literally thousands of Cranes cross our skies, and this was one of those days.

With the headwinds hampering their journey, many have become tired, looking like parachutists, the first birds start to break from the ranks.
Some of these will be individual family groups that will stay together if one becomes too tired to continue.

Battered by the strong winds, it was not long before hundreds sought a safe roost.

Here on the floodplain at La Brousse, we could see them descending onto the fields between
 the rivers  Dronne and Brousse.

Overhead, more arrive, many seeming to make it through the now Crane jam, only to be forced back by the high winds.

They return to join the melee of what is now becoming thousands.

Cranes stand over one meter tall with long necks and legs and a wingspan of just over two meters.
They must avoid hitting each other; we observed two birds with broken legs.

By the late afternoon, it is truly a spectacle.

More birds join the mass confusion all the time. Many are struggling to land, with some birds also taking off because of their uncertainty about what to do.

The Sun starts to set across the floodplain, tinging the Cranes a pinkish red.

The Sun may have set for the day. However, this is not discouraging for the Cranes, as more arrive after dark.

The following morning, with sunshine spreading across the fields, the first birds of the day get airborne. It is still very windy, so they will likely feed rather than continue their journey.

Installed in a hedgerow, out of their sight, I wait! It was not long before a few hundred started to arrive.
The sound of their wing beats as they fly directly over my head and the excellent trumpeting calls.

Unsure, some start to eat, while others appear alert. The ground is frozen, and the temperature is still minus four degrees in the sunshine.

An adult bird with last year's juvenile.

Another group of Cranes flew overhead, suddenly unnerving the settled group.

They are off and following.

More and more are rising from the roost, joining the food search.

I could see them settling on a far field, sensibly forming a line stretching along its crest, perfect security, with so many pairs of eyes on the lookout!

This pair of adult birds look pretty splendid.

From their arrival on Sunday, they stayed with us through the following week. On Thursday, forecasters warned of Winter storm Emma passing through the area. Fortunately for us and the
Cranes, we only received some interesting daytime skies!

Thursday evening, we watched the Cranes come to roost for the last time.

On Friday and Saturday mornings, we awoke to beautiful weather in the southwest of France. The Cranes grasped this moment and headed onwards on their incredible journey.

Gallocanta “The Rooster sings”

Early Sunday morning, and it was trying hard to snow, the "Rooster has sung", and the rising sun flooded light across the Laguna de Gallocanta and the Ermita del Buen Acuerdo.
We were in Aragon, south of Zaragoza and North of Teruel.

 Gallocanta is sighted one thousand meters above Calamocha and Daroca. The mountains soar even higher. This is a continental plain where ice-cold winds blow needles through your skin. It's also a spiritual place.

As an essential stopover site within Spain for migrating Cranes (Grus Grus) from late Autumn to  February, the skies here can be filled with these beautiful birds and their calls that endear people to them.
 The Laguna can sustain twenty thousand Cranes and more at the peak migration times.

It was early February, the water level was nearly nonexistent, and there were few Cranes. For us, this is fine as we have seen them there on many occasions. The water level was the lowest we had ever witnessed. Deer tracks could be seen from one side to the other through the mud.

The small road leading into Gallocanta village, Gallocanta, stands for "Rooster Sings."

Only a few Common Cranes were seen; we counted approximately sixty out on the fields feeding.

As the dusk starts to settle, onlookers brave the cold to watch the spectacle of the Cranes arriving for the night's roost. Sadly, many migrating birds are still a little early in the month. They come back here from Africa, Portugal and other Wintering sites across Spain, congregating in their thousands before pushing North to the breeding grounds of Northern Europe.

Small groups of Cranes arrived from the local fields where they had been feeding.

For more Photos and information on the Cranes, see here.

https://roadrunnersmikelinda.blogspot.fr/2014/03/the-road-to-gallocanta.html

We were just passing through on our way home after our night stop at Gallocanta. Our journey continued the following morning. As we snaked down the mountain towards Daroca, snow showers could be seen obscuring the distant view.

The sky had become brighter as we travelled north towards our next stop at Olite, south of Pamplona.

Our journey took us across part of the Bárdenas Reales, and we knew of a small laguna that would make a good place for lunch.

 Reed Buntings are found in their hundreds there. Following the construction of the Canal de las Bárdenas and a massive irrigation project, some areas of the dry badlands have been changed into agricultural land and rice fields. Steppe birds have suffered considerable declines in this new landscape. However, seed-eating birds are now found in huge flocks.

A Zitting Cisticola makes a brief appearance.

As the sun sets on our journey again, a Goldfinch flies off the thistles to its night-time roost.

We had moved on to our night's roost at Olite.

The Palacio Real de Olite was once the home of the Kings of Navarra.
In its time, this was one of the most luxurious castles in Europe.

The last of the Sunday visitors heading home through the medieval streets.

Olite is also the wine capital of Navarra.

Good health!