A selection of photos from our first days in The Camargue in the south of France. What a start!
Tag: Flowers
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26th May 2025 – The Camargue, France
Black kite over the hotel near Arles Griffon vulture near the hotel near Arles Griffon vulture near the hotel near Arles White stork with nesting material at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Glossy ibis at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Cattle egret at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Swallow at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Purple heron at the Marais du Vigueirat reserve Squacco heron at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Glossy ibis at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Coypu at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Painted lady butterfly at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Black-tailed skimmer at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Terrapin at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Common tern at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Black-winged Stilt at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Little egret and lunch at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Night heron at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Night heron at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve White stork and young at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve White-tailed skimmer at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Speckled wood butterfly at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Yellow wagtail at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Large skipper butterfly at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Female demoiselle of some sort at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Camargue horeses at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Gull-billed terns and red-crested pochard at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Grey heron at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Glossy ibis at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Squacco heron at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Camargue wild horses Bittersweet or nightshade at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve Iris at the Marais du Vigueirat Reserve -
23rd May 2025 – Eastville Park, Bristol
A walk around the park this morning brought a few surprises: the 14 goslings we had seen earlier in the week had all gone, presumably predated, and a grey heron, which we have not seen for a while, was back (presumably from the heronry to which they disappear at this time of the year).
A grey wagtail leaping from one stone to another on the River Frome 
A wren, one of the noisiest birds but often the most difficult to see, beneath the tree canopy. 
The grey heron pretending to sleep 
The five cygnets were safe 
A cormorant gorging on the fish stocks in the park lake 
Lesser black-backed gull, surely no 1 suspect for the disappearance of the goslings 
Lesser black-backed gull 
Mute swan keeping a keen eye on its cygnets 
The grey heron perching on a fallen tree in the middle of the lake. There was an earlier attempt to remove the tree but coots had already started nesting there. 
Close up of the grey heron 
Red horse chestnut, popular in large gardens and parks in Britain 
The lake in the park 
Yellow flags on the park lake 
A beautiful hornbeam between the park lake and the River Frome 
We sat opposite the kingfishers nest on the River Frome for a while but there was no action this morning 
Beautiful demoiselle 
Female beautiful demoiselle 
Beautiful demoiselle in flight -
15th May 2025 – Stoke Park, Bristol
We are very lucky that we have two parks very close to where we live in the middle of the city of Bristol: Eastville Park, a Victorian city park with children’s playgrounds, green spaces and a lake and a river where we regularly see common kingfishers and dippers; and Stoke Park Estate which is a local Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI) covering over 100 hectares. Stoke Park Estate is also designated as a Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological Site (RIGS): an important place for geology and geomorphology. The site has species-rich grasslands, woodland, scrub, and ponds. It is home to wildlife like great crested newts, dragonflies and glow worms.
I spent the afternoon wandering around the fishing lake which is also known as Duchess Pond.
This is the annexe to the main fishing lake (Duchess Pond) with a view of the yellow Dower House, built in 1563 as a private stately home, but now converted to private flats. 
The main fishing lake (Duchess Pond) 3 swifts passed over briefly but sadly didn’t reappear. However I was pleased to get some shots with the one chance I had.
Common swift 
Common swift Common swift 
Common swift A kestrel appeared briefly but stayed in line with the sun (I’m sure to stop me photographing it).
I caught a glimpse of a chiffchaff and was pleased to get some shots as they are quite elusive at this time.
Chiffchaff 
Chiffchaff 
Chiffchaff There were plenty of carrion crows too (not so elusive!).
Carrion crow 
Starling – don’t they look splendid with the sun on their plumage? There were lots of(Canada Goose) goslings, ducklings and coot and moorhen chicks.
Coot and chick 
Ducklings 
Canada geese and gosling 
Moorhen 
Coot – look at the size of their feet 
Coot chick 
Black-headed gull (probably looking for ducklings or chicks) All around the lake there were dragonflies and damselflies which always prove a great challenge to photograph. I am not very knowledgeable with these and am only hazarding a guess at what was what.
Scarce chaser 
Scarce chaser in flight 
Scarce chaser looking straight at me. 
Azure damselfly 
Large red damselfly 
Blue-tailed damselfly 
A common carder bee for good measure 
Stoke Park Estate and the Dower House -
14th May 2025 – WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire
It’s the first time we have seen the new ‘Estuary Shoreline’ landscape at Slimbridge. It’s situated in front of the Kingfisher café and, although we had our doubts as we saw it being developed through the winter, we were very impressed with what the talented Grounds Team have achieved in designing it and building it in-house.
The new ‘Estuary Shoreline’ landscape 
Wonderful wild flowers enhanced the new landscape 
The bees (early nesting bumblebee) were loving the new plantings at the “Estuary Shoreline landscape” 
Common carder bee 
Shelduck looked magnificent in their breeding plumage 
The avocets probably stole the show 
A very handsome shoveler duck It was a joy to walk out to the estuary and, although the white spotted bluethroat which has returned here for the fifth year in a row evaded us, we did enjoy the display by a short-eared owl.
Short-eared owl 
Short-eared owl 
Short-eared owl 
Short-eared owl Short-eared owl 
Short-eared owl 
Short-eared owl 
Short-eared owl 
There were plenty of these azure damselflies to see 
Avocets 
Avocet flying over shelduck 
Avocet 
Black-headed gull with nesting material 
Avocet on its nest -
13th April 2025 – Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
Tavira is a popular tourist destination on The Algarve. However, there were very few people, only those out for a little exercise, as we started from the outskirts of Tavira along the edge of the Tavira salt pans.
The salt pans here are very extensive but, surprisingly, there were very few birds too. Probably, as the tide was low, they had moved out onto the Ria Formosa.
The start of the salt pans at Tavira Nonetheless, there was plenty to see and the walk towards the ferry to Tavira Island was very pleasant.
Avocets were the principal birds on view 
A few cormorants too 
3 eurasian spoonbills and a grey heron 
More avocets 
Crabs everywhere The best of the birds we saw were on the river where several little terns entertained us for a while.
Little tern in full dive
Little tern 
Little tern 
Little tern 
European red-rumped swallow European red-rumped swalllow We then headed for Santa Luzia, famous for its octopus restaurants.
The rising tide at Santa Luzia 
Santa Luzia 
Santa Luzia 
The climate is clearly very temperate here 
The port of Santa Luzia is very pretty … 
… but clearly a working port. -
12th April 2025 – Quinta de Marim, Algarve, Portugal
After exploring the Saturday market in Olhão we took a taxi a few kilometres east to Quinta de Marim (or Centro Educação Ambiental de Marim).
The market at Olhão we a plentiful supply of snails We had visited this estate earlier in the year. The 3 km trail takes you through various ecosystems – dunes, salt marshes and pine woodlands and it was interesting to see the different flora from our last visit in February.
The Iberian azure-winged magpies seem to love the pine woodlands 
Speckled wood butterfly 
Sardinian warbler 
Quinta de Marim tidal mill 
Grey heron practising its ballet Half way around the circuit there is a hide overlooking a freshwater pond. We spent quite a while here as there was a heavy shower but fortunately there was lots of activity with a huge colony of egrets.
The colony of egrets 
Pochard 
Colony of egrets (little and cattle) – some with their young and others still building their nests 
Little grebe 
Cattle egret looking for nesting materials 
There were also large numbers of grey herons around this pond 
Red-veined darter 
Wild gladiolus We realised that last time we had missed a pathway and this time, by taking the recommended route, we came across a dilapidated noria. The noria is a device, inherited from the Arabs, used to raise water from a well. The power for the elevation of water was provided by the circular movement of a donkey or a mule. The water drawn from the well is stored in a tank, from where it is distributed through small aqueducts, until it reaches the orchards and vegetäble-gardens.
Noria 
Noria Red legged partridge at the very spot where we had seen a hoopoe in February 
The correct path! 
Spanish festoon butterfly 
Cattle egret next to the horse -
9th April 2025 – Fuzeta, The Algarve, Portugal
After a few glorious weeks of wall to wall blue skies (but with fresh winds) in England we have arrived in the eastern end of the Algarve in Portugal where it is much warmer but the skies are a little greyish and the forecast is unsettled.
From a birding perspective it was very exciting yesterday evening to sit having our first beer on the front at Olhão (where we are staying) and to see a 100 plus swifts soaring overhead. Their screeching was quite a din but it made us feel that summer had arrived.
Today we took a taxi to the birding area of the Salinas da Fuzeta, a complex of salt pans just north of the town of Fuzeta, to the east of Olhão. The salt pans are part of the Parque Natural Ria Formosa.
It was quite an exciting start as the first bird we saw was a bee-eater; a beautiful bird that we have only seen on a few occasions.
Bee-eater 
Not one but two! Along the salt pans there were plenty of waders but no greater flamingos which we had hoped to see here.
Kentish plover and a sanderling 
Common ringed plover 
Common greenshank 
Little stint 
Pied avocet 
A mixture of waders for the experts to identify 
Black-winged stilts 
A distant Caspian tern 
Avocets doing what they do at this time of the year 
Kentish plover 
A western yellow wagtail The flora around here was also very attractive.
As we walked into town there were hirondines everywhere.
A house Martin building a nest in a street lamp After a wonderful seafood lunch on the front at À do Rui (a top recommendation from a friend) we had little appetite for any more birdwatching and all we saw was a common sandpiper on the shores of the Ria Formosa.
A common sand piper on the shores of the Ria Formosa 
The lifeboat station at Fuzeta 
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13th February 2025 – Ria Formosa Nature Reserve, The Algarve, Portugal
There is a roundabout just outside our hotel with a statue of a seahorse. There is the largest population of seahorses in the world in the Ria Formosa Natural Park.
The seahorse roundabout On our last full day here in Portugal we decided to revisit the Ria Formosa Nature Reserve at Quinto de Marim. At the entrance to the park there is a poster reminding us of the fragility of the seahorses in nature with the population diminished by 90% in the last 15 years.
On our boat trip earlier in the week we had seen buoys protecting the area where the seahorses exist.
We had much better light on our visit today but the tide was very low and the mudflats were almost empty of waders. However, we did have a very good view of this plover below which, according to one ID app, is a semi-palmated plover. However, it is more likely a non-breeding adult common ringed plover. In fact, having studied several sources, the slight webbing between only one of the toes convinces me that this is definitely a common ringed plover
Semi-palmated plover or more likely a non-breeding adult common ringed plover 
Stonechat 
The flora was even more beautiful after the rain and with quite warm sunshine 
Oxalis pes-caprae has all sorts of common names, including slender yellow wood sorrel 
The mudflats were empty of birdlife but it was great walk 
The tidal mill with very little bird life today 
Mainly cattle egret with a few little egrets at the freshwater pond 
Chiffchaffs and/or willow warblers were putting on quite a display at the freshwater pond – difficult to say which when they weren’t singing 
Little grebe 
Teal 
Teal and shoveler 
Terrapins 
Lupins have appeared in flower after the rain 
… and these beautiful crocus-leaved romulea 
Iberian magpie 
Iberian magpie 
And saving the best to last, just as we were leaving the park a Eurasian hoopoe Eurasian hoopoe 
And then back to Olhão for a celebratory last lunch – although, we didn’t really need an excuse.
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12th February 2025 – Estoi, The Algarve, Portugal
This morning we had a non-birding trip to the pretty little town of Estoi, about 10 kilometres north of Olhão. There were three interesting tourist attractions: the Matriz de Estoi Church (which we only visited briefly as there was a service on); the Palácio de Estoi (a 19th Century Neo-Rococo styled palace, now converted into a luxury posada hotel, whose beautiful ornamental gardens are open to the public; and the nearby Ruínas Romanas de Milreu, the best preserved Roman ruins in southern Portugal.
The Matriz de Estoi Church 
El Palacio de Estoi 
The orange and lemon groves 
Although it was a non-birding day we did have a very good view of a European hoopoe in the gardens and white storks flying high overhead.
A traditional Portuguese farmhouse (Casa Rural) was built on top of the Roman Villa 
Inside the Roman villa 
The temple was one of the earliest churches in Portugal , and has been used as a Roman temple, a church and a mosque, but is now a ruin 
There were many fine mosaics 
Of course there had to be a bath house 
The beautiful spring flowers are just everywhere in the countryside at present 
And they are a feature of town gardens too -
10th February 2025 – Quinta de Marim, The Algarve, Portugal
We took an Uber to Quinta de Marim, a few kilometres to the east of Olhão.
Quinta de Marim (or Centro Educação Ambiental de Marim) is a beautiful estate with many different habitats that attract birds. A 3 km trail takes you through various ecosystems – dunes, salt marshes, pine woodlands. There is a visitors’ centre and a couple of hides at the edge of the marsh, one looking across the mudflats and another looking over a fresh water pond.
The dull weather was rather disappointing for photographs but it was still quite warm (17C) and we didn’t need coats. The visit was not at all disappointing.
Lavender 
Iberian magpies in the pine trees 
Rosemary in flower 
Iberian magpie 
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Stonechat 
Swallow 
From the roof of the mill there were spectacular views along the coast 
There were waders everywhere along this stretch of the coast 
Grey plover 
Bar-tailed godwits and a whimbrel 
Greenshank 
Iberian magpie 
Purple viper’s bugloss 
A flyover Eurasian spoonbill Tidal mill at Quinta de Marim – In other times, when energy sources were scarce and limited only to muscle power, wind and current, tidal mills had a major advantage over other forms of energy: their constancy and predictability. There are two daily tides that guarantee approximately 4 hours of grinding. They were built in estuaries on low land and in sheltered areas where the water could be dammed 
Kestrel 
White stork, not looking so white in this light 
Dunlin 
Little grebes on the freshwater pond 
Cattle egret 
Wigeon with barn swallow flying past 
Roman salting tanks 
Cowpea 
Barn swallow on a wire 
Blackbird on a log In the late afternoon on our return to Olhão we had another walk around the Salinas de Olhão.
Whimbrel 
A different swallow ? 
Pied avocet 
Redshank 
Pied avocet -
9th February 2025 – Ria Formosa, Portugal
We made the most of the sunny and calm conditions to take a three hour trip around the Ria Formosa lagoon, located in the Algarve, in southern Portugal.
In 2010, the lagoon was recognised as one of the country’s seven natural wonders and the series of barrier islands connects to the sea through six inlets, one of which is artificial to allow easier access to the port of Faro.
We spent half an hour on the tiny island of Armona, just enough time to visit the village with its charming minute houses which are mainly used as holiday homes and to savour the tropical feel of the island.
The approach to the public toilets 
Large white butterfly 
A typical holiday home 
Clear water and sandy beaches of Armona 
Ruddy turnstone We then moved on to the larger island of Culatra which has a permanent population of about 1,000 people who are mainly involved in the fishing trade.
The island has an extensive sandy beach on its ocean side to which we made our way across the protected sand dunes on a raised wooden walkway. It was warm enough to sit on the beach next to a bar and enjoy a beer.
The walkway to Praia da Culatra 
The best of the bird life on the island – a crested lark 
Yellow-legged gull As the tide was high most of the sandbanks were submerged and so, apart from gulls and cormorants, we saw very little bird life, except on the return journey we saw a small colony of spoonbills.
Eurasian spoonbills 
The covered markets of Olhão seen from the lagoon. In the evening we had another walk around the Salinas de Olhão, next to our hotel.
Black-winged stilt in the evening sunshine 
Little egret 
Chiffchaff 
Chiffcaff 
Chiffchaff catching its last meal of the day -
8th February 2025 – Olhão, Portugal
A two hour flight from Bristol, a 15 minute transfer from Faro and we are transported into what seems like another world and, in particular, a different climate.
On the first morning of our stay, within a 2 minute walk from our hotel, we are strolling amongst nature in the Salinas de Olhão with colourful wild flowers, huge numbers of waders, lots of small passerines flitting around almost at our feet and with the sun on our backs.
Salinas de Olhão 
Black-winged stilt 
Redshank 
Redshank photo bombing a group of dunlin 
Walks through the former salt pans 
Black-tailed godwit centre stage 
Little egret 
Chiffchaff 
Sardinian warbler 
Zitting cisticola 
Chiffchaff 
Black-winged stilt 
Slender-billed gull 
Black-headed gull 
Slender-billed gull 
Kentish plover 
Sanderling 
Greenshank, common ringed plover, sanderling and redshank (back to front) 
Common ringed plover centre stage 
Common sandpiper I could go on – there was so much to see.
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 