Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos

Tag: Flowers

  • 6th June 2025 – Carry-le-Rouet, France

    6th June 2025 – Carry-le-Rouet, France

    Following our week’s nature trip to The Camargue we have spent the last week near to Carry-le-Rouet, a seaside resort 30 kilometres west of Marseille, on the Côte Bleue.

    View from the garden of our holiday let of the beach at Rouet plage which is set in a limestone calanque famous along this part of the Mediterranean coast.

    Rouet plage

    Mainly we have been relaxing in the local area but we have had a couple of trips out: one of a nature interest to Le Bassin de Réaltor near to Cabriès on the road to Aix-en-Provence and another to the nearby town of Martigues, nicknamed the “Provençale Venice” and which is a point of passage between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Martigues (now Etang de Berre), close to the Côte d’Azur.

    Our trip to the Bassin de Réaltor wasn’t a total success as, relying on a local source, we ended up high above the reservoir but, as it was extremely hot, we settled for a walk in the wood and an early return to Cabriès for lunch.

    We saw and heard very few birds (perhaps it was too hot for them too) but we did see a few different butterflies and enjoyed the flora in the wood.

    The beginning of our walk

    We caught glimpses of the Bassin de Réaltor down below

    Southern red admiral butterfly

    Southern red admiral butterfly

    Blue spot hairstreak butterfly

    Spanish gatekeeper butterfly

    And some beautiful flora:

    Grey-leaved cystus (Rockrose)

    Asteriscus aquaticus

    Royal knight’s spur

    Common viper’s bugloss

    Martigues was beautiful but didn’t give us much opportunity for nature watching (other than a wonderful display of swifts as we ate our lunch in the area know as “le mirror aux oiseaux”) and a yellow-legged gull attempting to steal a fish which looked very much like the merlan (whiting) I had had for lunch.

    The view from our table at the restaurant in “le mirror aux oiseaux – the swifts up above were too much for my phone camera!

    Yellow-legged gull and fish

    Le miroir aux oiseaux

    Apart from those two trips we have stayed locally and spent a lot of time sitting on the terrace with the wonderful view of the Mediterranean below. That didn’t stop me snapping a few pics of anything that came my way.

    Small-white butterfly

    Green-veined white butterfly

    Mylabris quadripunctata

    Meadow brown butterfly

    Longhorn beetle

    Terrible picture of black redstart

    Common brimstone

    Common brimstone

    Common brimstone

    Collared doves

    European paper wasp

    Red-legged cannibalfly (apparently)

    Red-legged cannibalfly (apparently) – certainly frightened me and so I put my camera away

  • 2nd June 2025 – Reflections on our trip to the Camargue

    2nd June 2025 – Reflections on our trip to the Camargue

    We really enjoyed our recent nature trip to the Camargue. We knew the region a little before this trip as we have visited here a number of times as tourists in the days when we had a motorhome; but this was our first trip here since we have become particularly interested in bird watching.

    White stork

    The week was organised by the speciality nature trip company “Naturetrek” and we have been very pleased with the “Go slow in the Camargue” programme. The administration before the tour was good, the accommodation and food at the hotel was more than adequate for such a trip and the two guides, Marcus John and Neil Murphy, were excellent: they were very knowledgeable, drove the minibuses with care and consideration, produced amazingly good picnic lunches with locally resourced food and drink , had a very good rapport with all the group and made sure everyone saw a fantastic number of birds. Above all they are clearly good chaps and were a pleasure to be with. As well as providing a suitable programme to achieve the programme title of “Go slow in the Camargue” they also offered regular optional early morning walks and late evening sorties. They were the main reasons for the success of the tour.

    We visited various local nature reserves, stopped often by the roadside in the marshes of the Camargue, had a trip to the coast to see different types of birds and see the salt works (le Salin de Giroud), did a number of other “touristy” visits to Arles, the Roman aqueduct of Barbegal near Fontvielle, Les Baux de Provence and Le Musée de Camargue – all whilst incorporating opportunities for more bird watching.

    Ruins of the Roman aqueduct of Barbegal

    Le salin de Giroud
    Le salin de Giroud

    Pelagic birding (?) at la plage de Piémanson.

    Gull-billed terns certainly rate high on any of my lists (if I had any)

    Probably my bird of the week – night heron

    One of my favourite reserves in the Camargue

    At the Maraiis du Vigueirat reserve we saw grey, purple and, here, squacco heron

    Another of the nature reserves we visited which I shall remember for a good sighting of a cuckoo

    Cuckoo – great to see as well as hear

    One of our picnic venues – beneath a mulberry bush

    One swallow doesn’t make a summer – but this one convinced me that we really were in summer

    Hôtel des Granges just outside Arles

    We often saw black kites close over our hotel and enjoyed the song of nightingales throughout the week

    View from our bedroom window of l’Abbaye de Montmajour

    Hobby on one of the optional early morning walks

    My favourite shot from beside the road – six spoonbills seen from le Chemin de Mas d”Agon

    Purple herons at the same place on the Chemin de Mas d’Agon

    Let’s hope that one day these beauties are regulars in our skies (but we will probably be in a lot of trouble in other ways!)

    Le Musée de Camargue

    I don’t like to see birds in cages but it is worth remembering what amazing things people do in rescuing such birds

    Les Arènes d’Arles

    Photographic exhibition in the streets of Arles

    European roller seen on one of our optional evening trips

    Our visit to Les Baux de Provence

    My favourite memory of les Baux de Provence – a swallowtail butterfly

    Our guide Marcus was relieved that I was able to get a shot of a bee eater, certainly after all the banter I gave him.

    Glossy ibis were regularly seen in the rice fields

    The rice fields brought us loads of beautiful birds and many interesting beers too

    Purple heron at the Marais de Mas d”Agon

    How can such big birds, such as this white stork, be so agile?

    It wasn’t all about the birds – Orange-tipped orange dropwing
    Flora and fauna

    White-tailed skimmer

    Terrapin at the Marais de Vigueirat

    Coypu

    It wouldn’t be the Camargue without greater flamingos

    Common tern was the most common of the terns we saw

    Black-winged stilts were seen at all the reserves

    Black-winged stilt

    So many of the glossy ibis, herons and storks with juveniles

    Grey herons

    White storks

    Spanish gatekeepers seemed much brighter than the gatekeepers we see in the UK
    Painted lady butterfly

    Large skipper butterfly

    False ilex hairstreak butterfly at Les Baux de Provence

    Did I mention the swallowtail?

    Oh and I nearly forgot … those wonderful wild horses of the Camargue:

  • 31st May 2025 – The Camargue, France

    31st May 2025 – The Camargue, France

    More amazing photo opportunities today at the Parc Ornithogique de Pont de Gau.

    Greater flamingo

    Greater flamingo

    Greater flamingo

    Greater flamingos

    Black-winged stilt

    Greater flamingos

    Grey heron

    Glossy ibis and hungry youngsters

    A rescue Eagle owl

    A rescue eagle owl

    Glossy ibis
    Greater flamingo

    Cattle egret

    Grey heron with juveniles

    Grey heron

    Grey heron

    Common tern

    Small white butterfly

    Great willow herb

    Not our transport for the day

    Bee eater on our way back to the hotel

    Now I’m wondering what to do with the remaining 1500 photos from today!

    Post script:and now for a week to recover on the coast near Marseille.

  • 26th May 2025 – The Camargue, France

    26th May 2025 – The Camargue, France

    A selection of photos from our first days in The Camargue in the south of France. What a start!

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

  • 13th February 2025 – Ria Formosa Nature Reserve, The Algarve, Portugal

    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.

  • 12th February 2025 – Estoi, The Algarve, Portugal

    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