There is not a huge abundance of birding sites within Paris, and having a car means those of the periphery of the city are often too much of a hassle to reach to consider worthwhile. However, with a little time on my hands this week, I decided to explore some sites within an hour on public transport of the apartment and had a really good time at the Lac de Créteil. Although it takes the best part of 45-minutes to reach, it certainly seems to have excellent potential that warrants investing a bit of time to travel to.
I’ve now got two visits wrapped under my belt, and I enjoyed both very much. The lake is home to several common wetland species, but the potential is there for rarer species (reinforced by several eBird records of interest from years gone by). Perhaps the standout is the population of Red-crested Pochards on the lake, with double figures seen on both days. These handsome ducks were not at all shy, allowing for excellent views. In addition, there is an Egyptian Goose present, which has not been recorded on eBird at this site previously.
In the vegetation around the lake there are a few species of interest. There had been no records of Cetti’s Warbler before yesterday, according to eBird again, so it was a bit of a surprise to find three singing males. Commoner species that are of interest to a birder from the north of the UK include Firecrest and Short-toed Treecreeper. And to round it off nicely I picked out a Pied Wagtail with two White Wagtail feeding on a cut grassy area, a nice little flavour of home for whilst I am over here.
No comments:
Post a Comment