Late postcards

Been su-per busy lately, so much so that this cob-webbed corner of the internet has been even more neglected than usual, and I haven't even finished with the highlights of our Easter holiday in France. This will probably be the last late postcard from Brittany, so I will finish where I began, pondering the mysteries of how mega-fussy, range restricted, habitat-specialist species in Britain can be as common as caca on the near continent. First up, the Crested Tit: if you want to see this in Britain and you're not in pristine Caledonian Pine Forest, forget it; in France, by contrast, pick a park, any park...

Crested Tit, Site des mégalithes de Locmariaquer, Brittany

A pair were being very vocal around the stunning ancient monuments at Locmariaquer

A very perky individual

Serin has often been predicted as a future British coloniser but, apart from some sporadic breeding attempts, it hasn't really happened yet. The one pictured below was just outside our caravan. Pictured below that, the Short-toed Treecreeper breeds in France and the Channel Islands but is only recorded as a rare vagrant in Britain. It was good to have the opportunity to study the subtle differences in plumage and song compared to our Common Treecreeper.

Just to clarify, this Serin does not have a Bishop's hat as part of the plumage, it's a bud on the tree.

Short-toed Treecreeper

Short-toed Treecreeper

Next up is the Firecrest - common enough on these shores but ridiculously so in Brittany, there seemed to be one singing in every suitable patch of habitat, and a few in unsuitable ones. Great to see so many so well, with a lot of crest-raising action to observe in the process as they staked out territories.

Firecrest

Firecrest

Firecrest

So an enjoyable trip with a bit of variety, natural and human history, some familiar and some less familiar wildlife, a few half-decent opportunities to get out with the camera, and quality time with the family. All a good holiday should be.

The famous Carnac Stones - one of the many archaeological treasures of Brittany

Stonechat doing what it says on the tin among the Carnac stones

Stonechat at Suscinio

I call this one 'Stonechateau' - Stonechat in front of the fairy tale castle as Suscinio

Male Linnet

My patient sons at Carnac Plage

Channel hopping

Just back from an Easter break in Brittany with the family, where two themes dominated: first, the almost unrelenting greyness of the skies, which made photography a bit of a challenge; and, second, the presence of a number of species which appear quite catholic in their habitat tastes on the near continent, but ridiculously fussy, or absent altogether, here in the UK.

Male Cirl Bunting in the last of the light at Quiberon

A range restricted species in the UK, but more widespread on the other side of the Channel

If you can imagine Sandbanks and the top bit of Studland put together with a lot less dogs, you would not be far off the Quiberon peninsular - but can you imagine Cirl Buntings breeding at Sandbanks?

For some of these species the English Channel appears an insurmountable obstacle to establishing (or re-establishing) a breeding presence; for others, the slight difference in climate has the same effect; and for others still, the reasons for their relative success over the water are a bit of a mystery. One such is the Cirl Bunting - restricted to a few specially managed coastal slopes in the south west of the UK, but apparently much less of a fusspot across the Channel.

Female Cirl Buntings were not as showy as the males - this one was skulking in the car park at Pointe du Grouin

The song of the Black Redstart echoed around the citadel at Mont St Michel

Difficult to photograph the dark plumage against the insipid sky

We saw a pair of Cirl Bunting at our first stop on disembarking the overnight ferry at St Malo, on the rocky headland of Pointe du Grouin, and another pair on the sandy peninsular at Quiberon on Brittany's south coast, near where we spent the rest of the week. I also bumped into them on some non-descript farmland away from the coast confirming the impression of them being fairly widespread across the French countryside.

High in the Abbey grounds of Mont St Michel, a lone Lesser Black-backed Gull had staked out a small lawn within the cloisters 

Mont St Michel from the mainland

The bridge linking Mont St Michel to the mainland. Not sure Cornish planners would permit this at St Michael's Mount - and a good job too!

Before heading for the south coast of Brittany, we thought we should visit Mont St Michel - a worthwhile detour which, as well as the spectacular setting and fascinating history of the Abbey, had the added bonus of singing Black Redstart on the ramparts and rooftops.

Serin in Carnac-Plage - another species which is common on the near continent but rare in the UK 

Short-toed Treecreeper: ditto. Very similar to our Common Treecreeper but my eyes and ears tuned in to the subtle differences eventually.

Sunset at Quiberon

Dusk in Verthier

I had noticed one or two Black Redstarts on the wires outside our chalet in the village of Verthier at the foot of Lac Annecy towards dusk on previous evenings so spent a bit more time this evening studying them. The Black Redstarts rose in number to four, and were then joined by the same number of Serin (pictured). With a Black Woodpecker seen from the balcony a few nights ago, the garden birdwatching was turning out to be pretty good.