Nôtre Assaut sur les Plages de Normandie

The title means "Our Assault on the Beaches of Normandy".

   Not far from our hotel, we found a patisserie and got some pastries for breakfast. Robert had an apple something and Berry had something with raisons. They were delicious. We saw three large rabbits this morning as we were leaving the hotel. Then when we drove to the Seine River, we saw a rabbit that was larger than a small dog. It was at the river that we saw our first Life Bird of the day, a Cetti’s Warbler (Cettia Cetti). This is a small, brown warbler which we saw flaring its tail in the reeds beside the Seine River.

   Next we found a dirt road beside the river and there we picked up our second Life Bird of the day, a Common Whitethroat (Sylvia Communis). One diagnostic characteristic of the Common Whitethroat is the contrast between the white throat and its brown body.

   By the time we had completed our visit to the Seine River bottoms, we had seen a male and female Yellowhammer ((Emberiza Citrinella) with its striking yellow head, a Common Quail ((Coturnix Coturnix) next to a fence, and a White Stork (Ciconia Ciconia). The stork was flying in to join another stork at a wet place next to the road.

   We took a very charming, leisurely lunch in Caen. Berry enjoyed an Omelette au Fromage (a cheese omelet). Robert had the Burger Normandie. This was one "bun" under a large patty of beef which was cover with a wonderful sauce Normande (crème, beurre, jaune d'œuf, vin blanc). Then the whole thing was hidden under a walnut and apple salad. Robert had to fish through the wonderful salad to eat his delicious burger. Wow!

   After this, we departed to bird the beaches of Normandy. Berry thinks a very brief history lesson is needed. In 1944 during World War II, the allied forces liberated France from the Nazis by performing a dangerous amphibious assault on the beaches of the Normandy Coast of France. Here we respectfully visited four different locations along the famous battleground.

   At the beach at St. Albans, we saw yet another Life Bird, a European Stonechat (Saxicola Rubicola). It was perched on top branches of a small, thin tree and froze as soon as we spotted it. We got a long time to study this great bird.

   At Courseulles-sur-Mer we watched a nice Marsh Harrier (Circus Aeruginosus) swoop down over a fence. Then a Common Kestrel (Falco Tinnunculus) did its characteristic hovering. At Pointe du Hoc, we studied a duck in the middle of a bog. It was the Garganey (Anas Querquedula). As it gets warmer, we see more ducks.

   Pointe du Hoc also lended itself to histoire. We paid our respects at the memorial built there for American troops. We marveled at the bravery that it took to land there and to climb the cliffs while the enemy were shooting at them. Robert took this photo of one of the monuments.

   We got a room at the Napoleon Hotel in Cherbourg. We had dinner at the very nice Le Faitout Restaurant. Robert had the Filet de Bar Roti (sea bass with wild rice). Berry had Salmon Mousse and we split the strawberry/cherry/raspberry dessert. Our journey continues.

Berry and Robert

pictures courtesy of wikipedia and rfowler

Belles Mares et Un Étang Délicieux

The title means "Beautiful Ponds and a Delicious Swamp."

   Berry and I had croissants and coffee for breakfast. I added a cup of hot tea with milk because I like hot tea with milk. We packed our belongings and loaded into the car. We were ready to bird.

   In a pond in the French countryside, we observed the Longtailed Duck (Clangula Hyemalis) which was a Life Bird for us. We also saw the Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia Decoct).

   One of the best places all day for really interesting birds was at a full life crucifix, wooden cross and a white something savior. We paused before the statue along a country road, in order to avoid a large truck. Almost immediately Berry saw the Red Legged Partridge (Alectoris Rufa). After a while Robert came up with a pair of Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula Pyrrhula).

   We drove back and forth, admiring the French countryside, zigzagging the area to search for birds. As we drove, we caught a lot of birds by surprise. The House Sparrow (Passer Domestics) is ubiquitous. The Carrion Crow (Corvus Corone) is so frequent to produce ennui. A black and white House Martin (Delichon Erbium) swooped in and out of the trees.

   Suddenly and all at once, we rolled up to a great pond. Waterbirds, diving ducks, dabblers and flitting warblers. It was great fun.

Birds seen at that nice Pond

• Common Eider Somateria Mollissima)
• White Fronted Goose (Anser Albifrons)
• Smew (Mergellus Albellus)
• Common Moorhen (Gallinula Chloropus)
• Common Teal (Anas Crecca)
• Tufted Duck (Aythya Fuligula)
• Northern Shoveler (Anas Clypeata)
• Eurasian Widgeon (Anas Penelope)

   For lunch we went to "Les Trois Lanternes" in Étaples, France. Robert had a ham and cheese galette. Berry had an Omelette Paysanne with mushrooms and ham. That restaurant is Michelin-rated. Very, very good food.

   We spotted the Grey Heron (Ardea Cinerea) beside some water in a cool swamp. There were Common Moorhens (Gallinula Chloropus) in that swamp. In the pond in the middle of the swamp was a large Mute Swan (Cygnus Olor) . And on the road inside the swamp, we identified a male and a female Chaffinch (Fringilla Coelebs).

   Sometimes in the rain, we raced to the Apple store in Le Havre, France. Then we checked into a hotel. There was an Australian lady whose husband had been taken off of a cruise ship and put in the hospital in Le Havre to get stents in his heart. So, imagining being in that situation, we invited her to dinner. The meals were forgettable, but for dessert Berry and I shared a cherry tart. Our dinner guest had a piece of lemon meringue pie. We hope her husband gets out of the hospital soon and is feeling better. When we go birding in Australia, we will surely have friends there.

Robert and Berry

Pictures courtesy of wikipedia

Enfin L'Atlantique

Robert's title means "Finally the Atlantic" referring to a traffic jam we were in.

   After a pleasant visit with our friends last night, we left Mons, Belgium today headed for the ocean. On the way, we stopped at a swamp named Escautpont. We drove carefully around the Canal Du Jard, then got out and walked down a well maintained path. When we first got out of the car, an elderly, grizzled old man drove up on a motor scooter and asked what we were doing. Robert told him that we were looking at birds. He seemed OK with that and went on his way.

   Deep inside the swamp, the tress and bushes reverberated with the sound of singing birds. We were able to see three new life birds and a European deer called (Cerf Elaphe). The first life bird was the Great Tit (Parus Major). This bird is small enough to fit in your pocket. Green, blue and black.

   Later down the path we heard a bird, but could not find him. Robert whistled the song we heard and a Robin (Erithacus Rubella) suddenly popped out into a branch so that we could see him. It was great. The European Robin is not the same as the American Robin. In fact they are members of two totally different bird families.

   The last Life Bird we saw this morning was a Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia Atricapilla). It is usually known simply as the Blackcap. It is a common and widespread warbler. It has olive-gray upperparts and pale gray underparts. He was hiding in a blackberry bush. As we walked by, I saw him flitting around inside the bush.

   We left the swamp and decided to use the expressway to go on to the coast for lunch. That turned out to be a mistake. There was a wreck with an overturned truck on the road and we sat in a bouchon for over an hour. Fortunately, we did not run out of gas while sitting in the giant traffic jam. We finally got moving again and drove to Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France and ate lunch at a Welsh restaurant.

   Robert and I walked to the docks in the harbor and saw three different kinds of gulls. It was windy and we got cold so we went back to the car and drove up the coast. We were able to see the Cliffs of Dover across the English Channel from the highway in France. I chided Robert for his having turned off the main road and went winding through an agricultural area, when suddenly I spotted a family of five Common Pheasants (Phasianus Colchicus). Another Life Bird.

   We got a hotel room in Wimereux and after we got settled in our room, we went to eat dinner. Robert had Lotte lard au jus creme de Lautrec ( Monkfish wrapped in bacon with garlic cream sauce ). I had Lasagnes au Saumon ( salmon lasagna ). We walked down to the ocean after eating and came back to our room and crashed.

Berry

Pictures courtesy of wikipedia

Reprendre Contact Avec un Ancien Ami

   The title means "Making contact again with an old friend."

   Berry and I woke up late this morning but we were well rested. We were too late to eat the continental breakfast, so we packed our things quickly and headed out of Reims, to the north. As in the past couple of days, we mainly took small rural roads and passed many pretty French villages. We stopped at one of the patisseries along the way. Robert got a Patte d'ours ( a Bear Claw... ) and Berry had the Pain au chocolat ( a chocolate filled croissant... ), however that particular patisserie did not serve any coffee. We did not frown while eating them. The pastries were delicious.

   We slowly made our way down the national highway and stopped at a small pond and saw our first waterfowl of the trip. It was an Eurasian Coot (Fulica Atra). The range of the Eurasian Coot stretches from Europe to eastern Mongolia.

   In the same pond with the Eurasian Coot there was a Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax Carbo). See picture below. It had just started to rain and the Cormorant had his wings spread open, trying to dry them. Unfortunately for him, it was a wasted effort. It was raining. Yes, we bird from the car in the rain.

   We drove through a patch of sleet and snow on the way to Saint Quentin, where we had lunch. Along the sides of the road, we spotted many Wood Pigeons (Columba Palubus). As you can tell by the picture below, the Wood Pigeon is distinguished from other pigeons by a large white spot on its neck.

   We had plans to eat dinner with friends in Mons, Belgium. We traveled on one of the big expressways in France and had to pay a toll. Most of France's multi-laned highways require a toll. During the drive we saw a Common Kestrel (Falco Tinnunculus) hovering over small animals in the field. While Kestrels have the ability to hover in the air, not all birds are able to do this.

   In Mons we got a hotel room and met some friends for dinner. Berry speaks no foreign languages, so Robert warbled away in French while his long-suffering wife listened patiently by his side. As we walked on the cobblestoned streets to the restaurant from our friend's apartment, we saw the the Catholic Cathedral with its flying buttresses.

   We ate at the Michelin-rated "Ces Belges et Vous" restaurant in Mons. For dinner, Robert enjoyed the very Belgian Cotelette de porcelet ( Pork Medallions in an onion sauce ). Berry had the Vol au Vent ( chicken in a white sauce ). Small metal bowls of Belgian fried potatoes were served with the meal. After dinner and a very pleasant visit with our friends, we returned to our hotel for the night. It was a delightful day.

Robert and Berry

Photos courtesy of wikipedia, rfowler

Auprès de Verdun

   The title just means "Around Verdun".

   We woke very slowly and saw that it had stopped raining. We ate breakfast of cold cuts, cheese and yogurt, then tried to drive out of Luxembourg. The traffic was horrendous, red lights and round-abouts that it took us quite a bit to get to the French border. A long line of cars all leading to a choke point. Slow as Christmas. Once we were finally in France, the landscape quickly changed to beautiful rolling countryside and large fields of yellow flowers.

   We got off of the main highway as soon as we could and birded the narrow, rural roads where there is less auto traffic. We saw three Common Magpies (Pica Pica) dancing in a cemetery in northern France. It might surprise you that we bird cemeteries, but we are generally respectful. It was the Magpies who were dancing in the cemetery. The body of the Common Magpie is black and white with a very long green glossed tail. Below is a picture of a Common Magpie.

   We proceeded to the famous battlefields around Verdun. We saw German military cemeteries and American military cemeteries and several French monuments honoring the dead. The Foret de Verdun is a large forest near the battle fields. Here we observed the European Greenfinch (Carduelis Chloris) and the Common Chaffinch (Fringilla Coelebs) along with several Barn Swallows (Hirundo Rustica).

   Birding was better on the rural roads and even inside the tiny villages. This was the most pleasant part of our journey. The roads in France were made before the invention of the car. The roads are very small and in the towns, people drive very close to each other. In Verdun itself we finally exchanged american money for euros. We had wanted to get coffee and a croissant, but the quaint little place took no credit cards. We raced to Verdun to change money.

   We stopped what we were doing and had a lovely lunch in Verdun. The smaller the restaurant, we found that they speak almost no English. The meal was delightful and the cutest little old lady proprietor chided me for not eating all of the cheese on my plate. The chef had placed a pile of cubed soft white French cheese, delicious but there was a lot of it. She circled it slowly with her finger over my plate and frowned. We cracked up laughing. It was just outside of Verdun that we found the Yellowhammer (Emberiza Citrinella), a bright yellow bird with stripes on its body. Below, the Yellowhammer.

   In the afternoon, Berry and I headed to the Foret de L'Achalade. We saw the Common Kestral (Falco Tinnunculus) flying near the road. We were heading to Reims, France, when I turned down a cul-de-sac. We I turned around, we spotted a blue and yellow bird on a fence. It suddenly flew up to a wall and hung there so we could identify it. This was the Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanoses Caeruleus). It was so pretty with yellow torso and blue wings.

   We made it to Reims, right at rush hour and experienced their traffic problem. Today was strangely framed by traffic problems. For dinner here Berry had the Salmon Risotto and Robert had Jambon de Reims ( ham with jelly ) and a confiture of roast duck and pate de fois gras with huge chunks of bread.

Robert and Berry

Photos courtesy of wikipedia

La Pluie et les Corneilles

   The title is French for "Rain and Crows". I wanted to write the posts for our France trip in French. Berry said no, so only the Titles of the posts will be in French. Bon appetit.

   We left on our latest European birding vacation. We flew United from Memphis to Houston, then pinged to Frankfort, Germany, and then, took one short puddle jump back to the small principality of Luxemburg. It was raining when we landed, so there was that. Then, jetlag hit me like a ton of bricks. We were busy. Our immediate tasks included getting our baggage, renting a car, fetching supplies from a store and finding a hotel. We completed each of these chores. While we went about our business, we observed two birds in and around little Luxemburg, and both of them were life birds for us. Most of the birds we shall see on this trip will be Life Birds for us.

   The first life bird we saw was a rather rough looking black Rook (Corvus Frugilegus). We saw him as we were leaving the airport. He has black feathers, often showing a blue or bluish-purple sheen. The feathers on the head, neck, and shoulders were particularly dense and silky, making the bird look like he needed his hair combed.

   The second gem was a Yellow Billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax Graculus), also known as the Alpine Chough. This anglo-saxon word is pronounced "chuff". We spotted this oiseau in the parking lot of the hotel. It has glossy black plumage, a yellow beak, red legs, and a distinctive song.

   After leaving the airport, we were touring and found the Dany Hotel, where we got a room for the night. After a short nap, to treat jet-lag, we ate dinner at the hotel restaurant. The place had an Italian chef, so Berry ate the Gnocchi Bolognese and Robert had the Tuna Steak with potatoes and legumes. I was wearing a German sweatshirt, so when the waiter brought more bread, he said "mehr Brot", trying to be nice. We enjoyed. Then we crashed for the night.

Robert and Berry

Photos courtesy of wikipedia

Blue Grosbeak in Bartlett

It wanted to rain, but was holding off for most of the afternoon. We decided to bird the edges of a small ball field. I parked the car outside the locked gate and we walked around to the right.

There was a small gray flycatcher perched on a small thin tree. It was flying up to catch insects and then returned to the limb that it had left. We studied this very small bird. It was the Least Flycatcher (Empidonax Minimus), the smallest Empidonax flycatcher in the eastern United States.

We enjoyed watching two beautiful Red Tailed Hawks(Buteo Jamaicensis) making lazy circles in the sky.

As we crossed the ball field, we waded through the overgrown grass. In the middle of the grassy field, Berry spotted a blue bird with a distinct brown wing bar. This was a male Blue Grosbeak(Passerine Caerulea). We studied it for several minutes. This was the bird of the day. This is also a Life Bird for us, for we had never seen this bird before.

I ran ahead into the deeper part of the forest and looked back. There was a large Red Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus), about the size of your forearm. It is not the largest woodpecker that we have seen.

There were several Eastern Bluebirds (Scalia Sialis) on the wires. We call these "America's Bird" because they are red, white and blue.

Both of us were delighted when we saw two very large American Crows (Corvus Brachyrhynchos) flying across the ball field and heading to the forested part behind the fence.

Robert and Berry

Photo courtesy of wikipedia