Provence 2009: Along the Road

It started tonight, the 2009 WINGS tour to Provence, with a fantastic meal at Gueule du Loup–the wolf’s maw. All I can say is, if wolves eat like that, lycanthropy here I come!

I can’t wait to get out in the field with the group tomorrow. Today, in expectation of the start of the tour, it was around and about buying supplies, picking up permits, and so on. Of course, it wasn’t all so prosaic as that.

At one point, trying to get across from Le Sambuc to the Salin de Badon, there was a major traffic jam, Camargue style.

So what else could I do but slip off onto a well-graveled track and look for birds?

Probably shouldn’t jinx it, but something tells me that Spanish Yellow Wagtail won’t be much of a problem. And gratifyingly enough, I think the same could be said of European Bee-eater, still one of the prettiest birds you’ll ever see.

This was one of a couple of dozen bee-eaters munching on dragonflies over a pasture, where they were obviously nesting in the low banks of dry ditches.

Finally tore myself away and made it to Salin de Badin, where the loafing flock of Red-crested Pochard comprised 113 visible birds, most of them looking pretty ratty, but an impressive tally all the same. And a Kentish Plover flew in to feed right on the roadside a little farther south, another nice “target bird” for the tour.

But the wonders of the Camargue will wait a couple of days, as tomorrow we’re following in Petrarch’s footsteps up Mont Ventoux–in the poet’s own words, “to see what’s up there.” Hope it’s a lot!