Friends of Groyne No.4: La Brenne

Last year I decided that I could squeeze in a visit to La Brenne in France, often called the "Land of a Thousand Lakes" - well that is a bit of a misnomer. Depending on who you talk to there are between one to three thousand etangs or ponds and considerably more if you count the minor waterbodies. It isn't all water, the area has a range of habitats which include marsh deciduous woods, dry heathland and farmland which provide a full range of wildlife. So, centred at Mézières en Brenne, I enjoyed six great days of birds, butterflies, dragonflies and orchids. Temperatures were up and wall to wall sunshine was the order of the day.

What follows is my photographic diary - more of a chronological report - which seems easier than sorting out the species, it also highlights the variety, you never know what you will come across just round the next corner.

The journey out was a first for me, Eurostar to Lille and TGV to Poitiers where we were picked up by our guide for the final leg. Refreshing to travel by rail than the struggle of the airlines.

Day one dawned bright and sunny and we set off in eager anticipation.

Étang de la Sous

First up was a visit to Etang de la Sous, the flagship of the reserve and extremely popular - the car park was well occupied by the time we arrived. Also, French birding photographers have a knack of occupying a whole window of the hide and it was difficult to get a view of the lake. Mind you, by the end of the week I had perfected this technique.

In front of the hide were Black-necked Grebes, Whiskered Terns, Red-crested Pochard and Little Grebes.

The breeding Whiskered Terns were some distance away, they build a nest on top of the Water Lily pads - a bit precarious but obviously successful.

Returning to the car park gave close views of a noisy Nightingale, the distant sound of a Turtle Dove and our first Dragonflies and Butterflies.

Broad-bodied Chaser

Black-tailed Skimmer (f)

My first record of the ubiquitous Black-veined White.

An obliging Wall

A steady start but not the views that I was expecting. However, Jason, the tour leader promised us a return when things would not be so busy.

Terre de Renard

A leisurely walk alongside a pair of etangs demonstrated the range of wildlife.

Green-veined White - the only of the tour.

A sociable European Wall Lizard...

...showing some nice blue spots on the belly.

Not much of a photograph I know, but a life tick for me. The Lilypad Whiteface or the Dainty White-faced Darter, Leuccorhinia caudalis.

Lilypad Whiteface

The absolutely stunning Southern White Admiral, the underwing views are just as good, unfortunately in the heat of the day this one did not oblige.

Just after recording the SWA we heard the unmistakeable song of a Golden Oriole, we were directly under the bird but try as we might could not get a view. I only managed a glimpse as the bird relocated, at least enough to know what it was.

Obviously, with this amount of water, frogs were seen and heard everywhere.

Pool frog

White-tailed Skimmer - another lifer.

A pair of Downy Emeralds

Maison de Parc

Time for a picnic lunch at the Maison de Parc, the adjacent etang had shrunk considerably which provided access to mud for a large army of House Martins. Dragons and Damsels were in short supply and a concerted search for a Dainty Damselfly drew a blank but I did manage to record a Small Spreadwing, Lestes numidicus ssp virens. Lurking in the pondside vegetation was what appears to be a Speckled Bush Cricket

Rosnay Common

I wasn't quite ready for Rosnay Common, back home a search for orchids would normally result in a few specimens, here there are an estimated 250,000 Tongue Orchids, an absolute sea of them. I didn't count them.