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And this one?


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Crex, yes I thought of that, but I've heard Corncrakes and the sound they make is rougher. This may have been saying 'caille'. I'll try to get a better photo next time (now, where's that Nikon catalogue - Julie! - Chris says I have to buy a new lens!)

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One problem, and it may not be the case in this instance, is that there have been so many game birds introduced in France, many of which interbreed and throw up strange combinations, that it can make identification troublesome.  A few weeks ago I was with the LPO on a weekend trip and I saw a group of four game birds, dark brown almost black, smaller than pheasants with short tails. When I asked a couple of "experts" that were with us what they were, all I got was an amused look and "faisan inconnu". This apparently is this "breeds" official name in French.

Chris

 

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Dick. Its the nearest thing to a  female Little Bustard i have seen all day,the sound it makes is a dry snort and prrt ,when disturbed makes a staccato chuckle noise and stalks off like a pheasant.The male has a heavy black band around  its neck Quails.partridges etc have short necks and they would not hang about for you to photograph them..Mind you i could be wrong.Michael.
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Interesting that Michael, it was my first thought, but I just thought No, can't be and discounted it. I don't even know if there are any in Normandy, if there are it's not many!! As I am sure you know we have about half the French population of LB's here in P-C and are just about managing to keep the population stable.

I was hoping you were going to come to the rescue on this one!!

Cheers, Chris

 

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I think I've seen those before, near La Roche Chalais, in the Dordogne close to where we used to live and where we used to walk the dogs.  They were a bit bigger than a pigeon, more slender and with really long legs and a long neck, rather elegant looking. They ran like minature ostriches, fast and very purposeful.  No idea what they were but we saw them several times last  year around this time and a bit later.  I have seen several kinds of water hen but they were all more heavily built than the birds I saw and anyway, the place I saw them was 2 or 3 km from any water.  Afraid I have not heard them call.

Anne

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