where were the birds?

[Pads]

I have just come back from the Montage Noir area, and was mistified by the fact i didnt see hardly any birds, we are in the middle of a forest and all i saw was large birds of prey(some kinds of buzzards?) I kept putting bread out for them but not a piece was touched in 3 weeks? Not a duck on the lake, or a sparrow in the hedge, dose anyon know why? I did see a heron by the lake and best of all one evening we saw 3 baby boar on the edge of the road. one day i saw a magpie but he didnt touch the bread so i guess he wasnt a english magpie!![:)]

[Unknown]

Hello Pads

I don't know a lot about wild life, but my guess is they ae eating the abundant amount of berries available at the moment.  We have a glut of blackberries and rose hips at the moment, I'm sure the birds don't want for much at the moment.

 

[chris pp]

Where's Montage Noir?

Chris

[Pads]

Its north of Carcassonne, south east of Mazamet, North east of Toulouse- ISH

[TWINKLE]

Radiation fall out from Chernobyl! 

  There's a rumour that the cloud got as far as the black mountain area and that everything is contaminated.  Could be just the locals making up these kind of stories to keep people away from picking the cèpes (wild mushrooms) that are famous in this region.

Lovely to see you back on the forum Pads. 

[mike151]

we were asking the very same question when i was there a few weeks ago.

[chris pp]

Well, all that I can say is that there are plenty of birds here at the moment. Outside in my garden at the moment, this morning, there are spotted flycatchers, green woodpeckers, greater spotted woodpeckers, lesser spotted woodpeckers, green finches, chaffinches, goldfinches, blackbirds, song thrushes, bluetits, greattits, long tailedtits, black caps, robins, wood pigeons, collared doves, jays, chiffchaffs, tree creepers, house sparrows, swallows, wrens, turtle doves, starlings, crows, buzzards, and I've just heard a golden oriole which should have departed by now.

There are days in August and early September when it can seem that there are no birds around, and many of them can go very quite, but they are there.

Chris

 

[TWINKLE]

[quote user="chris pp"]

 spotted flycatchers, green woodpeckers, greater spotted woodpeckers, lesser spotted woodpeckers, green finches, chaffinches, goldfinches, blackbirds, song thrushes, bluetits, greattits, long tailedtits, black caps, robins, wood pigeons, collared doves, jays, chiffchaffs, tree creepers, house sparrows, swallows, wrens, turtle doves, starlings, crows, buzzards, Chris

 

[/quote]

I love the crazy colourful names that birds have!  Chris, seriousy have you heard the rumours I was on about earlier on this thread?  I think there could be some truth myself. 

I've even heard that there is a rise in respiratory problems in the Mazamet area.

[chris pp]

"Radiation fall out from Chernobyl!"

I don't think there's much doubt that the fall out affected a large number of places, both in France and the UK, in some cases I gather that this was "locally" more intense. The powers that be would have us believe, and they may be correct, that generally this was nothing to worry about, although I gather that there are some places that still can't raise sheep for the food market.

In France this type of information is kept, like so many matters, a secret by the State, but even so I doubt that it has had an effect on birds, I think that I may have heard about that. There are certainly human health issues with the use of arsenic in some vineyards, but that's another matter.

Chris

[Gardian]

Tthis reminds me of an incident a number of years ago.  We went to Rheims for a long weekend with my wife's Mum & Dad: do the Champagne house tours etc.

During the early part of WWII, he was based to the east of the city, as an RAF fitter supporting a Blenheim squadron operating out of what was little more than a large field. We went out there and it was very nostalgic for him.

He didn't say much, but it was obviously very poingnant for him: many of their crews didn't come back and he only got out by the skin of his teeth.  However, he pointed to a copse on the far side of the field and remarked that no birds were ever heard to 'sing' in that area.  They had quickly found from the locals that it had been right on the 'front line' in WWI and an area of carnage. A bit spookey.