| As usual (some say…), autumn is giving way to winter, and the MIGRATLANE team is changing targets. Although the solstice is still a long way off, the last migrants are passing through and wintering birds are gradually making their way to our shores. |
| After the autumn dotterels, the team has targeted migrating/wintering short-eared owls. A difficult harvest this year, with relatively few birds reported on the Atlantic coast. Three owls were nevertheless equipped in Brittany by Yannig and 2 in Charente-Maritime by Fanny. Sophie on the Island of Ouessant was less fortunate, despite the help of many volunteers who were on hand to help with the field work – thank you to them! |
| The cold weather also brought us fieldfares, another of the programme’s target species. Yannig and Julie have already caught 8 individuals in Finistère. The data collected, unprecedented in Western Europe, will provide a better understanding of the migration of these northern species and their ability to cross maritime areas. Thrushes are among the migratory species most regularly heard at sea in autumn. |
In a different atmosphere these days, a large part of the team is on the Quiberon peninsula for a few days to start catching wintering seabirds at sea. So far, they have proved particularly difficult to find in the dark, drizzly conditions of Brittany. The weather has been a bit vexatious, causing a swell that has been hard on the stomachs and making it difficult to spot the birds in the thermal binoculars! To be continued…
