Normandy Ringing Camp

On the north shore of the estuary of the River Seine in Normandy, just east of Le Havre, is a vast reed bed (Phragmites australis) of some 8500 hectares, bisected by the new Pont de Normandie. The area is a nature reserve, the Réserve Naturelle Nationale Estuaire de la Seine, and is enormously important as a stopover for birds migrating from central and eastern Europe on their way south to their wintering grounds in Africa. The reeds support a vast biomass of invertebrate life upon which the birds feed to fatten up in order to store enough "fuel" for their flight across the Sahara.

Among the many bird species which depend on this area during migration is our most globally threatened migratory song-bird, the Aquatic Warbler, that has a restricted breeding range in Poland, Belarus and the Ukraine.

Ringing friend Ken and I were invited by a team of French ornithologists to join a bird-ringing camp (August 4-12) in Normandy to assist in catching and ringing migratory birds in order to study their biology and migration.

The grandeur of our residence near Harfleur, the gite, somewhat belies the description of "ringing camp"

The modern Pont de Normandie bisects a vast reed bed of some 8500 hectares

You can see the line of mist net poles tracing out the 'ride' cut through the reed bed

Extracting birds caught in the mist nets

Ken and I were responsible for ringing and processing some 1200 birds of 15 species during our week at the camp, including over 500 Sedge Warblers, 350 Reed Warblers, 40 Marsh Warblers, 40 Savi's Warblers, 30 Bearded Tits, 20 Bluethroats and 20 Cetti's Warblers. Of course we were both able to see and handle several species for the first time.

It was not until the third day that we actually caught the bird-ringer's 'Holy Grail' of warbler species, namely the Aquatic Warbler, and the week provided a total of five for our team.

Bruno and Ken compare the similar Reed and Marsh Warblers

A colourful male Bluethroat, a close relative of the Robin

The Bearded Tit is known in French (perhaps more appropriately) as the "Moustached Tit"

The stripy, if rather drab, Aquatic Warbler, was the main target species of the research

The nearby port of Honfleur provided an opportunity for a glass of Calvados and a croque Monsieur

We both felt that participation in this international research project was immensely rewarding and gave us opportunities to exchange information, ideas and techniques. We recorded 84 bird species during the week (including those caught and ringed) the most notable of those seen but not ringed being Spoonbill, Fan-tailed Warbler, Little Gull, Green and Wood Sandpipers, Honey Buzzard and (on the ferry crossing) Storm Petrel and Great Skua.