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France Provence Alpes Cote Dazur

Slender-billed Gull Larus genei ©Giuliano Gerra & Silvio Sommazzi http://www.justbirds.org/home.htm

The region consists of the Departments of: Alpes-Maritimes, Var, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Haute-Alpes, Bouches-du-Rhone & Vaucluse. The traditional Provinces of: Provence & Cote d`Azur.

The Mediterranean coast...

La Camargue: brilliant not to be missed breeding birds include Collared Pratincole, 8 species of Heron, Gull billed Tern, Slender billed Gull (oh yes, and Flamingos) etc... In the winter huge number of wildfowl overwinter as well as Spotted Eagle. Migration time is the best with Sandpipers and Plovers in the saltpans (South of Salin de Giraud, Phare de la Gachole); fresh water waders (including good numbers of Marsh Sandpiper); Marsh Terns and Herons in the north (Basse Méjane, Mas d`Agon, Salin de Badon and La Capellière) and good passerines falls in bushes by the sea (Phare de la Gachole and Beauduc). Good information can be obtained at La Capellière which has a decent set of hides as well as quite good exhibit on the local Ecology.

La Crau: the only French desert with Stone Curlew, Little Bustard, Roller and small population of Pin-tailled Sandgrouse, Calandra Lark and Lesser Kestrel. In recent years a few (up to 10) Richards Pipits have been found overwintering.

Les Alpilles: Limestone hills with a chance to see Egyptian Vulture, Bonelli`s Eagle and Eagle Owl.

Le Narbonnai : Very good area for visible migration (La station ornithologique de Gruissan) in both spring and Autumn... Pissevache (near Narbonne Plage); Les Salin de Lapalme and La Franquie (near Leucate) are all very good for water birds as well as providing good passerine falls. Cave has a small population of spotless Starlings and the hills north of this little village have the only French population of Thekla Lark. The whole area has a good population of Great-spotted Cuckoo. For information about this area contact the LPO-Aude.

This page brought to you in association with:
La Belle Equipe

Come birding in the Camargue! We specialise in combining a great week's guided birding in the Camargue, Alpilles and Crau with a special itinerary for a non-birding partner, with time built in for sightseeing, shopping or just relaxing together. Four star hotel, excellent cuisine and small groups. mention ‘Fatbirder’ to qualify for 10% discount! Now also offering ‘budget trips for birders’ too! For full details click-thru to the website, mail us at: mailto:contact@belle-equipe-birding.com or phone us on 01223 894916

top sites

Les Marais du Vigueirat

Les Marais du Vigueirat (the Vigueirat Marshes) is a natural site situated in the Eastern Camargue, between La Camargue and La Crau, south to les Alpilles. It is a protected area of 1000ha; the propriety of the Conservatoire du Littoral (French Government). It has a great natural richness and biodiversity, and is one of the most remarkable wetland areas of the mediterranean French coast. You can see more than 280 bird species including up to 35,000 ducks in winter.

useful reading

Books, CDs etc

For guides to France in general, or more than one region see the Fatbirder France page...

Oiseaux de Camargue et Leurs Habitats

by Paul Isenmann, Buchet Chastel 2004
ISBN: 2283020190
Buy this book from NHBS.com

Oiseaux Remarquables de Provence

M Lasceve, C Crocq & B Kabouche, Delachaux et Niestle 2006
ISBN: 2603013912
Buy this book from NHBS.com

reserves

Conservatoire du Littoral - La Carmargue

http://www.conservatoire-du-littoral.fr/front/process/Content.asp?rub=8&rubec=149
La Camargue est un nom qui chante aux oreilles en évoquant les taureaux, les hautes herbes, les roselières et les oiseaux...

Marais du Vigueirat

http://www.marais-vigueirat.reserves-naturelles.org
Description [in French] with a map and list of the top birds... mailto:marais-vigueirat@espaces-naturels.fr

trip reports

Travelling Birder
http://www.travellingbirder.com
The Travellingbirder.com birding trip report search engine guides you to 7,000+ birding trip reports on the Internet. You can search for trip reports from a specific country and time of year. Not all these reports are in English. So, if you can’t find the trip report you want on this Fatbirder page… give them a try!

1997 [May] - Ulli Höger - Carmargue

http://www.crosswinds.net/~birdtrips/Camargue97.html
From April 29th to May 4th I spent 6 days of birdwatching in southern France. The Carmargue and vicinity was the destination of my trip. The Carmargue is part of the Rhone-delta, and therefore rich in freshwater swamps in its center and salt marshes and dunes in its south. Partly a national park, the other part is used for extensive cattle farming (famous white horses and black bulls of the Carmargue) and rice culture...

2002 [May] - Honeyguides

http://www.honeyguide.co.uk/pdfs/camargue2002.doc.pdf
PDF File

2003 [June] - Honeyguides - Camargue

http://www.honeyguide.co.uk/pdfs/2003camarguecnhs.pdf
Pdf

2003 [March] - Rupert Higgins

http://www.surfbirds.com/mb/trips/france-rh-0303.html
The following are a few notes on a ten day trip to southern France. With a toddler on board proper attention couldn`t be given to birding, and we also fitted in a few cultural attractions, so we dipped on some fairly obvious species like little bustard, pin-tailed sandgrouse, white-tailed eagle and eagle owl. More attention was given to the two species I needed - wallcreeper and greater spotted eagle...

2004 [January] - Geoff Dicker - Camargue, the Crau, and the Alpilles

http://www.surfbirds.com/mb/trips/camargue-gd-0404.html
Provence is fast becoming a favourite winter-break destination for British birdwatchers, because of the presence of certain specialist species, Greater Spotted Eagle, Long-Legged Buzzard, Wallcreeper, Alpine Accentor and now Pine Bunting, which are either difficult to see in their breeding areas or require longer distance travel...

2004 [January] - Jez Robson - Provence

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/france/provence/prov-jan-04.htm
In recent years the south of France has presented an appealing prospect to keen Eurobirders. With the publication of Lancashire birder Chris Batty`s trip report to the area in 2003 and with flights from Stansted to Montpelier retailing at 1p (each way), I hastily organised a team comprising Malcom Goodman, Alan Clewes, Phil Davison and Matt Mulvey in order to see a mouth watering selection of birds...

2004 [June] - David Mason

http://www.realbirder.com/frenchalps.htm
From my pre-trip research, the French Alps do not appear to be heavily birded, with little background information to figure out what we should expect to see...

2004 [March] - Mark How

http://www.hows.org.uk/inter/birds/carmague%20trip.htm
Members of the Bishops Stortford Birdwatching Group, flew with Ryanair from Stansted to Nimes (Garons) for £49 return and stayed in an ETAP (basic) hotel in the Fourchon district of Arles, this is an easy 15 min walk into the centre of town...

2004 [March] - Paul Sharp

http://uk.geocities.com/pauljsharp/spt2004.html
This report describes a bird watching trip by John and Paul Sharp to Provence in southern France, visiting the Alpilles, Camargue and Crau areas between the 4th and 7th of March 2004...

2004 [October] - Ron & Val Moat

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/france/carmargue/carm-0ct-04.htm
After reading a few trip reports for the Camargue notably Geoff Dickers report Jan 04, we decided to try the Camargue in early October knowing we were too late for many of the summer visitors and too early for the winter specialities listed in the report. We knew we should be happy seeing large numbers of Greater Flamingos, having only seen flocks of at maximum a couple of hundred, usually at a great distance in Portugal, Spain (Coto Donana) and the Balearics (Mallorca), and then wherever you go bird watching there is always the unexpected...

2005 [June] - David Mason

http://www.realbirder.com/FrenchAlpsJune2005.htm
On the morning of the 12th we had a short walk around the town, including several small parks. These yielded Serin, Swift, House Martin, Black Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher...

2006 [June] - Nick Mason

http://www.realbirder.com/FranceJune2006.htm
Within 20 minutes of leaving the city, we were seeing Greater Flamingo flying over the car on the edge of the Etang de Mauguio marsh, which lies inland of the main D62 road connecting Montpellier and Aigues-Mortes...

2006 [March] - Mike Robinson

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/france/carmargue3/carmargue-march-06.htm
A team of three spent a week in Provence based at La Barben east of Salen seeking the winter specialities of the area whilst still finding time for sampling the local food & culture. A gentle approach was taken but still most key birds seen; however no doubt a slightly more dedicated effort would have yielded more...

2007 [May] - The Camargue - Honeyguide

http://www.honeyguide.co.uk/pdfs/2007-Camargue.pdf
Pdf

2008 [May] - Stephen Burch - Camargue, Les Alpilles, La Crau

http://www.stephenburch.com/trips/france/france.htm
This is a report on a visit to the Camargue area of France in early May 2008. Unlike some other recent birding add-ons to business trips, for this holiday I was accompanied by my semi-birder wife. Hence this was by no means a 100% full-on birding trip. Nevertheless, a fair amount of birding was done, including one early morning start to La Crau...

local guides

Birding Pal

http://www.birdingpal.org/France.htm
Local birders willing to show visiting birders around their area...

La Belle Équipe

http://www.belle-equipe-birding.com
We specialise in combining a great week's birding with a special itinerary for a non-birding partner, with time built in for sightseeing, shopping or just relaxing together...

places to stay

Auberge du Mas de la Fenière

http://www.lafeniere.com/
This charming old farmhouse is ideally situated at the foot of the Alpilles mountains and in easy reach of the famous town of Arles...

La Conviviale

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/laconviviale
Located half way between Avignon and Tarascon in the delightful small town of Graveson, La Conviviale is the perfect setting for your holiday in Provence. Originally a priory for religious orders in the eighteenth century, La Conviviale has since served as an inn for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostella; a centre for the production of silk; a wholesale centre for fruit and vegetables; and is now a homestead for vacationers in Provence.

Les Trois Puits - Carmargue

http://www.lestroispuitscongenies.com/
An English run B&B [and adjoining Gites] and a local birding service. We know our area well and can show visitors where to look for the best birding locally. We are British but speak 6 languages between us - English, Welsh, French, German, Spanish and Dutch. Congenies is ideally located to catch the first migrants on their way north or south. We also have a large resident population of Mediterranian birds of interest to the visiting birder.

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