Combien de cormorans cette fois?

Remember this post? 10 cormorants on a crane?

Cette fois il y en a quinze! Et un héron cendré et deux mouettes rieuses.

Cattle egrets returning to type

After work I met Cath in Parc de la Tete d’Or.

As we walked around I could see egrets on the ground near some deer. They must be les herons garde boeuf doing what les herons garde boeuf are meant to do.

Cattle egrets with the deer (iPhone pic – sorry)

Before today I had only seen them in the trees but this was more like the behaviour I would expect.

We then walked through the zoo and saw some more exotic birds.

And as we were leaving we saw a red squirrel too. Quite the menagerie.

Combien de cormorans sur la grue?

When I first arrived in Lyon there were cormorants – les cormorans – everywhere. Then in the summer months they vanished.

But now they are back.

Six-month lessons of living in Lyon

As July ends, it’s time to reflect on the biggest things I have learnt in my first six months living in France. In the best listicle practice, I’ll aim for 10.

French language: More often than not you don’t pronounce the last consonant of most words. Blanc, étang, pont etc.

French language: The pronunciation of the city of Reims. I mean, wow.

Life in France: Café gourmand – always a good idea.

French language: Également – a very useful reply to bonne journée, bon weekend etc

French language: Bonjour – ça marche toute la journée.

Les oiseaux: Les herons garde boeuf ne se trouvent pas toujours près des vaches. A Lyon ils se trouvent dans les arbres au Parc de la Tete d’Or.

Les oiseaux: Le coq gaulois is one of the symbols of France. But for me it should be la buse – because they are everywhere.

French language: And what is this? Le croûton or le quignon?

Life in France: Lyon is a very beautiful city. From the old town to Place Bellecour to the banks of the Rhône to Fourviere it really is a très belle ville.

Life in France: whether you voted leave or remain, Brexit makes moving to and living in France far more difficult than it used to be. From lung x-rays to four days of formation civique training, it ain’t as straightforward as it once was.

Les lacs de La Dombes

As Cath is back in England I took the opportunity to go birdwatching in the Dombes – an area just north of Lyon where there are a thousand lakes.

I saw my old friend the purple heron – two in fact – as well as loads of egrets, gulls and black-winged stilts.

I also saw un castor – a beaver – at least I’m pretty sure that’s what this fella was – with big yellow teeth.

I went to one lake where night herons had been spotted. But there was a problem.

I guess it is a result of the severe drought in Europe.

Comment on dit murmuration en Francais?

Maintenant on parle

Not sure that works in French but a Sunday stroll to the market on the banks of the Saône resulted in a nice pair of earrings for Cath and this beauty of a book for me.

I’ve been looking for something like it for a while and here it was for an absolute bargain.

J’aime bien le nom de cet oiseaux – il s’appelle hawfinch en Anglais

One of the herons that escaped me in the Camargue

And this one is only en Camargue – where I saw it – and près de Lyon!

And I found these timbres inside – making it even more of a bargain!

Les oiseaux du Sud

What a week it’s been for birds. First there was a rouge-queue noir in the garden of our AirB&B. Then I went to the Camargue and saw some amazing birds.

They said all nine European herons were on site and I saw six of them – including the odd-looking Squacco heron, a bird with a mullet.

I also saw a couple of bee-eaters – what a gorgeous bird that is (no pics I’m afraid) – a glossy ibis, a black-winged stilt and a pair of storks along with their chicks on their nest.

And not forgetting the important bird I saw in Fuveau.

The green woodpecker is where my niece Lauren got all her toys from when she was young.

Il y a beaucoup de martinets à Lyon

I think I’ve said this before but I mean, there are loads of them, everywhere you go.

Une autre journée un autre lac

Today we headed to Lac Léman – or as it’s known in English Lake Geneva. This meant a new country for me and Cath – Switzerland.

The water in the lake was so clear that I could clearly see how a coot uses its feet to swim and how a great crested grebe swims underwater – it does breast stroke legs