25th June

Last day of Arles holiday so decided on a brief walk down past the van Gogh bridge on the canal to leave time for packing, present buying, etc.

At the Marais de Vigueirat a few days earlier, they had told me that the chances of seeing a roller were relatively slim compared to bee eater.  On the day of course I saw neither so I was more than somewhat surprised to see a distinctly blue and brown bird flying on the far side of the canal just south of the Pont van Gogh.  Only settling briefly, it quickly took evasive action but had to fly in front of long stretch of waterside trees, so that I got a good look at it and could clearly identified that it was in fact a roller.

A bridge further down the canal and another one appeared in similar fashion - quite clear views of the reddish-brown body and the pale and navy blue wing pattern.  On my way back I saw another near where I saw the first, although it could of course have been that there were only two actual birds (or even feasibly one) providing the three sightings.

It just went to show how even a casual, short walk with no greater intention than checking to see if any anglers were about, can have very unexpected consequences.

23rd June

I cycled a large figure of eight through the Camargue between Villeneuve and Mas St Bertrand and in

Flamingo (and tree!)

contrast to yesterday, there was wildlife at almost every turn.

Apart from species I had already encountered - the egrets, kites, marsh harriers, marbled white butterflies and a hordes of warblers that disappeared every time I tried to identify them, there were various fresh sightings, including the inevitable flamingos* (though not so many this early in the year), skylarks and crested grebes,several black-winged stilt*, a red-footed falcon* plus a light-coloured falcon I couldn't put a name to, a suspected pallid swift* and a large green lizard with a yellow belly that slid across the road just in front of the bike. I also heard a cuckoo.

However I must say that there was one other wildlife encounter that I will remember - the bull steak I ate at L'Ingenu at Mas St Bertrand, which was excellent!

* These were all first sightings.

22nd June

Rocky cliffs opposite Les Baux

After a false start yesterday, made it by the early bus to Les Baux, where early temperatures were distinctly chilly.  In spite of having a very careful look around and constantly scanning the high cliffs opposite the town, I could not manage to spot a wallcreeper.  I have no idea whether this was due to time of year, windy conditions, or location.

There was one bird that kept flying in and out of a cavern, which seemed like the right behaviour, but I could not manage to sneak close enough to identify it in spite of hiding in the cavern itself at one point.  In fact the only birds I managed to identify were some chaffinches and a crested tit, which was the first time I have seen one since my holiday in the Pfalz in 2004.  It seems strange they are not more widespread in Scotland when they occur freely in Europe.

Arles Holiday - 20th June

Arles is mainly known for its Roman history and architecure, but what attracted me there were the few van Gogh landmarks and the nature, under which label the main declared targets were bee eater, wallcreeper and white admiral and Bath white butterflies.

Principally with birdlife in mind I rented a bike from the hotel and made for the Marais Du Vigueirat via the cycle track along the navigation channel and Mas Thibert.  The waters of the former looked distinctly carpy and sure enough a couple of anglers were out using notably heavy float tackle that looked more appropriate for pike or catfish - or perhaps to deal with a strong current.

White Admiral

Shortly after stumbling by complete accident on Van Gogh's famour bridge, which in fact appears to be a reconstruction as the original was further upstream, a white admiral flew straight in front of the bike and settled to pose for a photo as a Bath white fluttered nearby. So that, to my surprise and delight, was the key butterfly targets sewn up within an hour or two!  In spite of the name, the Bath white is not present in the UK.

Further down the path something similar happened when a black kite lumbered over in one direction while a purple heron glided along in the other - both first sightings, although both were pretty much expected.  By this time I had already spotted an egret plodging in the paddy fields (rice is grown in the Camargue) that I thought was a little egret, which proved correct as I was soon in a position to compare the three egret varieties.

The experience at the reserve was mixed as, in spite of much research, local guidance and looking around, I did not see the bee eater.  However I did see:

• a beaver in close-up
• a fox running along the wooden path with a vole in uts mouth (twice)
• cleopatra butterfly
• a dragonfly clutching a white butterfly (didn't know they attacked butterflies!)
• an unidentified fritillary (not pearl-bordered)
• great white egrets and little egrets, allowing closer comparison
• cattle egrets, though they were showing more interest in the Camargue ponies than the bulls
• many carp swimming around on the surface of the lake (as below but there were far more than you can see)
• more herons including squacco heron
• marsh harriers
• turtle
• several lizards
• white stork
• magpies all over the place, more kites of both kinds, several wall butterflies, tree creeper, long-tailed tits.

I wondered if there was a reason why the cattle egrets preferred the horses to the bulls.

On the way back, I also noticed what I thought at first was a black bee, but was probably a flying beetle (leatherjacket). I reckon I saw in total eight new species today, the most in one day since I went to Minsmere in 2011.