Christmas in France- Atlantic Coast

The coast of France is a mixture of rocky cliffs and sandy shores. In Vendee the coast is on the Atlantic. I visited Les Sables d'Olonne where there is a complex of salt farms with trails around them. The birding in these salt far wetland areas is quite good with a variety of birds including herons, ducks, grebes, sparrows and others.

Bird Observatory near Ile d'Olonne

Salt Marshes in Ile d'Olonne

Little Grebe
Grey Heron
Little Egret

Little Egret

Mallard
Coot
Pintail
Greater Black-backed Gull
Black-headed Gull
White Wagtail
Starling

Magpie

Magpie
Robin
Blackbird

Ringed Plover

Ringed Plover
Meadow Pipit
Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Sparrows

Mute Swan

Mute Swan

The beaches are bordered by a band of pine forests that transition to sandy scrub and then sand dunes before the beaches. The beach near Les Sables d'Olonne is very very sloped with patches of rocky areas. It is a common surfing spot and even in winter I saw people out on the waves.

Foret Domaniale d'Olonne at the beach at Sentier des Gravelots, Ile d'Olonne

Christmas in France- Nantes

For this Christmas holidays I visited France. My trip started in Nantes for a few days were I saw the gorgeous old architecture all around the city and many of the tourist spots including Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne and Cathedrale Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul.

The Chateau is free to walk around and its history is quite spectacular. The main street seen from the walkway actually was previously a river that was filled in and rerouted so they could build a road.

Chateau des ducs de Bretagne, Nantes

Chateau des ducs de Bretagne, Nantes

 Around the moat of the chateau there were a few birds hanging around. I am sure these are quite commonly seen all over France but it was such a good look at them I couldn't resist.  I was able to see many ducks and geese, which are probably not wild species as well as a White Wagtail and Moorhen.

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)

Duck

 Cathedrals in France are no doubt all spectacular and when I first visited France when I was young the size and amount of detail that went into these buildings amazed me. On this visit I must say it still does.

Cathedrale Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul, Nantes, France

Cathedrale Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul, Nantes, France

The entrance had intricate stone carvings of religious scenes, text, floral designs and more. It would take years to actually get a good look at everything in these stones. Much of the work is far to high to even reach.

Cathedrale Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul, Nantes, France

Ile de Nantes is another place described to me as a must see while in the city so I headed there one afternoon. The area is currently in transition. What used to be a large industrial area is being turned into an artsy area with studios, bars, tourist attractions, galleries and some residential areas.  One of the larger attractions is the Machina gallery with mechanical animals and creations that actually can move. You can even get a tour on a massive mechanical elephant.

There is still a industrial flare to Ile de Nantes and a lot of interesting photo opportunities.

Birding and the first herps near Guelph

Spring is here. Crocuses are blooming and being pollinated. Commas and mourning cloaks have been seen flying around.

Since Guelph has been smokin' hot lately... It was a great excuse to spend an afternoon birding and looking for herps.  My friends and I went out to Mountsberg Lake and Puslinch:  killdeer, canvas back, red head, eurasian wigeon, ringneck ducks, pied billed grebe, northern pintail, scaup, american coot, godwall, bufflehead, common and hooded mergansers, song sparrow and red winged black bird.

Killdeer

American coots

Ring necked ducks

Common merganser flying

Buffleheads landing

Along the road there were many song sparrows, red tailed hawks, a bald eagle, rough legged hawk and two eastern meadowlarks that we had the pleasure of hearing sing.

Eastern Meadowlark

Eastern meadowlark showing the bright yellow

On our way towards a nearby herping site we saw about eight painted turtles in a pond.

Painted turtles basking in the spring warmth

As we started flipping rocks and logs and walking through forests looking for snakes I am pleasantly surprised by the number of herps we were finding.  A few red backed salamanders and a blue spotted salamader were my first amphibians for the year as we heard spring peepers calling from ponds nearby.

Redbacked salamader

Blue spotted salamander

Chris found our first ribbon snake and then we continued to find 14 ribbon snakes and 9 garter snakes. Many of the garter snakes were paired off in their acts of mating.

Ribbon snake

Chris and the first snake of the year

There weren't to many wildflowers blooming but you could smell skunk cabbage and some green life had survived under the snow.

Skunk cabbage

Wintergreen is one of my favorite plants to find in the wild since it makes a nice treat if spending hours in the field. It's very common and the leaves taste kinda like bubblegum to me. I don't know about  eating the berries. Haven't ever tried it. They don't look to appealing.

Wintergreen

We didn't have to walk far to hit the treasure trove our of herping but we did walk farther back into the forest.

Josh and Chris on the hunt

 One of my favorite finds of the day was when Josh found a baby ribbon snake.

Josh with the baby ribbon snake

Another adult ribbon snake