August 29-September 8, 2026 with Megan Edwards Crewe & John Coons
We enjoyed nine days of birding in two vastly different habitats in southern France. After all of our group arrived we gathered at our hotel near the Montpellier airport and headed out with our first stop across the airfield where we found a group of quite uncommon Little Bustards before heading to the nearby estuary where Greater Flamingos, Gray Herons, and our first Black-headed and Yellow-legged gulls were in good numbers along with the local Mediterranean Gulls. As we made our way east toward Arles we walked a boardwalk at Petite Camargue and had wonderful views of Water Rails, European Bee-eater, and Mute Swans before finding our way to the small hotel at the edge of the city.
We spent the next three days birding in the Camargue, a vast area of wetlands and pastures that is essentially the delta formed by the two branches of the Rhone where it enters the Mediterranean Sea. We visited large salt pans, open fields and some wooded areas but the highlight, habitat-wise, was the stony plain of Crau Steppe. We had a wonderful morning with local park ranger Delphine Lenôtre making many birding stops in this interesting area. The highlight was seeing very uncommon Pin-tailed Sandgrouse coming to drink at a puddle in the road then a large flock flying over the steppe. A handful of Eurasian Thick-knees, a Montague’s Harrier, a good number of Lesser Kestrels, Iberian Gray Shrike, Crested Larks, and a Greater Short-toed Lark were also at the top of the list.
Birds we encountered during a few visits to the salt pans and estuaries in the Camargue included Pied Avocet, both Common Ringed and Little Ringed plovers, Northern Lapwing, Kentish Plover, Green and Wood sandpipers, and Ruff. Also, White Stork, Short-toed Snake-Eagle, Tawny Pipits, and Corn Bunting in the open country between wetlands. We got into our first real woodsy birding at Scamandre where we found Great Tit, Cetti’s Warbler, the interesting Long-tailed Tit, Eurasian Blackcap, Garden Warbler, a very cool Short-tailed Treecreeper, Spotted Flycatcher, and European Pied Flycatcher. A late-afternoon and an evening venture to the rolling limestone hills yielded a mostly heard Eurasian Eagle-Owl (with some folks getting a glimpse), and we had nice views of Crested Tit and Common Firecrest.
After a walk near the hotel and our final breakfast at Arles we packed our vans and started making our way west. Traveling a ways on major highways we made a lunch stop at a rest area that looked out upon the walled city of Carcassonne, a fairy tale looking stronghold dating back to the 1200’s. Our next rest and gas stop was birdier with our first Red Kites, Eurasian Jays, and White Wagtails. We arrived at our hotel in Gedre and enjoyed a nice dinner and the fabulous scenery of the Pyrenees.
Our first morning in the Pyrenees found us driving 1500 ft higher to the village of Gavarnie along a route that was Stage 6 of this year’s Tour de France. A Black Redstart near the parking area was our first new bird of the day. We strolled through this tourist village and found a fabulous White-throated Dipper along the stream in town as Eurasian Griffons began to take flight above the mountains. We walked up a busy trail and found our first Coal Tit, Goldcrests, Eurasian Treecreeper, as well as European Goldfinch, Tree Pipit, both Gray and White wagtails, and Common Buzzards. With our picnic lunch along the way and fantastic views of Gavarnie Falls tumbling 1384 feet at Cirque de Gavarnie. After birding a bit higher we stopped for ice cream at the café before heading back with a Golden Eagle appearing as we reached town.
The next morning we retraced our drive to Gavarnie but continued through the town to Col de Tentes at 7200 feet in elevation. We got on the trail that was relatively flat at this higher elevation. We picked through a few Black Redstarts, Water Pipits, and Northern Wheatears while in search of our goal, Alpine Accentor, which we found about halfway along our route. This uncommon species gave us several minutes of great views. With that under our belts we continued to our next goal. Spain. We reached the border with Spain at the high point of our trail, and took some time to enjoy the view and find some birds for this Iberian country. We ended up seeing seven species in Spain including Red-billed Chough before heading back. After lunch we took another road up to Vallée d’Ossoue where we made a handful of stops along the way. Highlights were two Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrushes, a great view of Rock Bunting, Yellow-billed Choughs, and European Stonechats, and we did quite well with raptors. A couple of Red Kites showed well, as estimated 64 Eurasian Griffons soared along the ridge, and Short-toed Snake-Eagle but the real stars were two Bearded Vultures (formerly Lammergeier) and a wonderful Egyptian Vulture that Chris spotted for us.
Our last full day in the Pyrenees started with a few birds around the hotel including our first Iberian Green Woodpecker. We had a change of plans when we got a flat tire on our way up the road. After a tire change we decided to head down to bird a forested reserve. This proved to be good choice as we found Great Spotted Woodpecker, more Eurasian Blackcaps, Eurasian Nuthatches, Mistle Thrush, and Common Redstart. We double-checked the air in our tires on our way back up and after a pit stop at the hotel went up the mountain to Lac des Gloriettes where we birded around a small lake and its large dam. We spent some time with a Willow Warbler and watched another Dunnock under a car.
We started our last day with a pre-breakfast trip above Gavarnie again where we had more views of Eurasian Crag-Martins, Eurasian Kestrels, and Rock Buntings. We loaded up our luggage after breakfast and headed back to the forest we visited yesterday. A couple of Song Thrushes were new and we enjoyed our last Eurasian Jays. We hit the long windy road climbing to Col de Tourmalet with lots of committed bicyclists sharing the road with us. At the top of the mountain pass at this traditional Tour de France stage we stopped to enjoy the view but only had a few birds. Dropping down the other side we passed through the ski town of La Mongie and stopped at a roadside rest where we found our first Middle Spotted Woodpecker and Marsh Tit and Megan spotted a soaring Eurasian Hobby. We made a touristy stop at the Chateau de Mauvezin, an impressive steep walled castle, that dates to the 12th century. We soon hit the highways and headed to Toulouse and made it to our motel for our final dinner together.
It was wonderful seeing a bunch of great birds together and enjoying fantastic scenery with all of you. We hope to see you again on a future birding trip.
Mammals encountered during our trip:
European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
Alpine Marmot (Marmota marmota)
European Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)
European Fat Dormouse (Glis glis) heard
Coypu (Myocastor coypus)
Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
Southern Chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica)
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/573068
John Coons