My father and I spent four days birdwatching in Southern Brittany, in particular birding around the Briere marshes, Golfe de Morbihan and Gavre Forest. Our target species were black woodpecker, middle-spotted woodpecker, bluethroat, roseate tern, savi’s warbler and wood warbler.
We took the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo and drove down to St Lyphard where we stayed at the Logis Hotel Les Chaumieres du Lac. This proved a nice hotel with quite reasonable rates (EUR 324 for 4 nights for a twin room), clean and very friendly. The restaurant was good, although, as with most French restaurants, a little expensive. The location was a good base for exploring the region.
Day 1 - Drive from St Malo to St Lyphard via Le Gavre Forest.
I had a look out from the ferry and saw a few kittiwake and gannets, but little else of interest. After arriving we had a quick trip along to St Malo to look for roseate terns on the beach, but could only spot a few common terns and some shags flying past. There were some terns out to sea, but too far away to be able to identify.
We then drove on, spotting a hoopoe cross the dual carriageway en route. We then stopped off at the Gavre forest for the first time. The roads through the forest are pretty quiet, and are fairly safe for the emergency stops necessary when birdwatching from the car. There are also plenty of places to pull off and there are roads throughout the forest, so no need to walk too far from the car.
We came in from Gavre to the rond-point de Belle Etoile at the centre of the forest and drove along the D15, which is the main route the length of the forest. We stopped about a mile along, at the side of a large clearing and saw a hawfinch briefly drinking from a puddle on one of the tracks. Sadly it flew off before I managed to get it in the telescope. There were also singing garden warblers and blackcaps and a tree pipit in the same location. Further stops along this road brought nothing else of interest.
Day 2 - Briere marshes and Golfe de Morbihan
Roze
We set out in the morning from St Lyphard to the reserve at Roze. It was very wet and windy when we arrived and were looking forward to settling down in the dry in one of the hides. Unfortunately, when we arrived we found that the reserve was shut. From reading the notices on the gate it appeared to have been badly damaged in the recent floods, with the hides out of action. It was only due to open from 1 July to 31 August 2014. Around the reserve there were a lot of whiskered terns flying around. We sheltered in the car and were able to hear sedge and cettis warbler along with the odd heron and little egrets flying over, but not much else. We soon gave up and headed off towards the Golfe de Morbihan.
Golfe de Morbihan
Our first stop was the salt flats near St Armel. Fortunately, by this time, the weather had cleared and this proved to be quite a pleasant spot. The pools held decent numbers of black-winged stilts, avocet and quite a few shelduck. On the saltflats around the pools there was a single brent goose and a small flock of dunlin. I thought that I could hear a bluethroat in the bushes on the path alongside the pools but it was very windy and didn't get to see one.
We then moved a bit further along the D780 to a small reserve at Duer. This has a small woodland walk and a good elevated hide overlooking some salt flats. We had a wander around the woods, but didn't see much of note. They do apparently hold black woodpecker, but speaking to a regular visitor, she had only seen one once briefly in flight. From the hide we saw a couple of spoonbills and could hear a cettis warbler.
The lady that we spoke to recommended a good spot to see bluethroats at the beach car park past the Chateau de Suscinio the other side of the D780 further south. Apparently they sing from the bushes just past the barrier which prevents motor homes getting to the beach. We stopped there for a while and saw a read bunting, but no sign of the bluethroats, probably because it was very windy. However, on moving up to the car park we managed to find one in the bushes on the left of the car park and had excellent views.
Day 3 - Foret de Gavre
The weather brightened up a bit for the third day although it was still very windy. We followed Geoff Dicker's advice and parked next to the Allée Forestière de La Robardais and set off to look for a black woodpecker. There is a very large clearing to the right of the path, but there were few viewpoints and a layer of younger saplings obscured most of the view. However, on moving a bit further up we came across a small open area of wood, obviously being actively managed, and spotted a black woodpecker as it flew up from the ground noisily and settled briefly on a nearby tree. We hung around for around half an hour, only getting fleeting glimpses, but were delighted to have seen one in the binoculars and briefly in the scope. In the meantime I also saw a short-toed treecreeper and a few turtle doves flew past. We came back to the same spot later in the day but got no sighting of the woodpecker.
We drove down most of the other roads in the forest and got some nice views of tree pipit and blackcaps.
Day 4 - Briere Marshes, Chausee de Neuve
The weather was rather windy and showery, but we headed down to the Chaussee de Neuve at the south of the Briere. There is an excellent viewing area here that overlooks a large colony of whiskered terns and black-headed gulls. We stopped off here for around an hour and saw a couple of spoonbills, a sacred ibis, a purple heron (flying past), a lot of marsh harriers, black-winged stilts and a yellow wagtail.
We then hired a barque in order to get into the centre of the reserve and hopefully see savi's warbler. As we set out on the water, we had superb views of whiskered terns and black winged stilts. We also spotted a green sandpiper on the mud and a couple of black kites overhead, as well as the ubiquitous marsh harriers. After travelling for around half an hour I heard a savi's warbler in the reeds and, after a further ten minutes or so managed to manoeuvre the boat around where we heard the song coming from. Clinging onto a pole so as not to be blown across the lake, we heard the bird again, but were sadly unable to see it.
Whilst travelling out in the boat, with wind assistance, I punted out using a pole (living in Oxford I have had some practice) and gained some respect from the boat owner for doing so rather than paddling. Travelling back into the wind it quickly became apparent that the wind was mostly responsible for our rapid progress and the pole was quickly replaced by paddles as the preferred means of propulsion. After an hour's battling back we finally managed to get some sort of rhythm and returned gladly to dry land. I think that the best bet to see savi's warbler is out in the extensive reedbeds at the centre of the reserve, but I would recommend getting a motorised tour rather than paddling. As well as being less effort, you will travel further and more quietly! I would also advise going on a week day as it will be much quieter than weekends.
On the recommendation of the hotel owner we then went down to Sissable which is an area of saltmarsh just south west of La Baule. It is an important migration point for waders and wildfowl in the winter, but there was little out on the saltflats for our visit. A brief walk did produce another singing bluethroat though.
In the later afternoon we stopped on the D16 and had a walk along the canal. There were a couple of great egrets here and a few night herons and marsh harriers flying over.
In the evening I went for a walk opposite the hotel. There is a small path alongside the lake that leads to another path alongside a small channel. I walked along this most evenings and one early morning. There were plenty of sedge and reed warblers singing. I also had nice views of cuckoo singing from the top of one of the oak trees and a pair of garganey took off from one of the channels on one occasion. There were also a family of coypu that were fairly easy to see along the walk. I briefly heard either a savi's or grasshopper warbler early one morning but was not able to see it.
Day 5 - Travel back via le foret de gavre and St Malo
On the way back we called in at le Foret de Gavre again. This time we stopped off on the route forestiere de Somelier about 500 yards from the rond point de belle etoile on the D15 towards Blain. Here there were a couple of noisy black woodpeckers in the large clearing on the left, but again I only saw these briefly before they flew off back into the forest. There was also a tree pipit here but although we waited around for a couple of hours the woodpeckers did not return.
Main locations:
Briere marshes
A pretty extensive marshland, but not teeming with birds in the same way as the some of the areas that I have visited in Southern Europe in France and Spain. Not many good viewing points.
Chaussee de neuve - Excellent location with a good viewing point and the best location for birds
Roze - Good location in the centre of the marsh. Shame that the reserve was closed.
Ile de Fedrun - Some good restaurants but no good viewing locations
Ile d'Errand - No good viewing points from the Ile, but a good view over the marshes from the approach road.
St Lyphard - Walk from behind the camping and pond and there is a small walk along some small channels. This was very wet on my visit though, so be sure to bring some boots.
Forest de Gavre
A massive area of forest, very tranquil and picturesque, but found it tricky to find many birds of interest. Surprisingly we didn't see many raptors other than the occasional buzzard, although it was very windy. The best spots were:
- Allée Forestière de La Robardais just off the D35, north from the Rond Point de l’etoile - Saw a black woodpecker at the end of this road towards La Robardais
- Allée Forestière de La souliers. Close to the Rond point de l’etoile heading south along the D15. There is a good patch of open forest hear where we also saw black woodpecker
Golfe de Morihan
Duer - Nice little reserve with a small wood and a hide overlooking some salt flats
Near St Armel - Another reserve overlooking some salt pools with lots of avocets and stilts
Target species
Bluethroat - Saw and heard at various locations.
Black woodpecker - Saw in the Foret de Gavre, but you will have to search hard and have a bit of good fortune.
Middle spotted woodpecker - Didn't see or hear in the Foret de Gavre
Hawfinch - Saw one in the Foret de Gavre
Savi's warbler - Heard a couple of times but didn't see.
Wood warbler - Didn't see or hear any of these in the Foret de Gavre
Other species of note
Purple Heron Only saw one, briefly in flight at the Port de Chaussee Neuve.
Great Egret Saw two or three
Sacred Ibis One at the Port de Chaussee Neuve and several in a field
Cattle Egret Saw these briefly from the car on the D51 between La Chapelle-des-Marais and St Lypard
Garganey A pair in a channel behind the leisure pond at St Lyphard
Marsh Harrier Seen very frequently in the Briere
Night Heron Fairly common flying over the Briere