A Wonderland of Wild Birds

Take a trip along the Canal Rhône Sète and you will see a lot of human activity, especially in summer. From leisure users on the banks , chiefly fishermen, joggers , and cyclists to many different kinds of boats. There are private craft and tourist boats; local fishing boats ; and occasionally a giant barge transporting materials between the River Rhône and Sète. These barges are so enormous that I cower as we cross paths.

But if you are wise, you will travel down the canal at day break, as we did the other day in order to catch the lifting bridge at Frontignan. We were returning from Maguelone to our mooring near the étang, and what a different world was revealed to us . For that is when you will see the true proprietors of this beautiful stretch of water. Forget all human activity. This realm of canal, marshland and lagoons really belongs to the birds, and early morning is when they are revealed in all their quiet splendour.

By far the most common bird is the yellow legged gull ( goeland marin.) These large birds line the dyke walls , watching us solemnly as we pass , like older men, passing their days on a park bench. In spring and summer you will see these birds nesting, or gathered in small family groups, but now their dark mottled youngsters stand alone and independent. But please don't think of these beautiful snow white breasted birds as scavengers, with their beautiful black and white tail feathers and red spotted beaks . They are nothing like the gulls you will see in fishing ports, stealing tourists' chips, or fish scraps discarded by fishing boats. Here they are king, and have no need to steal or beg.

Amongst other sea birds you will see along here are the graceful tern, as it dives like an arrow into the canal to spear a fish, or the smaller black headed gull. which in France is known as la mouette rieuse (the laughing gull.)

In my recent blogs I have bemoaned the reduction in wildlife that we have witnessed. But as we passed along the canal that morning, I felt enormously cheered to see some species in greater number than we have seen for quite some time. Large flocks of flamingos squawked and dabbled in the shallow lagoons along the way , while lone egrets and herons watched us warily from the stony walls of the dyke.

The canal attracts many other birds too, like the smaller turnstones; swallows that skim over the water , especially near dusk ; and the occasional large cormorant. But one bird was sadly absent , and for me, this is the most beautiful bird of all. The black winged stilt (échasse blanche) is a delicate bird with long spindly red legs, a plaintive call , black and white plumage , and a spear like beak , just perfect for catching fish. We know just where to spot it in the marshes around Maguelone, where it looks like a delicate ballerina as it picks its way through the shallow water. But not to worry, for this elusive bird was certainly around when we were here earlier this summer. At the end of August it flies back to Africa. Come April, we hope to hear it yet again as it flies in from the south .

As Frontignan came into view ahead, we were in plenty of time for the lifting bridge to let us pass underneath. There were only two other hire boats waiting as we arrived. Just like migrating birds, it is time for the tourists to return home.