birds of the Languedoc Archives

Mas des Amandiers, Ortaffa, Pyrénées-Orientales

Mas des Amandiers offers self-catering accommodation for four people on three hectares of oak woodland and grassland

In the countryside south of Perpignan, this newly fitted out self-catering holiday rental can accommodate four people: one double bedroom and one bunk room.
The property is situated on three hectares of oak woodland and grassland, near the Albères hills that form the Eastern end of the Pyrenees, close to the Mediterranean Sea, Spain and the Pyrenees.
Book a week (or two!) in the spring and join some of the Birding Languedoc day trips to make the most of a birdwatching holiday to the area!

Plenty of birdwatching on site!

An amazing 90 bird species have been recorded from the property with 24 species nesting here including Golden oriole, Woodchat shrike, Bonellis warbler and Nightjar. The property is just 30 minutes’ drive from Etang de Canet with its Flamingos, an hour’s easy drive to the Aiguamolls wetland reserve over the border in Spain and only one hour to the high Pyrenees (vultures, Golden eagles). There are several good migration spots nearby too, adding even more birdwatching interest in spring and late summer. Seasonal home grown produce is available from our orchard and veggie patch.

We are a French/English couple and look forward to welcoming you to the Mas des Amandiers. For more photos, information and booking you can click here, or contact us directly by e-mail.

We can pick you up from Perpignan rail station if necessary.

BL Autumn social gathering 2023

The 2023 Birding Languedoc Autumn Social Gathering

Many thanks to all the lovely of people who attended our second annual gathering at the village hall in Saint Frichoux on Sunday November 5th, and sorry that some of you couldn’t make it! After coffee and biscuits, Philippa gave a presentation about Birding Languedoc / La Nature du Sud, with a quick recap of the highlights of 2023 and an overview of what is planned for 2024. The 2024 programme includes 12 birding day trips, (bookings are now open) and three (possibly four) residential trips. Also various Escapades (short trips away) and possible extras such as a Wildlife Photography course and a Pelagic trip. This was followed by a very interesting presentation covering 20 years of results of an annual survey of common birds called the STOC (Suivi Temporel des Oiseaux Communs). Karline Martorell (our main BL guide) teased out some of the more surprising results – highlighting some of the species in decline and the ones on the rise. She also highlighted the difference between the results for France and the results for Occitanie. The results were a bit scary… but interesting nonetheless. You can download a copy of Karline’s presentation here. We are also keen to share information about what the general public can do to help curb the decline in some species. More on this soon!

If you weren’t able to join us this year, we very much hope you can make it for our annual gathering in November 2024!

Wildlife Occitanie – a great success

At last year’s meeting we all agreed that it would be good to have somewhere to share what we have seen. This gave rise to the very successful Wildlife Occitanie Facebook group page, where those interested in all kinds of wildllife can share photos and ask for help with identifying what they have seen.

An unexpected range of habitats & species

After a delicious lunch washed down by some equally delicious wine from Les Fenals near Leucate (they have Hoopoe and Golden oriole around the property most years!) – Niall Corbet had the difficult* task of presenting a slideshow illustrating the surprising range of habitats and species he had not been expecting when coming to live in the south of France two and a half years ago! (*difficult because after lunch is always the hard spot with people nodding off!).

La Calade b&b, Montouliers, Hérault

La Calade offers B&B accommodation in Montouliers, Hérault – but you can also rent the whole house

At La Calade you will find 4 beautiful, sunny bedrooms. All of them have fabulous en-suite bathrooms. You can also enjoy the large bright lounge, dining room, kitchen and sunny garden. The rooms can be booked separately or all together to make the most of spending time with family and friends

You’ll be made to feel welcome as soon as you arrive at La Calade and you’ll be well looked after during your stay – enjoy a freshly prepared breakfast in the secluded garden, discover local wine during a wine-tasting in the bar area or spend an evening chatting over a sharing platter.

Enjoy some amazing birdwatching in the area!

From Montouliers you can easily get to Minerve where from mid November to March you have a chance of seeing Wallcreeper, Crag martin, Blue rock thrush, and depending on water levels Dipper, Grey wagtail and Kingfisher. In the spring and summer a whole range of birds return to breed in this area including Golden oriole, Roller, Bee eater and Great spotted cuckoo on the Aude River Plain. The reed beds at Portiragnes and the coastal lagoons of the Narbonnaise offer different habitats again. Here you might spot Great reed warbler and Penduline tit amongst others. Or check out the Flamingoes and other shorebirds and waders in Gruissan.

You will find plenty more resources for independant birdwatching in the DIY birding section of this website. And why not book yourselves in at La Calade and join us for a couple of day trips! You will find the day trip programme on the Calendar page.

Find out more and make a booking directly with La Calade B&B.

Thekla’s lark

French name: Cochevis de Thékla

Scientific name: Galerida theklae

Interesting information

This species is very similar to the Crested lark. To distinguish them, the Thekla’s lark has a shorter beak with pectoral stripes that are more distinct than the Crested lark. In its strongholds, identification is simplified by knowing where one is found without the other!

Call and song

The song is very close to that of the Crested lark, but the Thekla’s song is more fluted and with shorter sentences.

Distribution and habitat

If the Crested lark can be found in garrigue habitat as well as in agricultural plain, the Thekla’s lark will prefer more wild scrubland and dry steppes. It requires very open landscape with dry grassland where it will make its nest on the ground. The nest is well camouflaged in the Brachypodium retusum or bunch grass. This species is strictly Mediterranean with populations confined to the Aude and the Pyrénées-Orientales. The population strongholds are very localised in the limestone hills of the coastal Corbières, Villesèque-des-Corbières, Port-la-Nouvelle, Salses and Rivesaltes.

Distribution maps: region and county

Breeding birds Atlas – Languedoc Roussillon (2012-2021) – source: faune-lr.org

Breeding birds Atlas – Aude (2012) – source: LPO11

Conservation status and population trends

The French population is estimated at 270 to 430 pairs. But numbers are declining across the species’ distribution. For example, in the Corbieres hills, there was a 26% decrease in the number of pairs between 1996 and 2009. With this decline and low numbers, the Thekla’s lark is now considered to be in danger on both the national and regional red lists.

When to see this species in the Languedoc-Roussillon

The Thekla’s lark is visible all year round. Like most sedentary breeders, it is more demonstrative in spring. The graph below shows the average numbers of Thekla’s lark seen in the Languedoc by month.