Birding in France - Day 6

Birding in France VI

3 - 9 April 2026

In order to visit family, we decided to go to France, for a short week in early April 2026, and during this week, I will try see as many interesting bird species as possible. We will be spending most of our time in Brittany, in the North-West of France. 

Wednesday April 8 2026

Today, since it is our last full day in France, we decided to go to Lavau-Sur-Loire, with our main target being the rare, but increasing, Black-winged Kite.

When we arrived, it was quite hot, over 25°C. Soon after arrived, we heard some Cetti's Warblers, and some Zitting Cisticolas. Before long, we arrived at the reedbeds, where we very quickly got Sedge Warbler, and, a new bird for the trip, Savi's Warbler, as one was singing right next to the path. Soon after, I saw a dark shape in the reeds. As I lifted my binoculars I saw that this bird was a Bluethroat! We managed to get slightly better views of it when we walked closer, and I got a few photos through my telescope.

Bluethroat (White-spotted)

The many Bluethroats we saw were of the subspecies Luscinia svecica cyanecula, the White-spotted Bluethroat. This subspecies differs from the Red-spotted race, in having a namesake white spot on its blue throat.

Bluethroat

We then reached the observatory, where we were hoping to see a Black-winged Kite, though sadly, there weren't any. There were instead a couple Redshanks, and a Linnet. On our way back to the car, we saw a couple Whitethroats, some White Storks, and some Buzzards. I also managed to get an audio recording of a Water Rail.

Birding near Lavau-Sur-Loire

This being my final post about our birding in France in April 2026, I will add the link to our eBird Trip Report, where we attached all the species we saw during the trip and a few photos, too.

https://ebird.org/tripreport/496592