Enjoying a long weekend in Paris,
we took a break from sightseeing and spent an afternoon in the Bois de Bolougne
searching for the Middle Spotted Woodpeckers that are often reported from the
woodlands in this inner city oasis. On arriving however, it was clear the
parkland was much bigger than we anticipated and a far cry from the suburban
park with limited decorative large trees that we were expecting!
After 2 hours searching the area we
had only managed to explore around 1/10th of the total size, having
covered just the top section (on arriving back and comparing sizes, it became
apparent that the Bois de Bolougne is actually a third bigger than Central Park
itself!!)
With only 2 Great Spotteds and no
Middle Spotted Woodpeckers in sight and our feet aching, we admitted defeat,
while the rough terrain and huge distance ensured that dragging a suitcase
around the next morning wouldn’t be practical in the slightest.
However, despite our
disappointment, we did enjoy great views of several Firecrests and Marsh Tits
in the trees, along with a nice Crested Tit found by Alex in the parkland near
the water – crazy to imagine this species in that sort of city habitat when we’re
used to them being restricted to the Scottish pineland forests back in Britain!
Really interesting as to why they never made it over to England when they are
so widespread in Europe.
Despite this, the sights in Paris
were amazing, and I now have a new found weakness for salted caramel macaroons!
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| The Eiffel Tower! |
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| Paris! |
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| The delicious salted macaroons! |
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| The Arc de Triomphe |
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