Parisian Adventures

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 1/10^th 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!

The Eiffel Tower!

Paris!

The delicious salted macaroons!

The Arc de Triomphe

Obviously a mission to Eastern Europe sometime in the future is in order to track down our elusive Middle-spotteds and the other European woodpecker delights!