22nd - Today we travelled up into the Haute Alpes in search of a very rare French bird, the Black-headed Bunting. As we went north on the A51 I spotted a Green Woodpecker almost collide with a lorry ! The plateau de Valensole was wonderfully sunny and hot and a brief stop for food allowed me to spot several Serins and Goldfinches. We descended the steep valley down to Brunet and within minutes I had seen a female Red-footed Falcon as it posed in a tree close to the road. The roadside wires were full of singing Corn Buntings and a brief stop produced a singing Quail from an overgrown field. A Hoopoe was spotted in the road then 2 male Red-backed Shrikes were seen on fenceposts plus a Subalpine Warbler in a bush. A Chiffchaff was heard singing from nearby woodland. A little further along the road a couple of roadside trees stood between crop fields and here I heard the characteristic song I had been waiting for. The first tree produced a singing male Ortolan Bunting but the second had a male Black-headed Bunting singing from the very top ! In fact as I scanned the fields I spotted another male and at least 3 female birds. I managed to get several digiscoped pictures plus a video of the male bird singing from the tree. Magic ! On the journey home I spotted a Buzzard, Black Kite and a pair of White Storks. A wonderful day.