12th - Another warm and sunny day today for our visit to the Petit Camargue - more specifically the Etang du Charnier and the Pont des Tourradons. On the journey we passed the derelict mill with a White Stork's nest on top. The female was sitting on the nest but no evidence of any young around yet ! The etang held at least 80 Mute Swans on arrival, a good percentage of which were juveniles. Terns were much in evidence with upwards of 15 Little Terns, 2 or 3 Whiskered Terns and 30+ Common Terns. We noticed a good number of Purple Herons in flight, 5 were seen in the first hour. Suddenly one of our party spotted a pair of Glossy Ibis gliding gracefully over the lake. Unfortunately they landed just out of view behind a reedbed, however everyone had brief views. We needn't have worried though as another 5 birds were spotted and everyone had good flight and ground views eventually. In addition to these species we noted Little and Cattle Egrets, an obliging Squacco Heron, that landed on the road not 50 metres from the van, and several pairs of Black-winged Stilt. After a while we travelled the short distance to the Pont des Tourradons and en route spotted a Hobby in pursuit of a sparrow, which by some miracle escaped capture! The wet forest at the Pont reverberated with Nightingale song and we managed brief, crippling views of a couple of birds. A Night Heron was disturbed from its roost site and was less than impressed as it had to find alternative accommodation. We then heard a Reed Warbler and managed to get decent views of it but the Cetti's Warbler was not as obliging. A Fan tailed Warbler sang overhead just as a juvenile Short-toed Eagle glided slowly over, again giving great views. In addition, we managed around 300 Flamingoes, 30 Mediterranean Gulls and a Willow Warbler. Finally, as we left, a Kingfisher led the way along the road in front of the van! A bizarre sight! As we travelled back to base I noted 2 Rollers perched on trees at Gimeaux.