8th - Sunny and warm but cooler than in recent weeks. An early morning trip to the Phare de Gacholle with various stops along the eastern shore of the Vaccares on the way back in search of returning migrant waders amongst other things. The water level on the lagoons by the pumping station was probably too deep but a pair of Common Sandpipers were feeding along the shore and Flamingoes numbered around 500. I drove to the Phare de Gacholle and only spotted single Kentish Plover and Green Sandpiper on the adjacent lagoon plus upwards of 30 Yellow Wagtails along the track. A walk to the next lagoon to the south and here were 40+ Kentish Plovers, many on nests, 15 Little Ringed Plovers, 8 Common Sandpipers and 2 Dunlin. I returned to the bridge by the sluice gate and scoped the lagoon to the North where at least 200 Avocets were feeding along with 2 Ruff, 3 Curlews, 3 Oystercatchers, several Shelduck and at least one Spotted Redshank. A Caspian Tern and several Linnets flew over as I was returning to the car. On the return journey I stopped at Amphise where a group of 12 Crested Larks were feeding and 3 Little Terns and a Bee-eater flew over. A stop by the pumping station had allowed me close-up views of a Purple Heron fishing. Next stop was at the Etang de Tour du Valat where I spotted a group of 12 Spoonbills and a couple of Cormorants, one of which was the north African race lucidus. I waited here for over an hour and had a single Kentish Plover, 8 Whiskered Terns, another Caspian Tern, a Gull-billed Tern, a Cuckoo, 10+ Yellow Wagtails (flava) and an adult Short-toed Eagle that gave excellent views overhead. I also witnessed a contretemps between a Black Kite and a male Marsh Harrier in which the kite was obviously intruding on the harrier's territory so the harrier attacked the kite and at one time this involved interlocking their talons and doing a spiralling fall that was very impressive. Further north I managed to hear a Sardinian Warbler and see Fan-tailed, Cetti's, Reed and Melodious.Unfortunately rare waders were just that.