13th - Another early morning trip to Mas d'Agon and Vaccares today. In the flooded rice fields north of Mas d'Agon I spotted a flock of 12 Cattle Egrets and a single Glossy Ibis feeding. This seems to be a regular spot to find the ibis at this time of year. A Purple Heron also flew over here. Further south by the main lagoons I had a great view of a Squacco Heron as it hunted at the water's edge and many Little and Great Egrets were seen at the far side of the eastern lagoon engaged in the same pursuit. A small copse of trees near the road produced both adult and juvenile Night Herons perched unobtrusively - probably at their roosting site! A female Marsh Harrier was seen quartering the reedbed to the west and then a male Sparrowhawk suddenly flew down the small canal, missing me by a couple of feet! If it was hoping to surprise an unsuspecting sparrow or finch it was out of luck! A good number (40+) of Whiskered Terns were hunting over the lagoons as usual and these were joined by a pair of juvenile Caspian Terns, at least 4 Gull-billed Terns and a single Common Tern. A flock of 24 Bee-eaters then appeared and began perching in the same trees as the Night Herons. A Kingfisher called and flew over and I managed to spot a pair of Little Grebes on the lagoon amongst around 20 Great Crested Grebes. Next stop was along the eastern shore of Vaccares where I saw 2 Common Sandpipers feeding, a Buzzard over, a single juvenile Lapwing, and a number of Common and Little Terns feeding over the lake. Visible migration was obvious here with at least 60 Sand Martins making their way south alongside the Barn Swallows and House Martins. At the Etang de TdV I saw several Gadwall and Mallard on the water. In the garrigue next to the road a Yellow Wagtail was easily spotted and a female Reed Bunting flew over. Five minutes later an adult Short-toed Eagle began soaring over the lake giving excellent views. It hung in the breeze for minutes on end without any wing movement as is characteristic with this species. At least 2 Fan-tailed Warblers were calling  and a pair of Crested Larks perched on a fence by the road. Then a most unusual sighting for this area - a flock of 12 Collared Pratincoles flew over the road heading east! This is the first time I have seen this species away from Mas d'Agon, Gimeaux or the Pont des Tourradons! The journey back to Arles produced a single Green Woodpecker over and at least 4 Rollers perched on conspicuous lookouts.