7th - We decided to take a brief trip to Vercors Nature Park in search of specialist mountain species. Our base for the 2 days was Villard de Lans which was in the north of the park. The weather was bright and sunny although we had a brief shower on the Wednesday evening. The journey on the A7 turned up 2 Nutcrackers flying over the road which was a good start. An exploration of the high alpine meadows around the town lead to me spotting 4 Alpine Choughs that glided overhead for at least 5 minutes. The yellow bills were clearly visible on all the birds and they glided in pairs giving an excellent demonstration of aerobatics ( see attached video!). A short walk also produced Yellowhammer, Crested Tit, 3 Coal Tits, 6 Chaffinches, 5 Serins, Willow Warbler and 2 Goldcrests. Driving higher into the peaks I had a walk into the coniferous woodland which produced several Robins and Blackbirds, the possible call of a Hazel Grouse, a pair of Redstarts, a pair of Black Redstarts, 2 Jays and a pair of Bullfinches. We returned to the same area as dusk approached in search of owls but saw nothing.

ALPINE CHOUGHS