Birders holiday location in the South of France - Bird Watching
Many thanks to Bo at Fat Birder.com for his comments, general friendliness and a site that carries possibly all the information on Birds and Bird watching you could ever need!
The Self Catering Holiday Gite is situated in Mazamet on the edge of the Black Mountains (Montagne Noire) these mountains rise to 4000 metres and are the home of many species. We are quite often kept awake by the sounds of Owls in the hills barely 200 metres from the Holiday Gite. The Gite is about 1 hours drive from the Mediterranean which provides additional bird watching opportunities.
Birds are plentiful in the Tarn / Languedoc, and especially in the region of Montagne Noire, it is quite possible to see eagles soaring overhead along with the more common birds like swifts, black redstarts (who give a red flash from their tail when taking flight), the multi coloured bee-eaters, hoopoes with their large crest, many owls and often partridges running in the undergrowth.
Minerve is worth visiting for the stunning scenery and a great selection of birds. Situated in the hills to the north-east of Capestang the town is built around a natural rock bridge and there are deep gorges cutting through the rock plateau. The cliffs have Alpine Swift, Crag Martin and Rock Sparrow and the scarce Wallcreeper (Wall Creeper) is a winter visitor.
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Moving Closer to the Pyrenees (1 1/2 hours drive)
Birds
Sightings could include short-toed eagle, peregrine, alpine swift, black woodpecker, woodlark, crag martin, water pipit, black-bellied dipper, crested tit, red-backed shrike and citril finch.
Butterflies
Boasting more than 40 species: Moroccan Orange-Tip, Black-Veined White, Cleopatra, Clouded & Pale Clouded Yellows, Large & Provencal Short-Tailed Blues, Green Hairstreak, Queen of Spain and Pearl-Bordered Fritillaries, Large Wall Browns, Pearly Heath, Piedmont Ringlet and Red-Underwing Skipper.
