Slowing Down in Creux du Van / Private Tour with Roxane & Alex
Le Creux du Van is a spot well known to the public thanks to its cliff cirque. Subject to dizziness, I decide to arrive earlier than our guests to check the condition of the path.
This is an opportunity to observe here and there as a scout. Between showers and fog, a few migratory passerines are heard. A small group of Yellow Buntings is observed in a pasture.
Photo Loris Bono
Completely soaked, I'm going to take shelter before welcoming Alex and Roxane from Valais... and they will arrive chasing away the rain. Thanks to them!
We then begin our walk in the pastures in search of migratory birds, the visibility is not great but the atmosphere is superb! After a few steps we arrive at a small rocky outcrop with some spruce trees and a meadow with livestock. The activity is quite intense, a Common Skylark lands and can be observed through a telescope. Dozens of Common Chaffinches move back and forth between the branches and the ground. On a rock, it is a young Green Woodpecker feeding in the open. A rather nice observation given the shy nature of the species. We will even have the chance to observe a second juvenile individual before they disappear into the fog. A few groups of Red Crossbills fly over us, some individuals perching on the tops of the conifers.
As you approach the cliff and the void, you have the opportunity to observe the local rock species. A nice peak of activity of the elegant Alpine Swifts delights us with a rather pleasant proximity for a species usually quite high in the sky. A few Eurasian Crag-Martins join the ballet and allow us to clearly distinguish the differences in silhouette and hunting of these two rock species. The numerous Common Kestrels bicker among the cries of the Common Raven. A first distant altercation reveals a slender but skillful male European Sparrowhawk being harassed by kestrels.
A few minutes later, a second similar scene takes place above our heads but with a bird of prey larger than the falcons this time... a female Sparrowhawk. Quite nice to observe the sexual dimorphism of this discreet species of forest raptor. Further down, chamois appear in the telescope.
Photo Loris Bono
It’s really cold for August and the light is fading, but we discover a group of ibexes in the distance. A little later, we are faced with a young ibex who allows himself to be photographed without being disturbed in the slightest. Beautiful photos of this youngster feeding peacefully.
Photo Loris Bono
It was therefore a very nice wildlife tour at Creux du Van with our 2 guests. Lots of sightings, very varied, and in magnificent atmospheres.
Loris
Guide Salva Fauna