Bird watching near Limoges France? (3 Viewers)

[NeilDJarvis]

Hi I spend part of the year in Rugby UK where
there are lots of really good birdwatching sites
(Draycote, Stanford, Pittsford to name but a few)
but I am struggling to find good places near
Limoges In central France where I also live for part
of the year. If anybody had any recommendations I would
be really grateful to know. There are quite a lot
of small lakes but not much activity. Thanks Neil
(Je suis bilingue si vous souhaitez répondre en
Français - merci)

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Hi Neil and welcome to BirdForum. Hopefully one of our members with local knowledge will be along soon.

Rich

 

[Richard Prior]

Hi Neil,

Looking in the recently-published Where to Watch Birds in France I find the well-known La Brenne area is about 90kms north of Limoges.
To the south they talk about an area off the N721 towards Thiviers, a couple of reservoirs and an interesting plateau. However no sites mentioned near Limoges
The site: www.faune-limousin.eu will be a useful tool for you to use to check on what's about in the Haute Vienne département, for example I see there's a Siberian Chiffchaff in Limoges (for two months now) . The link to the recent sightings page follows, good luck!:
https://www.faune-limousin.eu/index...ffset&sp_DOffset=2&sp_SChoice=category&sp_Cat[never]=1&sp_Cat[veryrare]=1&sp_Cat[rare]=1&sp_Cat[unusual]=1&sp_Cat[escaped]=1&sp_Cat[common]=1&sp_Cat[verycommon]=1&sp_cC=-8&sp_FChoice=list&sp_FGraphFormat=auto&sp_FMapFormat=none&sp_FDisplay=DATE_PLACE_SPECIES&sp_FOrder=ALPHA&sp_FOrderListSpecies=ALPHA&sp_FListSpeciesChoice=DATA&sp_FOrderSynth=ALPHA&sp_FGraphChoice=DATA&sp_DFormat=DESC&sp_FAltScale=250&sp_FAltChoice=DATA&sp_FExportFormat=XLS

 

[delia todd]

Hi Neil and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.

 

[Chris G6 UXU]

Hello Neil and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.

 

[Fritz73]

Hola Neil! Welcome to Birdforum :t:

 

[KC Foggin]

Howdy Neil and a warm welcome to you :t:

Please join in wherever you like

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum! I'm sure you'll find lots to interest you here, and I hope you enjoy your visits.

 

[osprey123]

Bonjour Neil,
I live about an hour from you near Gueret. If you go onto eBird and enter the Limousin as a search area all the local hotspots will come up. This will give you lists showing what has been seen at these areas and the best time of year to visit. I know there is a sewage farm in Limoges and the river vienne banks are also a good area. Some of the larger lakes north of you also are hotspots.
Bon chance
Mal

 

[Torchepot]

Hi Neil

By a strange coincidence I lived in Bilton many years ago and more recently lived near Limoges for more than a decade.

I struggled to find decent sites near Limoges - depending where you live - St Pardoux Lake can be worth a visit. Tourbière des Dauges looks promising but although I had a lot of walks there I never connected with much of interest except for Bonellis. The best site anywhere near Limoges, in my opinion is Etang de Landes, though as you probably know it’s a fair distance away. Foret des Loches is brilliant for peckers especially the area around the lake but it’s even further away.
The castle in Limoges has had wintering wallcreeper on many occasions (and resident Peregrines) and the botanic gardens nearby has had wintering Alpine Accentor occasionally too. If you’re ever passing through Chatelus le Marcheix in the summer stop by the bridge and hopefully the Crag Martins are still breeding under it. The woods to the East have Black Woodpecker, Honey Buzzard and Black Kite and afaik the local Willow Tits are about as far West as they get in that part of France. There are Black Stork breeding not too far from Limoges but their nest site’s a closely guarded secret. We had them fly right over our our house almost every Spring though. There are some Hornbeam woods in the Monts de Ambazac with regular Hawfinch flocks in the winter.

Hope some of this helps and Bon Courage!

Phil

 

[NeilDJarvis]

Hi Neil,

Looking in the recently-published Where to Watch Birds in France I find the well-known La Brenne area is about 90kms north of Limoges.
To the south they talk about an area off the N721 towards Thiviers, a couple of reservoirs and an interesting plateau. However no sites mentioned near Limoges
The site: www.faune-limousin.eu will be a useful tool for you to use to check on what's about in the Haute Vienne département, for example I see there's a Siberian Chiffchaff in Limoges (for two months now) . The link to the recent sightings page follows, good luck!:
Les 2 derniers jours - www.faune-limousin.eu[never]=1&sp_Cat[veryrare]=1&sp_Cat[rare]=1&sp_Cat[unusual]=1&sp_Cat[escaped]=1&sp_Cat[common]=1&sp_Cat[verycommon]=1&sp_cC=-8&sp_FChoice=list&sp_FGraphFormat=auto&sp_FMapFormat=none&sp_FDisplay=DATE_PLACE_SPECIES&sp_FOrder=ALPHA&sp_FOrderListSpecies=ALPHA&sp_FListSpeciesChoice=DATA&sp_FOrderSynth=ALPHA&sp_FGraphChoice=DATA&sp_DFormat=DESC&sp_FAltScale=250&sp_FAltChoice=DATA&sp_FExportFormat=XLS

Dear Richard
Forgotten I’d signed up on this site! Thank you for taking trouble to reply and useful link. This summer I’ll contact LPO but what I really need to do is find a fellow birdwatcher who knows where to go!
Best wishes
Neil

 

[NeilDJarvis]

Hi Neil,

Looking in the recently-published Where to Watch Birds in France I find the well-known La Brenne area is about 90kms north of Limoges.
To the south they talk about an area off the N721 towards Thiviers, a couple of reservoirs and an interesting plateau. However no sites mentioned near Limoges
The site: www.faune-limousin.eu will be a useful tool for you to use to check on what's about in the Haute Vienne département, for example I see there's a Siberian Chiffchaff in Limoges (for two months now) . The link to the recent sightings page follows, good luck!:
Les 2 derniers jours - www.faune-limousin.eu[never]=1&sp_Cat[veryrare]=1&sp_Cat[rare]=1&sp_Cat[unusual]=1&sp_Cat[escaped]=1&sp_Cat[common]=1&sp_Cat[verycommon]=1&sp_cC=-8&sp_FChoice=list&sp_FGraphFormat=auto&sp_FMapFormat=none&sp_FDisplay=DATE_PLACE_SPECIES&sp_FOrder=ALPHA&sp_FOrderListSpecies=ALPHA&sp_FListSpeciesChoice=DATA&sp_FOrderSynth=ALPHA&sp_FGraphChoice=DATA&sp_DFormat=DESC&sp_FAltScale=250&sp_FAltChoice=DATA&sp_FExportFormat=XLS

Hi Richard
Many. Thanks for your tips here. Forgotten about this forum! This summer I’ll explore LPO but what I really need to do is find a local birdwatcher to show me good sites.
Best wishes
Neil

 

[NeilDJarvis]

Bonjour Neil,
I live about an hour from you near Gueret. If you go onto eBird and enter the Limousin as a search area all the local hotspots will come up. This will give you lists showing what has been seen at these areas and the best time of year to visit. I know there is a sewage farm in Limoges and the river vienne banks are also a good area. Some of the larger lakes north of you also are hotspots.
Bon chance
Mal

Hi Mal
Many. Thanks for your reply. Forgotten about this forum! This summer I’ll explore Le centre d’épuration but what I really need to do is find a local birdwatcher to show me good sites. Maybe we could meet up some time?
Best wishes
Neil

 

[NeilDJarvis]

Hi Neil

By a strange coincidence I lived in Bilton many years ago and more recently lived near Limoges for more than a decade.

I struggled to find decent sites near Limoges - depending where you live - St Pardoux Lake can be worth a visit. Tourbière des Dauges looks promising but although I had a lot of walks there I never connected with much of interest except for Bonellis. The best site anywhere near Limoges, in my opinion is Etang de Landes, though as you probably know it’s a fair distance away. Foret des Loches is brilliant for peckers especially the area around the lake but it’s even further away.
The castle in Limoges has had wintering wallcreeper on many occasions (and resident Peregrines) and the botanic gardens nearby has had wintering Alpine Accentor occasionally too. If you’re ever passing through Chatelus le Marcheix in the summer stop by the bridge and hopefully the Crag Martins are still breeding under it. The woods to the East have Black Woodpecker, Honey Buzzard and Black Kite and afaik the local Willow Tits are about as far West as they get in that part of France. There are Black Stork breeding not too far from Limoges but their nest site’s a closely guarded secret. We had them fly right over our our house almost every Spring though. There are some Hornbeam woods in the Monts de Ambazac with regular Hawfinch flocks in the winter.

Hope some of this helps and Bon Courage!

Phil

Hi Phil
Many thanks for your long and helpful reply. I’d forgotten about this forum! This summer I’ll explore LPO but what I really need to do is find a local birdwatcher to show me good sites. I’ll certainly take a look at Étang des Landes I sometimes go to Egleton, Rutland Water here so about same distance.
Best wishes
Neil