Fontainebleau Forest

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France

Overview

Within easy reach of Paris and the Autoroute du Soleil, this area of extensive woodlands is heavily used for all kinds of recreation and suffers from the intensification of forestry practices but remains home to a good selection of typical lowland birds.

In addition to coniferous, mixed and deciduous forest the area has open grassland, heath and small patches of wetland.

Birds

Notable Species

Woodpeckers are well represented with Black Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker and Middle Spotted Woodpecker present as well as more widespread species.

Raptors include Common Buzzard and Western Honey Buzzard, Eurasian Goshawk, Eurasian Sparrowhawk and Northern Hobby and other breeders include Wryneck and European Nightjar.

Passerines include most of the commoner woodland species of northern Europe as well as Common Treecreeper and Short-toed Treecreeper, Common Firecrest, Crested Tit, Western Bonelli's Warbler and Hawfinch.

There is also a small population of Reeves's Pheasant which may be temporarily established here. Spring is the most productive time to visit this forest and it is a popular stop-over point for birders heading south to the Mediterranean.

Check-list

Birds you can see here include:

European Honey Buzzard, Eurasian Goshawk, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Northern Hobby, Reeves's Pheasant, Stock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, European Turtle Dove, Common Cuckoo, Tawny Owl, European Nightjar, Eurasian Wryneck, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Black Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Wood Lark, Tree Pipit, Common Wren, Dunnock, Eurasian Robin, Common Nightingale, Common Redstart, Eurasian Blackbird, Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Melodious Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Western Bonelli's Warbler, Wood Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Common Firecrest, Spotted Flycatcher, European Pied Flycatcher, Long-tailed Tit, Marsh Tit, Willow Tit, Crested Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Nuthatch, Common Treecreeper, Short-toed Treecreeper, Red-backed Shrike, Common Jay, Common Magpie, Common Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Brambling, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin, Eurasian Linnet, Common Bullfinch, Hawfinch, Yellowhammer

Other Wildlife

To do

Site Information

History and Use

To do

Areas of Interest

To the north are two nature reserves, La Tillaie and Le Gros-Fouteau which both hold a good range of species. To reach this area leave the A6 at Ury and head for Fontainebleau on the N152.

Access and Facilities

Fontainebleau lies about 60km south-east of Paris and just east of the Autoroute du Soleil. The forest, covering about 170km2, almost surrounds the town and there is a good network of roads making exploration easy.

Although most of the birds are distributed throughout the forest there are several well-known "hotspots" most of which are found within 5km of the southern edge of the town.

Contact Details

To do

External Links

• Fontainebleau on Google Maps

Content and images originally posted by Steve