Seeing scarce birds in autumn in northern France

With thousands of songbirds following its shoreline south, as well as seabirds being funnelled into the English Channel, the northernmost coast of France is one of the best places in Europe to witness bird migration in autumn. Along with several resident species difficult to see in Britain, its proximity makes the French Channel coast an extremely attractive prospect for the birder who wants to see or find scarcities and rarities.

 

Good birds are found as soon as you step off the ferry at Calais or Dunkirk. Port environs hold Crested Lark and Zitting Cisticola, and are also migration hot-spots. Woods such as Bois de Blériot-Plage to the west of Calais regularly hold Yellow-browed Warbler and have produced rarities such as Olive-backed Pipit and Red-flanked Bluetail, with warblers and chats pouring through in numbers, even in the town parks. Nearby Platier d’Oye has Black-winged Stilt, and in October is a good place to look for Shore Lark and Snow and Lapland Buntings. In the port complex of Dunkirk, all the grebes and divers are possible, while terns should be passing in September and the hedgerows lure in numerous songbirds.

 

Cap Griz-nez is a world-renowned seawatching location and has an astonishing visible migration of thrushes, finches and other passerines. The region’s crowning reserve, Marquenterre, in the Somme Bay, is at its best in autumn, with spectacular movements of waders, resident Kentish Plover and Great Egret, nearly all European wader species passing through, up to 400 Spoonbills and White and Black Storks in numbers.

 

 

 

 

All along coast are relatively unwatched dune systems providing cover for migrants, allowing you to lose yourself for hours searching for them. However, should the allure of migration pall the region’s larger woodlands hold year-round 

Firecrest, Crested Tit and Black and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. With good-quality affordable accommodation throughout and world-class birding sites to explore, September and October are key months to visit this jewel of a coast.