Birds are the easiest wild animals to spot. Often you hear them first. A screen has been installed along the edge of a pond for you to watch them close up. The screen was built to foster favourable conditions for the birds, for example it has been placed away from the trail to make sure the birds are not disturbed.
Almost 115 species have been observed on the marsh. About 80 of them come regularly, either to nest or to rest during migration and / or to spend the winter here. Several species can be easily observed over and around the water and along the marsh path, but you need to know where they are, they each have their own little spot.
Coots are to be seen in the middle of the pond, but will then flee the slightest whiff of danger by hiding with the common moorhen among the trees growing on the bank. Grey herons will sleep on the islets, waiting for fish. Mallard ducks will swim over to a bank for a sleep or to preen themselves dry. They spend most of their time on the pond, as do the small little grebe that come to nest in the summer. In the distance, kestrels hang-glide above the meadows. Finally, you might well hear the shrill cry of a kingfisher which, if you are lucky, will come to land on a branch one or two metres from the water hoping for fish to pass by.
The species to be found on the site
Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
Mallard Anas platyrhunchos
Coot Fulica atra
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
MARSHLAND KID
“Chés pleumes ed mounieux” (feathers of birds)
"As I roam the marsh, I sometimes find feathers that birds have lost. They seem to lose them often, but they always have plenty left on them. Looking at them close up, feathers are fascinating: a row of strands, held together by means of small hooks. You can unhook them then press them back together again. The other day I was watching a mother duck with her ducklings. She began to wash her feathers, nibbling each one with her bill to clean it then groom it back into place. Then she rubbed the back of her head several times and then smoothed over the small feathers of her body. I read in a book that they press a gland, to produce a kind of fat, that they coat their plumage with to make it waterproof.