Parcours découverte loir et cher, oiseaux de nos fermes et de nox vignobles , Val de Loire
lpo loir et cher

Domaine de la Méchinière
FORGUES Valérie
La Méchinière - 22, route de Saint Aignan - 41110 Mareuil sur Cher



Sign 1 - Présentation

 

Dear Friends
Thank you for deciding to come and take a look around this farm, using a marked path which will allow you to become better acquainted with this peaceful environment in which birds develop and plants grow, some of which are of species which you may not know.

Don’t forget that you are a guest of nature and should respect it by observing a silence which will
enable you to listen to the melodious songs of our friends the birds, getting to know more about their behaviour.

Your host will give you all the information you need to better understand the world of agriculture and viticulture and the efforts being made to work in harmony with the environment.

This action has a number of objectives:

  • Rebuild the links between the people of town and country
  • Make the greatest number possible of people aware of the flora and fauna, and improve their knowledge of them.  
  • Make people aware of the fragile equilibrium of biodiversity.
  • Let people know about the ways used by certain actors in the rural world to conserve the countryside and enable them to discover an agricultural environment which remains little known and possibly much misunderstood by townspeople.
  • Encourage conventional farmers to embrace the same efforts as used by their colleagues in organic agriculture and “agriculture raisonnée” (in which chemical inputs are used minimally) in order to preserve biodiversity.
  • Maintain or develop family farms’ direct (‘farm-gate’) sales. 

HUPPE FASCIÉE / HUPPOE

(Upupa epops)

One of the most remarkable of birds, with colourful feathers, a long, lightly-curved beak and of course its crest (upupa also means “pick axe”), and the stripes on its wings and tail.

MORPHOLOGY / FLIGHT

Length : 26-28 cm - weight: 60 à 75gr - longevity: 5 à 10 ans

Direct, slightly undulating, irregular

HABITAT

Cultivated land and open, grassy areas with groves, hedges, bushes.

Often found amongst vines and in orchards.

FOOD

Searches the ground walking, pecking at insects, larvae, worms, grasshoppers, butterflies.

NEST

In holes in trees or walls, rather dirty with a strong smell (its French nickname, pu-pu, may come from this, or from its song, “hoo-poo-poo”.

The female lays between 5 and 8 eggs between April and July over a period of 16-19 days.

She incubates her eggs on her own.

STATUS

Protected species

MIGRATION

Migratory

Summer visitor from April to September.

More abundant south of the Loire than to the north. Spends the winter as far away as the south of the Sahara.

PRESENCE

April - May - June - July - August - September

BECOMING

Not endangered

SIZE : Small

Chant :

Hear the song on Oiseaux.net: http://www.oiseaux.net/oiseaux/huppe.fasciee.html

POUILLOT VELOCE / COMMON CHIFFCHAFF

(Phylloscopus collybita)

The bird is a small, light ball of feathers which never stays still, fluttering about constantly, hopping from branch to branch and pecking here and there.

MORPHOLOGY / FLIGHT

Length: 11cm - Weight: 6 to 9g - Wingspan: 15 to 21cm

Simple, gentle, easy-to-memorize song (repeated notes).

Hovers when feeding, catching insects on bushes and vegetation in general.

HABITAT

Not very demanding: mixed woodlands, large hedges, parks and gardens, coniferous forests in the North. Prefers to be near a bright clearing than in dense forest.

FOOD

Insects and spiders collected in branches and on leaves, seeds and berries.

NEST

Nesting: April to July. Clutches: one, sometimes two per season.

Eggs: 5 to 6 white eggs with purplish brown spots.

Incubation: 13 to 14 days by the female.

Nest: on or near the ground, in the heart of a thicket.

Hollow ball of grasses, leaves and moss, lined with feathers.

Built by the female. Fledge: 10 to 19 days.

STATUS

Species not endangered. Classified as a «minor concern» on the IUCN Red List (French Committee of the International Union for Nature Conservation).

MIGRATION

Partial migrant. After a complete moult, it winters in the South and West of Europe, Southern Asia and North Africa. Returns in spring, often settling in willows.

PRESENCE

March - April - May - June - July - August - September

BECOMING

Common and widespread.

Subject to predation by mammals such as cats and weasels, birds of the crow family, especially magpies, and birds of prey such as goshawks and sparrowhawks.

Vulnerable to intestinal parasites and ticks.

SIZE : Very small

Chant :

Hear the song from the cd "Écouter pour voir les oiseaux" :



Merci au CORIF (Centre ornithologique Île-de-France) pour la mise à disposition des enregistrements. http://www.corif.net/

Read more on Oiseaux.net: http://www.oiseaux.net/oiseaux/pouillot.veloce.html



 

Have a very nice walk

This course was realised by LPO 41 group in partnership with :

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