Observer les oiseaux en baie d’Audierne (Finistère)

The Baie d’Audierne, situated in the Finistere French department, in the south-west of the Brittany region, is an area of international importance for breeding, passage and wintering birds. Several marshes and lagoons (Trunvel, Kergalan, Nérizélec, Saint-Vio) are separated from the sea by sand-dunes.
The extensive reedbeds of the Trunvel laggon hold breeding Little Bittern, Zitting Cisticola, Reed and Sedge Warblers as well as Bearded Tit and Reed Bunting. Marsh Harrier is a year-round resident, and the Great Bittern and the Purple Heron used to breed. Other breeding species include Kentish Plover and Northern Lapwing and the scrub holds a few pairs of Dartford Warblers. Laridae are numerous in winter, which also sees the arrival of good numbers of waterfowl such as Eurasian Wigeon, Gadwall, Common Teal, Northern Pintail and Northern Shoveler as well as Common Shelduck, Tufted Duck and Common Pochard. Hen Harrier and Merlin hunt over the area in winter. Most of the regular waders of north-western Europe occur on passage and in winter and autumn occasionally brings reports of vagrant American species. This is one of the most regular sites in France for the globally rare Aquatic Warbler.
In the south of the Bay, the Pointe de la Torche is a regular place in autumn for the Dotterel and the Buff-breasted Sandpiper. There are other good birding spots in the baie d’Audierne, such as the Kergalan laggon which can be reached by following the sand beach northward from the Trunvel lake, the Nérizélec lake near Plovan, and the Saint-Vio lake situated near the village of Sait-Vio.