If you enjoy birdwatching make sure to pack your binoculars when you stay here at Orchard Gites.
As well as the permanent residents, you may be lucky enough to spot migratory birds. Whilst staying in Le Pressoir this August, one guest happened to look out of the bathroom window whilst having a shower and was amazed to see several black storks in the neighbouring field! Needless to say, he didn't stay in the shower long but quickly dashed downstairs to get his camera!
It's not that we are unused to large birds; a pair of buzzards nest in the wooded slope nearby and they are often to be seen sit on the fenceposts or telegraph posts along the lane.
Many other, smaller birds of prey are also common in the area.
The smallest resident in the garden is the goldcrest. This tiny bird can be spotted flitting about, searching for insects. Until it was pointed out to me that it is identifiable by it's colourful crest, I had mistaken it for a wren. Only slightly bigger than the goldcrest, wrens are frequently to be seen popping in and out of the garden hedges. Earlier in the Spring, a wren built a nest in the rafters in the barn next to Le Pressoir but sadly the baby birds disappeared one night leaving only an empty nest.
Another 'small brown' bird that made a home in the garden this year was the spotted fly catcher.
Both the Green Woodpecker and the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker can often be seen (and heard) around the gites and Tree Creepers and Nuthatches run up and down the trunks of the fruit trees searching for insects. Jays, which are beautiful but very raucous birds, can be identified by their colourful pink and blue plumage as they busily 'sort things out' in the garden.
The blackbirds are currently feasting off the fallen cider apples which are starting to go soft on the ground.
Although it is in the Spring that the garden is particularly full of birdsong, there is still plenty of activity at other times of the year making a mid or low season stay here at the gites very much worthwhile.
If you would like to book a break with us please use the contact form at the bottom of our webpage HERE
