Cormorant

Saturday
With me just getting over a cold, and Roger just coming down with it, we were a bit slow getting going this morning, but after a misty start, it promised to be a glorious day, so we finally got ourselves out the door by late morning, and headed up to Meaux to the Parc Naturel du Patis, a wetland area comprising a number of large ponds, bordering the River Marne, and a good spot for bird-watching, which we had been to a couple of years ago. Unfortunately the area where most of the birds were hanging out, was a little far for my lens, so the focus of my blip isn't sharp, but I did want to record some of the bird life we had seen. Certainly the most prolific bird, other than maybe gulls, were the coots - there were several large flocks of them. After them, I think the cormorants probably came in second. We also saw a number of grebes and herons, as well as several tufted ducks and a few I wasn't sure about, as well as a few mallards, Canada geese and swans. Whilst they were a bit far for my camera lens, we were able to observe them more closely through our binoculars, so it was a good outing. Before heading home to watch the rugby final, we drove into the centre of Meaux to see the cathedral, quite an imposing building when seen from afar, but a little disappointing when seen up close and inside, though still worth the visit.