Narbonnaise

en Méditerranée

The Narbonnaise regional park in the south-west corner of France, on the Mediterranean coast and not far from the Pyrenees has a lot for the birder from northern Europe. The varied habitats, salt pans, lagoons, marshes, garrigue, limestone escarpments… provide for a great variety of species. There are many resident birds of great interest: Flamingo, Bonelli’s eagle, Eagle owl, Kentish plover, Slender-billed gull, Thekla lark, Blue rock thrush… and a few that only occur in this corner of the country: Pallid swift and Spotless starling. Things get even better in the breeding season with the return of Lesser kestrel, Roller, Golden Oriole, Black-eared wheatear… And as it is on the Western Mediterranean flyway, migrants are numerous and sometimes occur in large numbers: Honey Buzzard, Black Kite, Red-rumped Swallow… all in all too many to mention. But not only that, it is an exceptionally interesting area for other wildlife, reptiles (Ocellated Lizard…), butterflies (Iberian swallowtail, Spanish & Southern festoons…), orchids galore…

Still not that well known by birders and other naturalists from the north, it is very well worth a visit… or two, and the Birdwatching Narbonnaise smartphone app will help you get the most out of your stay.

A stay here can be combined with visits to other birding sites, such as the Haut Languedoc regional park, the eastern Pyrenees or even the Catalonian coast in Spain. There are also many other tourist interests such as the medieval walled city of Carcassonne and many ruins relating to the history of the Cathars.