TOP TIP
Treserve on the Orne Estuary in Lower Normandy is only a short ferry trip from the UK, with ports at Caen, and Ouistreham, and access also via Cherbourg and Le Havre. Also nearby are the Dives estuary and the St Samson ‘no-hunting hunters’ bird reserve’, which boast up to 150 pairs of Red-backed Shrikes, and the occasional pair of breeding Great Grey Shrikes. Walks from Troarn Tourist Office, and St Samson wildfowl reserve with hide, allow views of breeding White Storks, plus up to 1,000 Pintail in winter, and up to 50 Garganey in spring, But back to Du Gros Banc itself. It has breeding Zitting Cisticola, Bluethroat, Savi’s Warbler, Marsh Warbler, and Golden Orioles nesting in the poplars near Mereville-franceville bird hide (one of five such hides), all open free throughout the year. The reserve centre at Sallenelles Maison de la Baie costs just a couple of Euros to visit, with regular exhibitions throughout the year which are worth seeing, as well as good books on sale, and wardens to ask for the latest bird news. Groupe Ornithologique Normand have a website at with further details on Normandy’s birding scene