Recently spotted in Chartres...

[Game Warden]

I had visited Chartres Cathedral (wikipedia link),  recently whilst visiting friends in Paris, and aside from it being a beautiful building, I got chatting to a young local birder in a combo of broken French and English. Obviously he stood out from the other tourists as he was crouched behind a bank of cameras with impressive focal length primes covered in camou protection. I realised there must be something special for him to have set up and he explained that it was a rare sighting, for him, of a small mountain bird which in the colder months comes to this area, and the cathedral roof to feed. He did tell me the species, in French, and whilst I didn't actually spot it, (my eyesight is going blurred due to the amount of time I'm on here), he showed me the images. And it was a small bird.

 

So, anyone have any idea what it was I could have seen?

 

Matt

[michael-ibk]

Possibly a Wallcreeper @Game Warden? One of the most sought after species in Europe definitely, and old castles or cathedrals can be suitable replacements for their general habitat. So I think it would fit with th situation you describe.

[Game Warden]

Yes, have checked the online images @michael-ibk, and that rings a bell, especially with the coloured plumage. I guess had I stayed a while looking I might have been lucky, but that French chap was certainly pleased with the few images he had.

 

Thanks, Matt.

[Dave Williams]

This is what he was looking for!

Wallcreeper   Bulgaria by Dave Williams, on Flickr