Nightingale

Description:

Nightingales are back from their wintering in Africa and I got my first-French-timer this weekend. This male is the size of a sparrow, slightly larger than Robin. By its looks, Nightingale is not particularly attractive and lacks distinctive characteristics: it is brown above, with rufous rump and tail, and unified off-white to gray below. On the other hand, it is easily spotted by its powerful and beautiful song.

Habitat:

Seen on edges of lowland mixed forest, in a protected wetlands located at the border between France and Switzerland. These wetlands are protected for an amphibian, the Yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata), but the toad remain difficult to spot - instead, every now and then, I catch some other interesting animal in the same spot.

Notes:

Spotting a Nightingale in France and taking a clear shot of him was a long-standing project for me. I detected this fella thanks to his song. He was hiding deep in the canopy, but his song was powerful and beautiful; and it helped me find him.