There are loads of great places where you can enjoy birdwatching in France and plenty of different species to spot too. From the stunning Camargue region to the picturesque Brière Regional Natural Park, you’re guaranteed to find the perfect destination for your birdwatching needs. Here, we share three of our favourites.
Birdwatching in Marquenterre Park
Located in the Baie De Somme, just over an hour from Calais port by car, Marquenterre Park is popular with birds migrating between Scandinavia and Mauritania making it a fantastic option for birdwatching in France. Spread out over 200 hectares, the park combines marshes, dunes, and forests to create a welcoming habitat for birds and other types of wildlife, and offers visitors the chance to find out all about the flora and fauna present in the area.
Although visiting the Marquenterre Park in the spring and early fall is ideal due to birds such as spoonbills, egrets, oystercatchers, and barnacle geese, stopping off during their migrations, you’ll find a number of other species all year round, including swans, gulls, cormorants, and ducks. Binoculars are available to hire and park guides have telescopes which can also be used to get a closer look. You could also choose to take part in one of a number of activities that the park offers, including everything from nature photography and art to educational workshops and horse-drawn carriage rides.
Marquenterre Park boasts three walking circuits which differ in length, offering a suitable option for everyone. The green route takes just 45 minutes to walk around, the blue route takes an hour and a half, and the red route takes two hours. Each route has birdwatching hides so you can spot different birds without disturbing them, and there are observation points where you can talk to nature guides about the species you can see.
Birdwatching in the Camargue
Located around 10 hours from Calais port by car, the Camargue may require a road trip but is an extremely popular destination for birdwatching in France. The reason for this is that there are so many different bird species to be found here, the most popular of which being the striking pink flamingo! In fact, the Camargue is the only place in France where you can see wild flamingos which makes it attractive to avid birdwatchers and wildlife enthusiasts alike. In addition to flamingos, you can see a wide variety of other birds, including ducks, kingfishers, eagles, herons, and egrets, alongside butterflies, weasels, foxes, and badgers who all call this area home.
The best place for birdwatching in the Camargue is the Ornithological Park Pont de Gau. This park has been designed to enable birdwatchers and other visitors to get close to the wildlife without causing a disturbance. This is done through the creation of viewings platforms and hides which conceal guests while they observe the birds and animals. The park is home to 7km of walkways which will loop you around the area, and there are informative boards en route which will tell you all you need to know while you explore.
Although it looks completely natural, the Park Pont de Gau is actually manmade and was created to be attractive to different bird species so that they would return year after year. Thanks to its range of different habitat types, including lakes, marshes, woodland, and hedgerows, the park is home to birds throughout the year, so you’ll be sure to have a great birding trip no matter when you visit. However, spring is perhaps the best time to head to the Camargue as it’s still quite quiet, the weather is nice but not too hot, and birds have started to gather for the breeding season.
Birdwatching in the Brière Regional Natural Park
Covering over 50,000 hectares, the Brière Regional Natural Park can be found six and a half hours from Calais port by car and features a multitude of small ponds and lakes alongside marshlands, reed beds, moors, and woodland to create a wonderful natural habitat for birds and other wildlife. From purple herons and black-necked grebes to ducks and Eurasian bitterns, there’s plenty for birdwatchers to see during a visit to the Brière Regional Natural Park, especially during migration season when a variety of bird species stop here to reproduce.
One of the highlights of the Brière Regional Natural Park is the barge that silently transports guests through the water to the heart of the Grande Brière Mottière marsh. This flat-bottomed boat is very quiet which means that birds are not disturbed by it, giving birders the opportunity to see certain species up close. Hiking and cycling in the Brière Regional Natural Park also offer great ways to explore the area, and with hundreds of kilometres of paths to choose from you’ll never be short of options. Other ways to explore the park include by horseback and canoe – so there really is something for everyone!
The Maison de la Nature et de la Réserve in Saint-Michel-en-Brenne is the place to go if you want to learn about the Brière Regional Natural Park and the flora and fauna you can find there. Created to educate visitors about the heritage of the park and how important it is, the Maison de la Nature et de la Réserve has a permanent exhibition detailing the geology of the park, its various landscapes, and the biodiversity threats that it faces. Here, you’ll also be able to access the Cistude Pond which boasts a number of observatories from where you can spot the area’s most exciting bird species and sometimes the European pond turtle too.
Now that you know where to go for some of the best birdwatching in France, book your Dover to Calais ferry crossing and start planning your trip! Love nature? You might also like to visit one of these amazing wildlife reserves in Europe.
