Spoonbills
2 places to see and hear spoonbills in the wild, in 2 countries from France to Mauritania: when each one peaks, where to go on your own, what it costs and what you will hear. Wild animals only, no zoos.
Best time, place by place
| Spectacle | Country | Peak | On your own? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lac de Grand-Lieu: the great heronry and the spoonbill colony | France | 1 Apr – 15 Jun | Partly on your own |
| Seabird and spoonbill colonies on the Banc d'Arguin islands | Mauritania | 15 Apr – 30 Jun | Guide, ranger or boat needed |
Where to go, north to south
Lac de Grand-Lieu: the great heronry and the spoonbill colonyHeron and egret traffic croaking and barking overhead at dawn and dusk, black terns and whiskered terns squabbling over the water lilies, Savi's warbler reeling and a booming bittern from the reedbeds at Pierre-Aiguë, cuckoos and water rails — the colony itself is heard only as a distant, constant squabble across the water.
Seabird and spoonbill colonies on the Banc d'Arguin islandsRoyal and Caspian tern colonies screaming, pelican colonies grunting, spoonbill bill-clacking at the nest, and slender-billed gull chatter across the water from a stationary boat.