Shearwater colonies: Îles d'Hyères and Lavezzi
Yelkouan shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan), Scopoli's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), storm petrel. Var; southern Corsica, France.
Best time: 15 Apr – 15 Jul (April to July). Where: Port-Cros (Parc national), Porquerolles, Îles Lavezzi / Bouches de Bonifacio (Corsica) (France). Time of day: Only after full dark: first birds about 1 h after sunset, arrivals peak from 23:00 to 02:00 and fade before first light.
- Partly on your own
- Entry fee
- No binoculars needed
- Sound 4/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 15 Apr – 15 Jul. Yelkouan mid April to June; Scopoli's May to July, moonless nights
Active from 1 Mar to 30 Sep (March to September) in a typical year.
Time of day
Only after full dark: first birds about 1 h after sunset, arrivals peak from 23:00 to 02:00 and fade before first light. Moonless, calm nights.
- Colony return: 30 min after last light → 02:30
What will you hear?
Wailing and cackling shearwaters arriving over the cliffs at night to their burrows — Port-Cros holds about 90% of France's Yelkouan population — with the Mediterranean swell below.
Binoculars?
No binoculars needed. Moonless nights on the coastal paths; the wails are the event, red torch only.
Where to go
- Port-Cros (Parc national) — Yelkouan colonies on the cliffs; the island has a small hotel and the park's trails — no camping, and night access to colony sectors is restricted. Map
- Porquerolles — Colonies on the southern cliffs; more accommodation, busier. Map
- Îles Lavezzi / Bouches de Bonifacio (Corsica) — Scopoli's colonies in the Réserve naturelle; no landing at night, record from a boat. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
You must sleep on the island: Port-Cros (ferry from Hyères/Le Lavandou, one hotel, no camping) or Porquerolles (more hotels). Walk the open coastal paths after dark — the park closes colony sectors, so ask the park's scientific service which are open. Lavezzi: boat from Bonifacio, no night landing.
Cost: Hyères–Port-Cros ferry €29 adult return (TLV-TVM, 2026); Porquerolles ferry and island accommodation (check current prices); no entry fee to the park.
Free or no-guide alternative: Porquerolles: cheaper beds than Port-Cros; from the village walk to the southern cliffs (Gorge du Loup, Calanque de l'Indienne) after dark on a moonless night — free once you are there, staying on the open paths.
Field-recording notes
Night presence on Port-Cros is only possible if you sleep on the island; the park closes colony zones to protect burrows and runs rat control — coordinate with the park's scientific service before planning a session. Sea-state and moon matter more than date. Île du Levant (military and naturist) has the ringing programme but no public access to the colonies.
Sources
Similar spectacles
Manx shearwaters returning at nightHundreds of thousands of birds crashing in, with cackling, choking, hoarse calls from the air and burrows all around you.
Scopoli's & Yelkouan shearwater coloniesScopoli's 'crying baby' wails from thousands of birds arriving over cliffs — one of the Mediterranean's strangest sounds.
Cory's shearwater colonies of the CanariesThe wailing, sobbing 'pardela' chorus from thousands of birds over sea cliffs — the sound behind the Canarian mermaid legends — with the Atlantic swell and Bulwer's petrels' soft barking.
Zino's petrel calling over Pico do Arieiro at nightOne of Europe's rarest sounds: the long, mournful, tawny-owl-like moan of Zino's petrels circling the summit ridge in the dark, answered from the nesting ledges, with the occasional whimper and the quieter cackle of Manx shearwaters lower down — above a sea of cloud, in total silence otherwise.
Shearwater colonies at night, Lastovo archipelagoScopoli's shearwaters wailing and cackling overhead and from burrows — the 'crying baby' chorus of Mediterranean islets; Yelkouan's higher nasal calls; waves on rock, cicadas fading at dusk.
Berlengas: Cory's shearwaters calling over the island at nightHundreds of Cory's shearwaters wailing and sobbing over the island in the dark — the Atlantic's strangest chorus — with the yellow-legged gull colony grumbling, shags croaking on the ledges and the swell in the sea caves. On the mainland, the same birds raft silently off Cabo Carvoeiro at dusk.
More: all spectacles in France · shearwaters · wildlife at night · France in April · France in May · France in June · France in July