Bird-spotting in Scarpe-Escaut
Keep your eyes open! With any luck you may spot various reed-bed birds (such as the bluethroat, reed bunting or sedge warbler), water-based species (including the black-necked grebe, Eurasian teal and red-crested pochard) or herons (the very rare Eurasian bittern, the great egret, the little bittern, among others). So be sure to bring some binoculars, or better still, a telescope.
Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park comprises many different marshes, bodies of water and wet grasslands which are home to unusual avifauna, thanks to the plentiful presence of water. During migration and wintering periods, many birds make use of the marshes as a resting spot during their long journey, while others settle there for the winter. Hundreds of ducks can often be seen on a single body of water.
The main ornithological viewing points are Les Nonnettes peat bog and pond in Marchiennes, Mare à Goriaux in Wallers, Chabaud Latour in Condé-sur-l’Escaut, Les Fiantons in Rieulay, the Val de Vergne site, the Amaury site in Hergnies, and Les Argales slag heap in Rieulay.
For more information, get the birdwatching information sheets by clicking on the links
