Ten o clock in the morning. It is 5 degrees but great sun in this month of April. A dozen strange birds, in camouflage uniforms and telephoto lenses slung over their shoulders, hang around the entrance to the ornithological reserve of Teich. Opening of the doors… The hunters of images hasten noiselessly towards one of the twenty observatories which border the lagoon. From there, these amateur or experienced ornithologists will peacefully shoot the hundred or so species regularly observed on this ecotourism site, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary a year late.
The municipal reserve was created in 1972 on old fish farming ponds dug in the 18th century in the marshes of the Château du Teich. In its first version, it was intended as an ornithological park, largely wild and inaccessible, whose wet mudflats were a delight for the birds of the Basin, while the public was content with birds evolving in aviaries and meshed basins. “In 2000, all the captive birds were sold,” recalls Didier Leveau, site management technician. This closure of the “zoo” coincides with the opening of a 6 kilometer pedestrian loop along the lagoons and scoured canals, and with the advent of the current reserve on 110 hectares.
Spectacular birds
If the lexical change symbolizes the return to naturalness, “we must not forget that this space has largely been anthropized”, underlines Didier Leveau, responsible for the maintenance of meadows and reedbeds, which must be defended against invasive tree ragwort (or false cotton plant). The specialist is also in charge of operating the seven locks – legacy of the fish farming facility – along the Leyre and the Basin. They make it possible to renew the water twice a day at the peak of high tide, a dozen days a month at the height of the coefficients. This hydraulic management promotes the development of abundant food and maintains an optimal level for the wading species that wade through the mud.
It is therefore necessary to come at high tide, when the water drives them out of the basin, to observe the crested lapwing, the snipe and an army of knights – barker, harlequin, gambette, cul-blanc, guignette – taking refuge in the reserve. Some beautiful migrants, such as the spectacular Eurasian spoonbill, the sought-after black-tailed godwit, the flamboyant shelduck or the hummingbird-billed curlew, are only seasonal, passing guests. They go to nest further north, sometimes as far as Iceland. In summer, equipped with binoculars (rented on site), you can admire white stilts with red legs and elegant avocets, the only bird with an upturned beak. But also herons, little egrets, perched high; black kites, cormorants and singing bluethroats… For the kingfisher, you will have to come back in autumn.
Since 1972, 327 species have been observed – some only once. Counts are made three times a month, then published on the site and posted at the entrance, along with new arrivals and rare birds. The reserve does not have the exclusivity of these populations who roam freely between the Domaine de Certes, the Île aux Oiseaux and the Banc d’Arguin. But the Teich offers exceptional conditions for approaching them as a family, without being seen in the hides on the surface of the water and the observation towers that mark out this walk that is sure to give wings.
Every day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (8 p.m. in July-August). €9.80/adult, €7.60/child from 5 years old. reserve-ornithologique-du-teich.com.