Wildlife & Walking
Wildlife WatchingYou'll find plenty of wildlife without leaving our land. A pair of barn owls usually nests in our barn - you can hear the owls "whistling" in the nest, and see the owl pellets dropped below the nest, and if you sit out in the evening in the spring or early summer, you will almost certainly see the adult owls, and in August you may see the young owls as they fledge.
Hoopoes, sparrows, black redstarts, blue tits, swallows and house martins nest around the property, and kestrels, buzzards and red-legged partridges nest nearby. We are on the migration route of the Common Cranes (Grus grus) - it is so uplifting to hear their calls as they fly north to Scandinavia in the spring, but a sign that winter is on its way when they pass over bound for Spain and Portugal in the autumn. |
Also spotted on/from our land:
hen harrier, black kite, grey heron, cuckoo, lapwing, little owl, goldfinch, pied wagtail, jay, sparrowhawk, green woodpecker.. and within walking distance: kingfisher, greater spotted woodpecker, golden oriole, and once, a griffon vulture! A list of the birds of France is available here: http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/france.html |
We have seen foxes, roe deer, wild boar, stone martins and hares on/from our land and badgers in the field below ours. There are coypu on several of the lakes within walking distance. Toads, green frogs and even a salamander have been spotted around the courtyard. Bats catch insects once the daylight fades. Lizards run up and down the walls of the house and garden, but have never come inside the house.
Find out more about the wildlife in France at Planete Passion: http://www.planetepassion.eu/ |
We have been feeding wild hedgehogs for several years - it started when we found hedgehogs helping themselves to the cats' food - and now we have many hedgehogs who come nightly to feed, and spend the winter with us in various hedgehog houses around the property.
|
|
|
|
WalkingMagnieras lies on GR (Grande Randonnée) 48 which runs from the Limousin to the Pays de Loire, and locally connects Rochechouart to Confolens.
http://www.franceonfoot.com/overview.htm http://about-france.com/tourism/long-distance-footpaths.htm There are lots of way-marked walks in our area: Randonnee Ouest Limousin has guides for walks and cycles. Pressignac is also well served by clearly way-marked circular walking routes and has an active randonnée association which ensures that the paths (chemins) are well maintained. Several marked paths pass Magnieras, and the possibilities for walks from the gite are endless, with anything from half an hour to a full day without walking the same track twice. Walks from Magnieras will take you past fields of brown Limousin cattle and the hay, maize and cereals grown to feed them, through woodlands of chestnut and oak, past lakes and ponds, through small farming hamlets and pretty villages, and around the large leisure lakes, les lacs de Haute Charente, with their beaches and facilities. We can provide maps and walking routes, and even a picnic set in a backpack. Or if you would rather not have to worry about finding your way around, join us on one of our dog walks. |