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Marais du Cotentin et du Bessin Regional Nature Park

Natural Park · France

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Photo © Xfigpower

Photo © Xfigpower — CC BY-SA 4.0 — Source: Wikimedia Commons

ABOUT

Where the shallow channels of the Cotentin and Bessin marshes braid across a flat, waterlogged plain behind the Normandy coast, a vast mosaic of wet grassland, reedbed, alluvial woodland and drainage dyke opens to the horizon. This is a landscape shaped by centuries of human water management as much as by geology: graziers and ditch-keepers have kept the meadows open, and the result is one of the great wetland complexes of northwestern France. Under a Cfb climate with rain spread evenly through the year and no dry season, the ground stays soft and the channels stay charged, so the vegetation is lush temperate marsh — willows and poplars along the banks, sedges and rushes in the wet hollows, hay meadow on the higher ground. Wildlife follows the habitat: waterfowl and migratory waders work the flooded fields and mudflats, herons and other fish-eaters stalk the ditches, raptors quarter the open grassland, and the reedbeds and wet woods hold dense populations of songbirds, amphibians and small mammals.

For the photographer and the birder, the appeal is the combination of big skies, low horizons and water everywhere. Morning mist rising off the channels, the flat light of an overcast Atlantic day, and long northern evenings all flatter this kind of country, and the seasons rewrite it completely — spring floods pull wildfowl and waders onto the meadows, summer brings the breeding marsh community into full voice, and autumn and winter gather waterbirds in numbers. Access is gentle and rewarding: waymarked paths, towpaths and observation points let you work the dykes and field edges quietly, and the flat terrain makes long days on foot easy. Come for the wetland birds, the raptors and the sheer openness of the marsh — and bring patience, because the light and the water do most of the work.

WILDLIFE

Month

Type

Branta bernicla

Red-breasted Goose

Branta ruficollis

Branta leucopsis

Greater White-fronted Goose

Anser albifrons

Common Shelduck

Tadorna tadorna

Spatula querquedula

Blue-winged Teal

Spatula discors

Northern Shoveler

Spatula clypeata

Mareca strepera

Eurasian Wigeon

Mareca penelope

Anas platyrhynchos

Northern Pintail

Aythya fuligula

Common Merganser

Mergus merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Mergus serrator

Common Pheasant

Phasianus colchicus

Red-legged Partridge

European Nightjar

Caprimulgus europaeus

Common Wood Pigeon

Columba palumbus

Eurasian Collared Dove

Streptopelia decaocto

Rallus aquaticus

Gallinula chloropus

Tachybaptus ruficollis

Great Crested Grebe

Podiceps cristatus

Black-necked Grebe

Podiceps nigricollis

Eurasian Oystercatcher

Haematopus ostralegus

Black-winged Stilt

Himantopus himantopus

Pluvialis squatarola

European Golden Plover

Pluvialis apricaria

Common Ringed Plover

Charadrius hiaticula

Northern Lapwing

Vanellus vanellus

Anarhynchus alexandrinus

Eurasian Whimbrel

Numenius phaeopus

Eurasian Curlew

Numenius arquata

Bar-tailed Godwit

Limosa lapponica

Common Sandpiper

Actitis hypoleucos

Green Sandpiper

Tringa ochropus

Common Redshank

Common Greenshank

Tringa nebularia

Ruddy Turnstone

Arenaria interpres

Calidris canutus

Calidris pugnax

Temminck's Stint

Calidris temminckii

Calidris alpina

Thalasseus sandvicensis

Hydrocoloeus minutus

Black-headed Gull

Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Mediterranean Gull

Ichthyaetus melanocephalus

European Herring Gull

Larus argentatus

Great Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Ciconia ciconia

Northern Gannet

Great Cormorant

Phalacrocorax carbo

Plegadis falcinellus

Eurasian Spoonbill

Platalea leucorodia

Eurasian Bittern

Botaurus stellaris

Black-crowned Night Heron

Nycticorax nycticorax

Egretta garzetta

Western Cattle Egret

Pandion haliaetus

Black-winged Kite

Elanus caeruleus

Eurasian Sparrowhawk

Accipiter nisus

Western Marsh Harrier

Circus aeruginosus

Western Barn Owl

Common Kingfisher

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Dryobates minor

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Dendrocopos major

European Green Woodpecker

Falco tinnunculus

Garrulus glandarius

Eurasian Magpie

Western Jackdaw

Coloeus monedula

Corvus frugilegus

Poecile palustris

Eurasian Blue Tit

Cyanistes caeruleus

Eurasian Skylark

Alauda arvensis

Riparia riparia

Hirundo rustica

Western House Martin

Delichon urbicum

Cetti's Warbler

Common Chiffchaff

Phylloscopus collybita

Aquatic Warbler

Acrocephalus paludicola

Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

Common Reed Warbler

Acrocephalus scirpaceus

Zitting Cisticola

Cisticola juncidis

Common Whitethroat

Curruca communis

Regulus regulus

Short-toed Treecreeper

Certhia brachydactyla

Turdus philomelos

Common Blackbird

Spotted Flycatcher

Muscicapa striata

Erithacus rubecula

Luscinia svecica

Phoenicurus ochruros

Saxicola rubetra

European Stonechat

Saxicola rubicola

Northern Wheatear

Oenanthe oenanthe

Passer domesticus

Prunella modularis

Western Yellow Wagtail

Motacilla flava

Motacilla cinerea

Anthus pratensis

Anthus spinoletta

European Rock Pipit

Anthus petrosus

Eurasian Chaffinch

Fringilla coelebs

European Greenfinch

Chloris chloris

Linaria cannabina

European Goldfinch

Carduelis carduelis

Serinus serinus

Plectrophenax nivalis

Common Reed Bunting

Emberiza schoeniclus

Branta canadensis

Pink-footed Goose

Anser brachyrhynchus

Alopochen aegyptiaca

Tadorna ferruginea

Somateria mollissima

Melanitta nigra

European Turtle Dove

Streptopelia turtur

Podiceps auritus

Recurvirostra avosetta

Black-tailed Godwit

Lymnocryptes minimus

Phalaropus fulicarius

Tringa glareola

Spotted Redshank

Tringa erythropus

Curlew Sandpiper

Calidris ferruginea

Purple Sandpiper

Calidris maritima

Calidris minuta

Sternula albifrons

Chlidonias hybrida

Chlidonias niger

Black-legged Kittiwake

Rissa tridactyla

Larus cachinnans

Yellow-legged Gull

Larus michahellis

Red-throated Loon

Northern Fulmar

Fulmarus glacialis

Gulosus aristotelis

European Honey Buzzard

Pernis apivorus

Montagu's Harrier

Circus pygargus

Short-eared Owl

Eurasian Wryneck

Falco columbarius

Lophophanes cristatus

Bearded Reedling

Panurus biarmicus

Phylloscopus fuscatus

Phylloscopus trochilus

Acrocephalus palustris

Melodious Warbler

Hippolais polyglotta

Locustella luscinioides

Common Grasshopper Warbler

Locustella naevia

Eurasian Blackcap

Sylvia atricapilla

Common Firecrest

Regulus ignicapilla

Eurasian Nuthatch

Turdus viscivorus

Common Nightingale

Luscinia megarhynchos

Common Redstart

Phoenicurus phoenicurus

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Passer montanus

Anthus trivialis

Coccothraustes coccothraustes

Eurasian Bullfinch

Pyrrhula pyrrhula

Loxia curvirostra

Eurasian Siskin

Emberiza calandra

Emberiza citrinella

Emberiza cirlus

Red-crested Pochard

Melanitta fusca

Common Goldeneye

Bucephala clangula

Coturnix coturnix

Porzana porzana

Red-necked Grebe

Podiceps grisegena

Eurasian Woodcock

Scolopax rusticola

Pectoral Sandpiper

Calidris melanotos

Sterna paradisaea

Long-tailed Jaeger

Stercorarius longicaudus

Parasitic Jaeger

Stercorarius parasiticus

Pomarine Jaeger

Stercorarius pomarinus

Stercorarius skua

Black Guillemot

Black-throated Loon

Manx Shearwater

Puffinus puffinus

Balearic Shearwater

Puffinus mauretanicus

African Sacred Ibis

Threskiornis aethiopicus

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

Dendrocoptes medius

Black Woodpecker

Dryocopus martius

Rose-ringed Parakeet

Psittacula krameri

Red-backed Shrike

Lanius collurio

Eurasian Penduline Tit

Remiz pendulinus

Lullula arborea

Eremophila alpestris

Yellow-browed Warbler

Phylloscopus inornatus

Eurasian Treecreeper

Certhia familiaris

Turdus torquatus

African Stonechat

Saxicola torquatus

Fringilla montifringilla

Lapland Longspur

Calcarius lapponicus

Taiga Bean Goose

Western Roe Deer

Capreolus capreolus

Lepus europaeus

European Rabbit

Oryctolagus cuniculus

Myocastor coypus

Clethrionomys glareolus

Ondatra zibethicus

Common Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus pipistrellus

European Pine Marten

European Badger

Eurasian Wild Boar

Eurasian Red Squirrel

Sciurus vulgaris

Southwestern Water Vole

Arvicola sapidus

Microtus arvalis

Long-tailed Field Mouse

Apodemus sylvaticus

Eurasian Harvest Mouse

Micromys minutus

Rattus norvegicus

Brandt's Myotis

Myotis brandtii

Daubenton's Myotis

Myotis daubentonii

Geoffroy's Myotis

Myotis emarginatus

Common Whiskered Myotis

Myotis mystacinus

Natterer's Myotis

Myotis nattereri

Leisler's Noctule

Nyctalus leisleri

Kuhl's Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus kuhlii

Nathusius's Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus nathusii

Western Barbastelle

Barbastella barbastellus

Brown Long-eared Bat

Plecotus auritus

Gray Long-eared Bat

Plecotus austriacus

Mustela erminea

Mustela nivalis

European Polecat

Mustela putorius

Northern Raccoon

Halichoerus grypus

Common Minke Whale

Balaenoptera acutorostrata

Panglobal Common Dolphin

Delphinus delphis

Common Bottlenose Dolphin

Tursiops truncatus

Harbor Porpoise

Phocoena phocoena

Sowerby's Beaked Whale

Mesoplodon bidens

View Complete List (272 more) →

COMMUNITY

0 Community observations

No community observations yet — be the first to log a sighting here.

Natural environment

Marais du Cotentin et du Bessin Regional Nature Park

Generally mild conditions, with noticeable seasonal changes.

Usual climateHumid temperate with mild summersLowland

Average annual temperature 11.6 °C Average of the twelve monthly means

Average elevation 17 m Lowland

Climate pattern Humid temperate with mild summers Main environment around this hotspot

A year of temperatures

Monthly means, with the coldest and warmest highlighted

Monthly minimum · February 6.3 °C Monthly maximum · August 17.8 °C

Global temperature scale

−40°−20°0°20°40°

Terrain and elevation

17 m · Lowland

Average terrain elevation estimate across the hotspot; the figure does not represent its highest summits.

Elevation scale

17 m

02,0004,0006,0008,000m

Lowland

Long-term climate averages, not live weather.

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