Stone-curlew!

At the very beginning of our first birding outing here we were thrilled to find a pair of stone-curlews just up the road from our gîte in St. Martin de Crau. They are uncommon in the area, and very hard to find--partly because they are so camouflaged. We had only seen them about three times on our previous half-dozen stays in the Camargue area (in the south of France)--and this time they were closer than ever before (30-40 meters?)--view it large.

Stone-curlews (Burhinus oedicnemus--oedicnème criard in French) are closely related to shorebirds (or waders), but they normally live on dry ground, often stony, as seen here. Other species in their family--often called "thick-knees"-- Burhinidae-- are found throughout the world. (This is specifically the Eurasian Stone-curlew--though the "Eurasian" is usually omitted.)