Parc Naturel Departemental de Vaugrenier – Birding Notebook

There are 20 Departmental Natural Parks managed by the Les Alpes-Maritime Department in southwestern France. I’ve visited a handful; now that we’re about to take the plunge and once again have a car, I’ll be revisiting those and exploring the rest and documenting those visits here, from a birding perspective (mostly). There aren’t too many English language references for parks and birding in this part of France, so I hope that these efforts will help fill the gap that autotranslators can’t.

I’m beginning with Vaugrenier Departmental Natural Park (Parc Naturel Departemental de Vaugrenier), located just a 17-minute train ride west of Nice; it’s the closest and will certainly remain the one I’ll visit the most. That’s good news for me since it also appears to be the richest of those 20 parks in bird diversity. Rain squelched today’s planned visit so I decided to finish up this blog post instead, one that covers three visits in December and January when much of my time was spent in and around this hide.

Established in the mid 1960s, the park covers 102 hectares in Villeneuve-Loubet, a French Riviera town of 18,000 located 5km north of Antibes and 17 west of Nice. It lies in a fairly densely populated area, lending the park the descriptor of ‘oasis’ for the wildlife it attracts, primarily birds in numbers and variety enough to land it on the BirdingPlaces.eu hotspot list.

Part of the attraction are the park’s 72 hectares of wooded meadows and oak forests, but mostly it’s thanks to a five-hectare pond, once overgrown with reeds, that was restored in 1995. It’s the only coastal body of fresh water in the Alpes-Maritimes, which makes it a permanent home for several species; indeed Common Cormorants, Blue Herons, Eurasian Coots and Moorhens are the proverbial dime a dozen. (In some cases, several dozen.)

Most accounts say it’s most interesting, from an ornithological perspective, in the migratory period of March and April when Spotted Crakes and Little Crakes make annual appearances. As mentioned, Gray Herons are numerous year-round, but Purple, Black-Crowned and Squacco Herons also swing by in April and May, along with dozens of other temporary visitors. I’m looking forward to the spring.

There are three observation points around the pond (see gallery above); two, one a conventional hide and the other, an elevated observation deck, are currently open. The third, a short platform on the pond’s western side, is currently closed for repair (slide 9 above). I spotted this Water Rail below just the right of it during a visit in late December. I was especially pleased to cross paths with this notoriously elusive bird within minutes of the first time I was actively seeking it after hearing its high pitched pig-like squeel.

The park has a well established population of Rose-ringed Parakeets which I wrote about here. They’re big, loud, playful and confident. Like the one below, they do give off the vibe of ruling the proverbial roost.

Despite the Parakeets’ best efforts, the real kings here are Great Cormorants, who have congregated here by the dozens each time I’ve visited. They dominate the pond’s southern edge, particularly in late afternoon when they park themselves on a stand of trees.

The pond is also a big attraction for ducks; so far I’ve managed decent shots of Mallards, A Green-winged Teal and a Great Shoveler.

Eurasian Coots and Eurasian Moorhen are ubiquitous as well.

A few more recent hights: this Eurasian Green Woodpecker in a tree not far from the first hide pictured above. And a Common Snipe in the grass and reeds at pond’s edge from a fairly long distance. The image below is a very close crop shot with at 600mm.

And a few more.

Personal report tally at the PND Vaugrenier as of 11 January 2026:

36 species in four visits; Links to my galleries.

• Black Redstart – 11 Jan 2026; 30 Dec 2025; 7 Dec 2025;
• Black-headed Gull – 11 Jan 2026; 30 Dec 2025; 7 Dec 2025;
• Carrion Crow – 11 Jan 2026;
• Cetti’s Warbler – 30 Dec 2025;
• Common Buzzard – 7 Dec 2025;
• Common Chaffinch – 30 Dec 2025;
• Common Chiffchaff – 11 Jan 2026;
• Common Snipe – 30 Dec 2025;
• Eurasian Blackbird – 30 Dec 2025; 30 Dec 2025;
• Eurasian Blackcap – 11 Jan 2026; 7 Dec 2025;
• Eurasian Blue Tit – 11 Jan 2026; 30 Dec 2025;
• Eurasian Collared-Dove – 30 Dec 2025; 23 Aug 2025;
• Eurasian Coot – 11 Jan 2026; 30 Dec 2025;
• Eurasian Green Woodpecker – 30 Dec 2025;
• European Greenfinch – 30 Dec 2025;
• Eurasian Jackdaw – 11 Jan 2026; 30 Dec 2025;
• Eurasian Jay – 11 Jan 2026
• Eurasian Magpie – 11 Jan 2026; 30 Dec 2025; 23 Aug 2025;
• Eurasian Moorhen – 11 Jan 2026; 30 Dec 2025; 7 Dec 2025; 23 Aug 2025;
• Eurasian Nuthatch – 30 Dec 2025;
• European Robin – 11 Jan 2026; 30 Dec 2025; 7 Dec 2025;
• European Starling – 30 Dec 2025; 7 Dec 2025;
• Goldcrest – 30 Dec 2025; 7 Dec 2025;
• Gray Heron – 11 Jan 2026; 30 Dec 2025; 7 Dec 2025;
• Gray Wagtail – 7 Dec 2025;
• Great Cormorant – 11 Jan 2026; 30 Dec 2025; 7 Dec 2025;
• Great Tit – 30 Dec 2025; 23 Aug 2025;
• Green-Winged Teal – 30 Dec 2025;
• House Sparrow – 7 Dec 2025;
• Mallard – 11 Jan 2026; 7 Dec 2025;
• Mediterranean Gull – 23 Aug 2025;
• Northern Shoveler – 30 Dec 2025;
• Rock Pigeon – 30 Dec 2025; 7 Dec 2025; 23 Aug 2025
• Rose-ringed Parakeet – 11 Jan 2026; 30 Dec 2025; 7 Dec 2025; 23 Aug 2025;
• Water Rail – 30 Dec 2025;
• Yellow-legged Gull – 11 Jan 2026; 30 Dec 2025;

Getting there:

If you’re visiting the Cote d’Azur, train is most convenient. Regular service to and from Nice (and points east) and Cannes (and points west) to the Villeneuve-Loubet station, which is less than a 10 minute walk from the park.

Oh – and here’s a Red Squirrel.