Author: David

Scurrying over rocks or peeping out from the vegetation, these were common wall lizards.

A tiny crab out of water, possibly an escapee from a fisherman’s catch.

Another bird pausing to rest and eat on the Basque coast while on the autumn migration: this one a dunlin.

Growing wild on rough ground along the French Basque coast, a chicory plat with its bright blue flower.

On the shoreline near the French Basque resort of St Jean de Luz, several turnstones were active. Some were prospecting for food by the harbour: there’s still a small fishing fleet as well as some pleasure yachts. Others were hunting in the grass among the dunes on the foreshore.

We visited the area several times over the years, and never noticed them there before. Perhaps this time they were on their autumn migration, following the Atlantic coasts of France and Iberia.

The River Nivelle flows off the Pyrenees through the French Basque Country. As it meets the sea it divides the small resort town of St Jean de Luz from its even tinier left bank twin, Ciboure.

Its crystal-clear water make it easy to spot the wildlife thriving under its surface, like these fish which were gathering round a chunk of bread someone had thrown for them.