PERPIGNAN (66) 30.07.2020

On 30 July 2020, not 30 September as mistakenly written in the questionnaire's free-text section, at 04:38, a witness in her garden saw several 'lights' or 'luminous circles' moving silently in a V formation. No particular sound was heard as the phenomenon traveled southeast. Only one account was collected. The strangeness lay in the luminous appearance of the circles in a V. They suggest migratory birds. The witness was only 5 km from the Étang de Saint-Nazaire, an important birdwatching site. The Groupe Ornithologique du Roussillon (GOR) describes it as lying on a major migration route, the first stop for many birds after crossing the Pyrenees at the Massif des Albères, and one of the Roussillon coast's last natural sites. Contacted by email, the head of GOR replied that white storks were probably flying there at that time (see the article on the Étang de Canet-Saint-Nazaire). In emails to GEIPAN, the witness identified an east/southeast area where she saw 'strange' things. From her home, that direction corresponds to the Étang de Canet-Saint-Nazaire bird area. GOR describes its birdlife as follows, in the passage attributed to migraction.net: The most numerous raptors include honey buzzards, black kites, marsh harriers, Eurasian sparrowhawks, common buzzards and common kestrels. Many ospreys stop to feed on the lagoon. White storks are common, with nearly 2, 000 counted in some springs. Some regularly stop at Les Près de la Ville, near the observation site, sometimes with common cranes. The gull family is also well represented, including terns such as the Caspian tern and various gulls. Tens of thousands of small birds pass low over this hill to shelter from strong coastal winds: swifts, swallows, finches, serins, wagtails, bee-eaters, rollers and others. The source introduces this final group as passerines. Urban lights in Cabestany, less than 1 km away, or Saleilles, less than 3 km away, southeast of the witness's home, probably reflected from the white storks (see the ornithologist's attached correspondence). The hypothesis is supported by: - Shape: the reported circular lights match other descriptions of birds at night as points of light, lights or silver objects in formation. - Color: light reflected from plumage may appear white, yellowish or orange depending on its source. - Brightness: birds' pale plumage can reflect urban lighting while flying over built-up areas at night. - Path: horizontal flight in a V formation fits migratory birds. - Location: only 5 km from the important Canet-Saint-Nazaire birdwatching area, within the white storks' flight area. - Plausibility: the migration period makes a flight of white storks probable. GEIPAN classifies the observation A: a flight of migratory birds.