Bird watching

Autumn's great rendezvous

The deer rut.

Every autumn, the Fontainebleau forest echoes with the calls of stags during the rutting season: from mid-September to mid-October, at sunrise and sunset, the great stags bellow to gather their does. A wild, resonant spectacle, best heard from the forest edges around Larchant — binoculars around your neck, just as for birdwatching.

• At dawn and dusk, when the forest is silent
• Keep your distance: binoculars, a low voice, and never a headlamp aimed at the animal
• Favour the forest edges and clearings around Larchant, and stay on the marked trails