Old Friends

Yesterday on the way up the valley to Le Petit Pressigny we saw another osprey being mobbed by two crows. The Osprey - chocolate brown bird, white underneath - was not a lot bigger than the crows but with longer, narrower wings. It isn't just the fishermen who appreciate the regular re-stocking of the Aigronne, one of France's premier trout rivers.
Today we visited Beaulieu-les-Loches for the 'Fil et Bio' exhibition. Here we met an old friend - Jim the Mushroom Man, formerly of Leeds Farmers Markets and now based in Loches. He and his partner Philippe have 30 hectares of caves where they raise Japanese mushrooms - Shiitake, Oyster and Eryngii at the moment - and have just secured organic status. As well as Loches market, they sell from their shop at 45 Rue des Lilas.
Heading home, we saw and heard three young peregrine falcons spiralling around the steeple of the old abbey church, again being mobbed, this time by jackdaws.
Finally arriving home at 6:10 pm, it was almost dark and a little owl was calling. Then over the hill came a familiar trumpeting. A single crane grus grus (grue cendré) was heading south, grue-ue-ueing for his mates as hard as he could. According to the latest RSPB magazine, a bird can fly up to 70% further in V-formation than on its own, so this one could be in real trouble. We thought of several captions for this picture, such as "You fellows might have told me the clocks went back today!".

Busy migrants

Today was dreary, damp and misty, the only colour provided by the big flock of small passerines flitting between our lime tree and the bare field opposite recently sown with wheat. The greenfinches, chaffinches and goldfinches could be resident, or more northerly birds replacing our summer breeding colony who have moved on. Just because you see them all the year round, it doesn't mean they are the same birds. Recently they were joined by Bramblings [Pinson du nord] Fringilla montifringilla, the chaffinch's orange relative, and Siskins [Tarin des aulnes] Carduelis spinus. The adult birds, having moulted in summer, now look very fine.

Bagger discovered my fleece tunnel sheltering the winter lettuce plants. I could only find a rather ragged, used piece of fleece when I was constructing it, having bought the young plants on a whim at Descartes market when the night temperature was minus two. He found a hole in the fleece at one side of the tunnel and stuck his head through. Hm, no voles there yet. Fortunately when he pulled his head out again he didn't pull the whole thing down, but it was definitely a smaller hole than the width of his whiskers!

Osprey on migration

This afternoon we came out of the laiterie by chance, to see an Osprey [Balbuzard pêcheur] Pandion haliaetus heading across our meadow and away southeast. How lucky can you get!

Birds about

Pauline went into the old kitchen this morning to find a Wren [Troglodyte mignon] Troglodytes troglodytes trapped in the room. Whether this was the same wren Tim found shut into the laiterie last week we don't know, but her method of trying to escape was the same - fly into the window glass as hard as you can with a loud bang, fall back, return to the far side of the room and repeat. We assume she got in via the chimney - the temperature fell to minus 2 last night and she will have been looking for a cosy spot to roost. She left apparently none the worse.

Tim spotted a Goldcrest [Roitelet huppe ] Regulus regulus and some small green warblers (probably Chiffchaff [Pouillot veloce] Phylloscopus collybita) in the cherry tree this morning, along with the resident goldfinches, great tits and blue tits. There is also a small grey-brown warbler which is much harder to see and we have not yet identified it. The ordinary mixed wild bird food in the feeder and Tim's home-made fat block are going down well, but the warblers are also flycatching in the sunshine.

Our local Crows [Corneilles noires ]Corvus corone corone have some confusing calls - we heard imitation raven grunts and what sounded uncommonly like common cranes this afternoon, but it was only the crows taking the mick.

Vole trouble

Our city-dwelling tom cat, Baron aka Bagger, has discovered in himself the capacity to catch mice. Catch, you understand. Very gently, he brings back all items to the front door. And if the door is open, he brings them inside and places them on the floor for us and his sister to admire. As of yesterday afternoon, a fully alive vole is somewhere lurking under the furniture, or in the firewood stack, or maybe someone may discover him when they put on a shoe. Bagger's sister RonRon is a student of wildlife, and watches the vole's progress with great interest, but so far has made no attempt to catch one herself. She prefers to find a warm spot and curl up "asleep" (waiting for the main chance).

We could have at least six species of vole in our environment. Bagger has already brought us a specimen of the Campagnol Souterrain microtus subterraneus. We know this as the Mining Vole because of its little tunnels everywhere, a few inches below the ground and in the floor of the barn before we concreted it. It is more properly known as the Common Pine Vole. How dull. Who thinks of these names?

The little chap running around our living room looked bigger than the Mining Vole and is possibly a Common Vole [Campagnol des Champs] Microtus arvalis or Short-tailed Field Vole [Campagnol Agreste] Microtus agrestis – if and when we catch him, we’ll have him in a dentists chair and look at his teeth! We have two live traps down [a Longworth small mammal trap, baited with “Snacky Cracky” – a sugar-and-nut confection from Lidl that has proved irresistible to small rodents in the past] and a commercial "multi-capture" trap. A couple of years ago, a band of brothers took it in turns to venture into our kitchen – a series of wood mice, all male, went straight for the trap and the Snacky Cracky. Unfortunately before we put the trap down, mouse number one spent some time in the kitchen, sampling this and that. An intellectual mouse, he nibbled the spine of the dictionary. Thirsting for refreshment as well as knowledge, he chewed the foil capsule on a bottle of Cremant de Loire!

Tim encountered a Bank Vole [Campagnol Roussâtre] Clethronomys glareolus out in the meadow. We saw a Water Vole in the millstream but whether it was the Northern Campagnol Terrestre Arvicole terrestris or the Southern Campagnol Amphibe Arvicole sapidus species, goodness knows. Once upon a time, they were both Arvicola amphibius. The lumpers and splitters have been at it again!

Bad GPS? Food source? Migration?

This evening I was sitting on the bench outside the house [to be] planning how to tackle the next stage [with a glass of Anglo-Dutch Wildflower in hand] when I noticed that hundreds of Swallows, House Martins and the occasional group of what looked like Wagtails [no binos, so couldn't confirm.... just going on jizz] passing EAST overhead. Everytime I thought they'd stopped another flight came over... there was group after group [not all directly overhead... to misquote Tennyson "Some to the left of me, some to the right... straight into the east flew the X-hundred"]Straight down the Aigronne Valley toward Le Petit-Pressigny.... BUT, was someones Tom-Tom misfunctioning?
An hour later they all came back, drift after drift... or, as I later thought, were they following a rich food source down the valley and then returning to roost.
We thought we'd seen the last of the Martins and Swallows last week.... were these Northern ones on their way South, tapping a rich food source... or was it just bad programming by the makers of Swallow-Tom?

16 September 2010 - Snakes Alive

Came across this little fella [about 35cm long].... it is a young Viperine snake [Couleuvre vipérine or Vipère d'eau] Natrix maura.

Viperine snake [Couleuvre vipérine or Vipère d'eau] Natrix maura

Pauline used Planete Passion to get a fix on his identity.
Planete Passion state that they are very variable ["Its colouring is extremely variable, olive greens, greenish brown, yellowish brown, greys, yellowish orange and reddish browns. On its back are two rows of dark lines, angled backwards, which are often joined together to give a zigzag pattern."]... indeed the illustrations on their site show five different colourways and patterns. They also say "but if threatened it adopts a very similar intimidating pose to a Vipére" and whilst being manouvered for a photograph, it took up a strike pose and then relaxed and slid off in the direction I'd hoped. It moved very fast and in almost all shots is slightly blurred against the background. [I've sharpened them as best I can.]  Visit Planete Passion to get more information and see the other pictures.
This is the first "live" snake we've seen on the property.... the only other observations have been sloughed skins.
Thanks to Susan from Days on the Claise for this link to the reference on Reptiles and Amphibiens de France [it is an English Language site despite the french title]

Viperine snake showing a zig-zag pattern at the right

Viperine snake [head detail - note the round pupil]

Other observations today:

Suddenly the Swallows are gone.... as are the House Martins from town! Summer is finished!

A male Sparrow Hawk [Epevier d'Europe] took a small bird [probably young Goldfinch] in the Sunflowers next to the house. It came from the meadow at flower-top height and dove in directly in front of me. Came out again very swiftly and composed itself [and its prey] on a sunflower [tournesol] head and then flew back towards the meadow.

29th August to 2nd September 2010

Woorple, woorple, woorple!

Once again, late afternoon, on our way home after visiting the Chamussay Foullees we see the bee-eaters!
And, yet again they were over a field of lucerne near Gatault [on the D103] just down from our house [about a kilometre].
This time we were part prepared.... we had binos and my camera [but with the standard lens - useless for capturing them.]
We stopped and watched for a while then hurried back to the house to get telephoto lens [and dump our shopping.]
Fortunately, they were still there when we returned.
We spent quite a while watching them wheeling and hovering over the field, swooping up to the electricity lines to eat their catch.
Later that evening they came over our field but it was getting dark by then and they were difficult to see except when they were sillhoueted against the sky.

Bee-eater [Merops apiaster] [French name: Guepier d'Europe]

Then, on the 31st, we saw them again.... same spot!
Rushed back to the house to get the equipment we should have taken on Sunday.... they had stayed!
Spent even longer watching them and got some good pictures.

Bee-eater in flight

They look and sound so strange and tropical with their intense colour and burbling song.
We drove up to Les Richardieres and looked down on them from above...
the farmer came past and asked us if we were watching the guepiers...
he told us that they come through at around this time every year and stay for around three weeks...
fattening up on the insects feeding on the lucerne no doubt.


He also told us they come through in March on their way to their nest sites.












On our way back.... after they'd moved off down the Aigronne valley, we came upon them again... wheeling over the road.  Some were even sitting in the way of the car and seemed reluctant to move!!
Eventually they cleared a way for us to proceed.... and about an hour later came straight over the house!
Then I remembered that I'd noticed another area of lucerne just the other side of the Moulin de Chevarnay... they were probably heading for that.

Lucerne [also planted as Alfalfa]

Yesterday I checked out the lucerne the other side of Moulin de Chevernay... it had been mowed for winter forage!!
But as I was working on our meadow around 8pm [clearing a way to the Blackthorn for their Sloes] Pauline saw them fly over on the way back to the 'roost' area..."They sounded just like a party of schoolkids on the way back from an outing" she wrote in our logbook.





And tonight a large party flew over towards the 'roost' area at around 7:30pm... I went outside to see them but all I could hear was their "worpling".

Bird on a wire

In flight

Really tropical!!

Just a small part of the whole flock

All these can "bee" seen on flickr

5th August 2010

NUTS to that Woodpecker!! [or 'The law of unintended symbiosis'.]

We've lost some of our hazelnuts.
To the juvenile Greater-Spotted woodpecker [and he'll become a Greater-Splatted if I lay hands on him!] we've seen around... or to the Nuthatch we've heard.
Seriously though, the method seems to be as follows...
Rip a bunch of nuts from bush and drops down onto the concrete base rail of the fence.
Use this as an anvil....

Anvil & nuts

but [and this is where the "symbiosis" aspect comes in] he doesn't get much of a meal, as the noissettes are still very unripe and absolutely tiny.
[And they'll probably stay small unless we get some rain.]
So he leaves them where they are.... and our little rodents come along and find that someone has supplied some nuts for them.

Hammered nut

So we've got a bunch of nuts that have a couple of hammered openings with nuts that have been chewed open.

Chewed nut

This is all purely conjecture as I haven't seen the woodpecker or nuthatch at work... I am going on the evidence.

A few evenings spent Bug Hunting [July 25th to August 4th 2010]

I've spent a few evenings, after working on the house, bug-hunting in the meadow... which I have now named Argiopea!
You will see from these pictures that the magnificent orb-web spider Argiope bruennichi is present.... actually very present... two per square metre, often more.
The ones photographed here didn't have the loveley zig-zags [stabilimentum] above and below the centre that make the webs so easily identified... but I saw a great one 29th July - but didn't have the camera with me... I'll go hunting again tomorrow if this weather holds!
If I finish writing this before I've captured the classic web pic, I'll put it up later.
The first picture shows the yellow, black and white stripes clearly

.
The second shows the spinnerets very clearly.

The last is Argiope stuck into a freshly wrapped white butterfly [probably Small White - Artogeia rapae]

These pictures can also be seen on flickr.

Other insects seen on the 'bug-hunt' were numerous Damselflies including a probable White-legged Damselfly [Platycnemis penepipes], zillions of grasshoppers and bush-crickets, grass moths, mantis nymphs, other spiders, including Araniella cucurbitina [shown here trying to subdue a Green Lacewing - Chrysopa 7-punctata] and bugs, including Graphosoma italicum with its gaudy red and black design.

 Araniella cucurbitina

   Graphosoma italicum

The 'Butterfly Bush' [also called the same in France - "L'arbre des pappilons"] has had its fair share of visitors too!
Around lunchtime, just as the sun hits the Buddleia full on, we get the Broad-bordered Bee Hawkmoths [Hemaris fuciformis] visiting... and then a steady stream of species from then on, until the sun has moved from the flowers.

In the evening the moths go to it and we even had a brown Great Green Bush-cricket [Tettigonia viridissima] having a munch on the flowers.

The evening Simon & Susan from Days on the Claise came over we had Small Pincertail [Onychogomphus forcipatus] patrolling a territory on the bief and both the Demoiselles by the bridge.
There were also male Western Spectres [Boyeria irene] patrolling other stretches and a female of the same species hunting under the eaves.
Finally... and quite spectacular... was a very large hoverfly. A very good hornet mimic, I would have dismissed it as such if Susan hadn't pointed it out as Milesia crabroniformis, the largest European hoverfly.
I've put two pictures up of this as one of them gives it scale by showing a Greenbottle [Lucilia caesar].

May 2009

16th 

Found Birds-nest Orchid at the side of the road at Boussay 

20th
Saw a pair of Black Kites near Chambon... later, saw a pair of Red Kites at Perrusson!!

27th
Nightjar calling [over meadow? Going on volume of sound... I was not going to dance around on our bridge with a pair of handkerchiefs though!]

29th
6.30am Opened door to let out a moth and get a morning breath of fresh air.... saw a Red Squirrel bounding across to the lime tree. First we've actually seen here although we've picked up the evidence of well harvested spruce cone cores often enough.

2009 March

2nd  
Brambling with flock of Chaffinches - front garden
10th
Cranes flying ENE 5.45 PM [Approx 60 Common Cranes].
 After rainy day quite mild. Wind almost due West, quite strong.
11th
Stone Curlew night call flying over field opposite.
At same time: Little Owl at Bezuard, Tawny Owl in the Lime or Spruce.
Earlier, territorial dispute between two Buzzard pairs over meadow.
Weather sunny, no wind.
12th
Sunny, warm, still day.
Chiffchaffs calling, swifts?, Montague's over field, Black Redstarts, White and Grey Wagtails.
Woodpeckers hammering.

Once bitten...

After a hectic weekend with a lot of wildlife about I am going to write about.... CLEGS!
Horseflies to some... family Tabanidae to others.... these are large insects with a particularly nasty bite [to me anyway].
I was first bitten by one in 1970 and my whole arm came up like a well stuffed sausage so, whenever they are about, I declare war.
That said, I should only kill half of them as the males tend to be vegetarian [nectar feeders].... but I'm not going to stop and ask!

When I was bitten in '70, it was able to get through an ex-US Army jacket and my workshirt [but that was probably nothing compared to a horses hide!], all four layers quite tight fitting [the army jacket was three layers thick] so if they are about I now tend to wear very loose fitting clothing which reduces the contact points... except for exposed skin.
To me the most fascinating thing about the horsefly group are the eyes... the one shown here has very clear colouring on the eyes... this varies between species. [You will notice from the eyes that this one supports Jamaica and is wearing wrap-around sunglasses!] The colour also fades away after death [I can vouch for this!!]

What allowed me to get this close was the fact that these were feeding on the bonnet of the '56 2CV. They were probably males as they seemed to be drinking the dried drips of aphid sap on the bonnet [the car was parked under our lime].
Their feeding method was to use the front feet in a sweeping motion across the surface towards their head, covering in the process about a centimetre circle.
They would then extend their proboscis and work over the small patch immediately under their head.
That completed, they moved forward about a centimetre dabbing the proboscis on the bonnet as they went.
They then stopped and repeated the 'harvesting' action.
They moved up and down the bonnet in straight lines.... turning and shuffling sideways to do a return sweep.

According to Chinery [Collins; Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986] about 160 species occur in Europe.... the one here is most likely to be Tabanus bromius which has a very simple eye pattern [although there are a number of similar species this is the commonest (Chinery)]. The actual Cleg Fly [Haematopota pluvialis] is much smaller and unlikely to be the one that got through my jacket.

More about the Crossbills

As promised here is a bit more about the Crossbills [Loxia curvirostra].
We were sitting in the garden when a 'thump' came from the direction of one of our big spruce trees.
We had noticed green, immature cones lying around the tree base and had thought that it was the equivalent of a fruit tree's June drop.
Then we heard another one fall and I glanced upward to look at the tree and saw a red flash as a bird moved.
My first though was woodpecker, but then the bird came more into view and it was red all over.
I went and got the binos at first and then the big 'scope. The first picture is of the male Crossbill wrecking the spruce tree! Not a good shot, but the best I could get... I was handholding the camera
against the eyepiece of the telescope. [The adaptor was indoors and I thought they'd fly.... in fact they stayed an
hour!!]

The crossbill feeds upside down, starting at the base of the cone and moving towards the tip. It works very systematically... down one strip, back to the top, down the next and so on. Sometimes it just levered the scale upwards... on other occasions it ripped the scale off the cone and spat it out.
The next pictures show the damaged cones.
The damage done! This was the sight at the top of the tree.

I collected up some of the fallen cones to take close up photographs.
You can see in these cones the way the feeder rips the scale up and out to get at the seed beneath.

And the final picture is of the top end of the middle cone in the above.
The little split with a hole at the end is the damage caused by the beak

We had a party of three feeding together... the male that is shown above, a female [very different... mainly green... a shade close to the cones themselves] who we only caught glimpses of and a young / immature male who was far more orange than red.
They tended to move around the tree in a parroty sort of way... lots of leaping from branch to branch and walking sideways along the branches... very interesting to watch.

There is also a side angle to this damage... as mentioned in the previous post, we have had an increasing number of small birds feeding inside the damaged parts of the cones. These include juvenile Blue and Great Tits, Black Redstarts, Melodious Warbler, our resident Blackcaps and also non-insectivorous species like Chaffinch and Sparrow

One of the old records: August 2008

11th
Dry, overcast with a little drip of rain early AM and Very late PM. Just before dusk - two Muskrats by tractor ford plus Moorhen and chick. Later, after dark [10.30'ish] with a very light sprinkle of rain - Glowworm [♀] by fence / telephone pole - very bright - showing three bars [reception must be getting better]. Also very cricket'ous - bloody loud and everywhere.
When looking at laiterie to check on building progress, checked also the Black Redstart's nest - all hatched - John later confirmed that all had fledged and flown about a fortnight before. I just love the idea of a wild bird that uses a double glazed room to raise its young!! But it's got to stop... we've sealed the hatchway and John has finished the bathroom light-pipe so no way in now.

14th
Frédéric mowed the verger, etc... Tim strimmed the rest of the field. Standing on the bridge, Pauline heard the Kingfisher  ... it came at speed along the bief and then came back and perched on a branch in full view - no camera!! That's the second time it's done that [the first time it had the temerity to turn round and give both side views [I wonder what a kingfisher's snigger sounds like?] It flew up and down a couple of times before shooting back towards Le Moulin de Favier. It looked fabulous in the sunlight.

Today [13th July 2010] - for the last few nights we've been unwillingly interfering with nature again... our lounge windows/French doors have a pair of pale green net curtains to help keep the sunlight levels in the room down [they face due South]. However, at night, the male Glowworms gather in number [15 last night].... given the colour is close to the female's lights it must be a case of "Cor!! Look at the lights on her then!" They'll just have to up-put until we go to bed.

Point to note; we've not seen/heard the Kingfisher for about two years now. The Aigronne was made very muddy by an extremely severe storm two years ago that washed fields away [5 litres of rain per cubic metre fell in 45 to 50 minutes] and the water quality changed overnight! It is now recovering... but no visible fish. The Banded Demoiselles are increasing in number by our bridge though.... and real weed is beginning to overtake the amount of blanket weed.

A change of approach now we are here!

Date as for log entry.
Well, we are now in France and this website will become more frequently updated as we are here every day!!
It means that the remaining, originally chronological entries will be posted as and when... usually when they match the date being reported in real time.
We've been here a fortnight already and have seen a lot... without leaving the premises.
With our first lot of unpacking came the unexpected sight of a Purple Emperor butterfly... no, we didn't get a photo and we don't know if it was a Lesser Purple Emperor either [we were too overwhelmed at having such a creature on our hands to count the dots.... two on the front wings of the Purple and two on each pair in the Lesser according to the books.]
Then we were bombed by a female Stag Beetle... we were sitting outside, enjoying a late evening spot of calm [as you do] when we saw a large, at first slow moving, object rise from the sunflowers opposite... and head straight for us at an ever increasing speed... it buzzed just over our heads and used the warmth coming off the building to circle and rise into the Cherry Laurel... there are some beetles that were never meant to fly.
Later that week we saw a Lesser Stag Beetle [much smaller] for comparison [very convenient!}
And then for the past few days we've had a small family of Crossbills wrecking the tops of our Spruce trees... this in turn has brought in a host of other birds... including a Greater Spotted Woodpecker.... all feeding on the wrecked cones.
There will be more on the Crossbills later in the week when we've processed the pix.

May 2008 - visit 4th to 19th.

The orchids locally are fabulous this year but some are missing / poor show [possibly down to not being able to build reserves in last years terrible weather?] Maize sown opposite 9th/10th  - lots of machine activity since. Often exceptionally quiet at night.

10th
Again Corncrake call from over road - more than three times on this occasion [about five minutes in all] Sounded from almost due south [right hand end of wood] This is in line with the 'waste' area near Etableau. Heard nightjar  also over our meadow.

13th & 14th
2 pairs of Red-legged Partridge regularly in field opposite - feel like offering the males a 'jump-start' as they always seem to sound like a car/bike having difficulty getting going.

15th
Using the 'Birds of the Western Palearctic' DVDs from Birdguides we've at last managed to identify the odd wader-like call we've been hearing on a number of visits - it is the 'night' display of the Stone Curlew - again usually to the right of directly opposite which would put it over towards Etableau again. [Near to where we saw a pair on the walk of 15/5/05]

16th
While our prairie was being mowed, Montague's Harrier [♂] came down and quartered the cut area, unafraid of the machine. Three Hares in the maize field today. Saw Cuckoo flying over. Weather terrible.

17th
Weather much better. Good orage  [storm] late PM. Montagues [male and later female] present all day. Also a pair of Hobby came over. Saw male Monty do a food pass to the female. Lots of activity now the grass in the meadow is short!! Poor voles but that's life [or death?]. Late PM, just as it was getting dark picked up a pair of Stone Curlews at ditch on the right hand side of the maize field.  [gathering power of the Kowa's 70mm objective is very good late evening and in other poor light situations]. Also saw a deer [too big to be a Roe - book say Sika!] going across top of field and into the wood.

18th
Stone Curlew pair with chick. Toddled over to its parent and snuggled under wing. Later: Snipe drumming from direction of road bridge. Noticed Tassle Hyacinth [Muscari canosum] on far bank of bief next to the tree nursery area.

Birds in the immediate locality this trip::
Melodious Warbler, 
Whitethroat, 
Blackcap [singing very loudly all day from the spruces],
Sparrows, 
Goldfinches [two nesting in Buddleia just outside bedroom window],
Black Redstart, 
Chiffchaff, 
Montague's Harrier, 
Pied/White Wagtail, 
Grey Wagtail [seen by neighbour's etang],
Chaffinch [two females visited by very handsome male - Pauline saw it fly off towards wood - more girls?],
Yellowhammer, 
Woodpeckers, 
Cuckoos [only seen the once flying over but , heard calling continuously - at least two!],
Turtle Doves, 
Collared Dove [flew towards Bezzuard from barn area],
Wood pigeons in maize field,
two Herons round Richard's etang three days running,
Jays, 
Magpies, 
Rooks, 
Crows, 
Jackdaws, 
notable absence of owls [all three types],
Bodie the Buzzard regularly chased away from the woods opposite [his woods] by the nesting crows - forced him down into the field on one occasion!!

February 24th 2008

Clear sunny day, warm, wind SW moderate. Large flock of Common Crane gathering over Etableau and flew off NE in three large skeins [upward of 200 birds] followed by a second small group that flew straight towards us.

The noise was incredible. They flew straight overhead and I almost fell over backwards [Falklands Penguin Syndrome!] as I took the following shot ... I was saved from total embarassment by the trunk of a willow!

14th and 16th July 2007

14th
Stag Beetle [♂] crossing road - stopped and photographed it on the bonnet of our '56 2CV.  Put it on the side of the road it was aiming for.... it promptly turned back towards the middle of the road. Turned it round in my hand a few times , put it down again facing its original direction of travel... this time it did head off into the vegetation.
[Bois Bonhomme map 1925E GPS 3394-51962]

16th
Out in rain to Etangs Perriére & Neuf [Voir les Oiseaux in Touraine - Walk 23 Bossay-sur-Claise] Rain had got heavier so didn't stop. Turned left on D50 and stopped beside Etang Bourreau where we were able to pull off the road beside the water. Saw juvenile Great-crested Grebe and Coypu [ragondin] first. Then two Black-necked Grebe juveniles appeared.... no adults to be seen. Nice view of a Kingfisher right beside the car and then over to bushes on the right... where it stopped momentarily before diving into the water behind some rushes... it didn't return to the same perch though [must have known I'd got the camera out!!] Also Coot and juvenile Moorhen around. Grey Heron flew off as we arrived [GPS 3485 - 51824]

Later this trip we did get to the Etang Perriére where we saw Black-knecked Grebe, Whiskered Tern, Black Tern, Purple Heron, Shoveller and Pochard before Pauline twisted her ankle in a hidden rut!

But all was not lost, as we slowly made our way back towards the car, we came across a Camberwell Beauty drinking from the remnants of a puddle left by the rains.

































Also discovered that our Black Redstarts had chosen to nest INSIDE the Laiterie [as per normal....] but it now had been fitted with double glazed windows and doors.... and yes, the young fledged successfully... and again in 2008 when they chose the bedroom upstairs! This is the 2007 nest in the hole left by the removal of the old manger.
By 2008 the doors were in place upstairs... we have yet to clean the guano from the surfaces.

15th January 2007

Unseasonably warm [12 C]... Lizard on wall [active]. Mozzies about!