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!

7th September 2006

A day spent butterfly watching.

Butterflies, butterflies,butterflies galore.... all on the Buddleia in the sunshine...
we saw, in no particular order...., Peacock, Red Admiral, Swallowtail, Map, Grizzled Skipper, Large White, Wood White, Silver-washed Fritillary, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Comma, Clouded Yellow, Brimstone, Great Banded Grayling, Large Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Painted Lady, Chalk Hill Blue, Common Blue.... also Small Copper on the clover in the front lawn.
Moths... Humming-bird Hawkmoth, Jersey Tiger, T-Moth, Many-Plumed Moth and Silver-Y Moth.... and a Lime Hawkmoth larva fell out of the lime tree... put it back!
Oh... and a Praying Mantis

<<<  Peacock

 Red Admiral  >>>

<<<  Swallowtail

 
 Map  >>>

<<<  Queen of Spain Fritillary 

Brimstone  >>>

<<<  Great Banded Grayling 

Painted Lady  >>> 

 <<<  Humming-bird Hawkmoth    

11th to 27th August 2006

Observations from the Nature Diary

11th
Glow-worm [♀] on front lawn.

We get the males on the window since we put the pale green curtains there [a touch of bigger is better might be the reason why... as in "Cor! Look at the lights on her!!]
[Shown right is a glow-worm larva on a snail  >>>]

<<< These are the curtains

12th
Weather windy and showery during the day... very clear night 15 degrees Celcius.
Moons of Jupiter very clear; also waxing moon... astonishing views of Mares.


27th
Went to Chaumussay for their "foulées" [track events / mini marathon] and vide-grenier - Pauline heard bee-eaters when we got an Orangina to drink.
As we left around lunch we went the Etableau route and heard and saw them again near the Croix Jourdain [on the 1:25000 Grand Pressigny map 1925O] by the railway crossing.
Back to La Forge for bino's, 'scopes, etc. and headed back.
Less than 0.75K from the house, near Gatault, in "OUR" valley - a flock of about 50 to 60 feeding over a field of tares [or similar vetch-type plant] on the bees, butterflies and grasshoppers. Superb views of aerial manouvres [wheeling, gliding and stooping] with the trill calls going all the time... and of them settled in the top of a nearby tree [just out of telephoto range!!] - fab views through the 'scopes though.
This was followed by the passage of three eagles over the valley [probably Booted, going on the jizz]

January the First 2006

Egrets, I've had a few!

We had a Cattle Egret in the field next to ours [below Bezuard]
Patroling along the ditch line next to the road [probably wondering why it stayed so far North!!

December 2005 - Observations in Nature Diary

26th - Black Redstarts still around.

27th - Pair of Green Sandpipers feeding along the bief. Loads of Buntings / LBJs.
Lovely view of a 'pair' of Kingfishers
[one stayed around for quite a while by Richard's sluice gate  -  NO I didn't have my camera to hand!!]

28th - Went for a walk towards Petit Pressigny then up to Chevarnay and round and back.
Buzzard over the wood as we walked up, Hen Harrier quartering in fields on the other side of the valley.

Watching the sandpipers

14th & 15th May 2005 - Observations in Nature Diary

14th
Possible Corncrake calling from over the road, called three times.
Oriole singing in poplar plantation. Hen Harrier [male] over woods.

15th
Did a walk from the LPO book 'Voir les Oiseaux en Touraine' [Walk 13 - Etableau, Grand Pressigny] -  
Orchids, Scarce and normal Swallowtails, further on [just beyond the set-aside that lies behind the wood behind Gatault] Stone Curlews.
Came down past la Duranderie onto the Etableau to Preuilly road [D42].
Walked back through Etableau past a marvelous potager to our car.
Good walk, well marked in the book and not tiring despite the heat.
Then went up above La Jarrie... orchids all way up the hill...  
Autumn crocus seed pods visible in the ditches towards la Celle Geunand.

Swallowtail

19th February to 6th March 2005 Observations from Nature Diary and Notebooks

19th Feb - 6th March 2005 [Dead Season, ha-ha]
Brenne [Visit on a bright and sunny day] -
Loads of Great White Egrets and G-C Grebes. Also cormorants, lapwings, gulls.
Small flocks [20'ish] of Pochard and Wigeon at Foucault.
Very little else except a Red Kite and Little Egrets
.
La Forge - Accumulated observations...
[Weather V.cold - sunny with occasional snowy days - water froze in minus 12 degrees Celsius temperature.]
Barn Owl seen on road to village numerous times after dark.
Black Redstart around grinding his little steel balls.
Blackbirds, Robins, large flocks of Fieldfares.
Kestrels, Buzzards and a raptor with very white blaze at base of tail flew across field and meadow and up to the trees below la Jarrie. Female Hen Harrier or Monty? definately not a buzzard.
Saw a Water Vole by our bridge....
also three Coypu [ragondins] by baby poplars toward Bezuard and on the bank between Richard's etang and the bief. >>>
Found a fresh Barn or Tawny Owl pellet on the concrete lid of water meter mains tap.

From the Nature Diary:

20th
Dry, cold, sunny. Bodie the buzzard calling - else very little moving.

21st
Sunny - snowed in evening - Loads of birds calling but little to see.

Ragondin [Coypu]

22nd
Snow showers and sunshine breaks - saw coypu in young poplar grove opposite the wier.
Heard tawny, barn and little owls calling after dark [around 8pm]

24th
Found deadish catfish in the bief [there was a little bit of muscular twitching]

22nd to 26th October 2004 Observations from Notebooks

22nd La Forge
Juvenile Peregrine flew over house towards woods.

24th Brenne
La Gabriere almost drained... 20 plus Great White Egret, 60 plus Little Egret as well as Grey Heron, Shag, Black-headed Gull, Grebes Great-Crested and Black-neck.... all fishing like mad!!

26th La Forge
Little Owl in silhouette on the barn roof... calling to partner near bridge... challenged by the Barn Owl.

Also discovered Deptford Pink growing in the drive!

Deptford Pink

15th to 23rd May 2004 Observations from Nature Diary and Notebooks

15th to 20th [and the 23rd] May 2004
Observations at La Forge and an Orchid Walk organised by the Patrimoine.
[The middle bit was spent at the meeting of 2CV friends at Bessais le Fromental in the Berry 
but we returned early as the people in the caravan next door had a generator running all night!! 
And it was on our tent's side of their caravan... made it worse. Was tempted to use some sugar in the tank... but lethargy prevailed.]

At La Forge.... 
Stone Curlews nesting in field oppposite house [Richard had planted tournesol]
We had our meadow cut and the Montague's Harrier came in to hunt as the hay was being turned.

On the 20th we went on an Orchid Walk...
very well organised [and the first Natural History event we'd come across for 'les adultes']
Went in our own transport in a convoy, first to the top of the hill outside GP on the Barrou road.
At the junction of the road leading down to the 'independant' commune of [name] we saw six species including Purple Limodore and Man Orchid.

Purple Limodore || Man Orchid

Our guide and lecturer pointed out the 'odd' orchids [crosses between species]... very interseting and informative.
Then via someone's 'private' road down to the road from Etableau to Chaumassay and the Lady and Bee orchids along there at the side of the railway.
 
At Chaumassay we looked at the huge colony of Lizard orchid above the Source and then followed the railway towards Les Haute Thurinieres.
The whole track and road side was covered in different species in quantity...
20 metres of embankment covered in Monkey Orchid. Also Man, Lady, Bee, Spider in quantity.
 
Leaving our transports at the roadside we walked through some private woods to see Green-winged, Narrow-leaved and Pyramid [as well as wild Aqueligia]
Returning to the transport we carried on along the railway line to the Boussay road and turned back toward Chaumassay.

Just passed the other [more well known?] La Forge we drove up a track to look at the chalky Juniper wasteland in search of Fly orchid [found some, but they were immature] and the descended the hillside above La Forge, back towards the road... great examples of Pyramid and some Burnt Orchid.

Fly Orchid || Burnt Orchid

Most species seen were a first for us. We've been back along that route many a time... it still thrills!

9 -12 April 2004 - Observations in Nature Diary

9th - Good Friday
Fritillaria meleagris at far end of point by the bief [millstream] near the wier.
Three plants.Also on opposite bank of Aigronne about 100 mtrs further on [2 plants visible].
Also 2 plants visible alongside the fence between Richard's etang and our field.
Near the fritillaries on the opposite bank of the Aigronne was a large 'colony' of Purple Toothwort [Lathraea squamaria],
only their purple flowers showing above the soil... wierd plant!

At entry to village, on bank by first houses.... Star of Bethlehem [Dame d'onze heures]
Also disturbed Green Sandpiper who were feeding on gravel bank at side of bief near the house.

Purple Toothwort  ||  Snakeshead Fritillary 

|| Bloody-nose Beetle

12th - Easter Monday
Lesser-Spotted Woodpeckers in the walnut tree by the verger and in the poplars on far side.
Red squirrel carrying baby, running towards us on the back road [le Petit Pressigny / Preuilly]
One of those moments... we stopped, squirrel stopped, stared, thought bubble appeared
"OOO Eck! O oo I oo ow?! is a oo ee ee... own ee em ery o'en!" before turning tail
and belting back down the road and up the bank!
[Translation of thought bubble - ' OOO heck! What do I do now?! It's a two CV... don't see them very often!"]

Muskrat - lives opposite side of bief, just behind the house. Comes out evenings to feed.
The crunching of vegetation echoes back off the barn wall.... sounds strange.
Caught Barn Owl in the beam of the 2,000,000 candle-power torch,
flying across fields opposite the house - it didn't seem perturbed by the light.

14th - Photographed a Bloody-nose Beetle. This large flightless beetle exudes 'blood' from its mouth if disturbed.

LISTING:

Seen round La Forge
Birds seen:

Raptors:

• Barn Owl
• Buzzard

Non-Raptors:

• Turtle-Dove [heard in trees by river]
• House sparrows
• Black Redstart
• Blue Tit
• Great Tit
• White Wagtails
• Moorhens
• Robin
• Crows
• Rooks
• Greenfinch
• Song Thrush
• Chaffinch
• Swallows
• House Martins
• Male Blackcap
• Goldfinches
• Stonechat
• Blackbird
• Lesser-spotted Woodpecker

Waders:

• Green Sandpiper [feeding on gravel bank at side of bief]
• Grey Heron

Mammals:

• Muskrat

Other Local sightings- vers Petit Pressigny

• Indeterminate large falcon
• Red squirrel carrying baby in mouth. [Along back road to Preuilly, just outside P.P.]
  When it saw us it turned round and ran back down the road, up a bank and into the hedge.

Visit to the Brenne:
At La Gabriere

• Black-necked Grebes
• Great White Egret
• Tufted Duck
• Pochard
• Gadwall
• Shoveller
• Mallard
• Coot 

At le Foucault:

• Hen Harrier [male]
  Black Kite
• Magpie
• Snipe

Elsewhere:

• Grey Herons - roost at Plume Cane [house on corner of etang - not the farm!]
• Turtle Doves
• Collared Doves
• Wood Pigeon
• Redstart [le Bouchaut]
• 
  
• Marsh Harrier [female - Meziers-en-Brenne]
• Kestrel
• Cormorants
• G-C-Grebes [everywhere]
• 
  
• Chocolate-headed Land Gulls [Black-headed gulls]
• Herring Gull
• Jay
• Green Woodpecker [Azay-le-Feron]

New Observations added to 16 April 2003

19/12/2009   
New material added to 16 April 2003
[Posted 15/11/2009]

21 -29 March 2004 - Observations from the Nature Diary

21st
Trip to the Brenne... 
All seen at La Cherine
Great White Egret
Hen Harrier [male]
Honey Buzzard
Pintails, Teal, Shovellers
except a Grey Wagtail... seen on returning to La Forge
Also Barn owl by road bridge near Moulin du Favier as we returned from a visit to GP for a meal.

22nd
Muskrat swam past at lunchtime
Saw wren, robin, white wagtails
Stonechat and a warbler [buff & pale-buff]
Put car away in the laiterie and disturbed a Black Redstart

23rd
Small warbler by river [very visible cream eye-stripe - pale green and buff-green - probably a willow-chiff]

24th
Swallows appeared at around 5.50pm [along with the sun]
Pair of Buzzards wheeling over the woods in front of the house.

25th
Hen Harrier [male] along below Grandmont towards Petit Pressigny.
Hobby dropped from over the grange [barn] into the field by the willows and then flew off. It was trying to catch Swallows but failed miserably.

26th Woodcock flew over late afternoon
27th And again but I had bino's with me this time... for Woodcock, read Snipe!!

28th
Visit to Brenne again...
Saw Black kite, loads of Black-necked Grebes [at La Gabriere], Purple Heron plus assorted other species and a roost of Cormorants.
Large raptor took off from our meadow on returning - probably a buzzard [ it was behind the barn and away before there was a chance of identifying it. Swallows present AM as we left for the Brenne and heard a buzzard calling from the wood out front.

29th
Chiffchaff calling and hopping around us as we planted trees by Richard's etang. Female harrier [? species... too fast] came low across meadow in front of us, thro' trees and up across fields towards La Jarrie.

As a list of sightings:

Seen round La Forge
Birds seen:

Raptors:

• Barn Owl near Moulin du Favier [by road bridge]
  
• Buzzards
  
• Hen Harrier [male]
  
• Hobby
  
• Harrier [female] - came low across field and up thro' trees to La Jarrie.
  

Passerines:

• Grey Wagtail [by our bridge]
  
• White Wagtails
  
• Swallows [with Hobby in pursuit on one occasion]
  
• Robin
  
• Wren
  
• Black Redstart
  
• Stonechat
  
• Willow-Chiff
  
• Chiffchaff [called whilst being watched]
  

Waders:

• Snipe
  

Mammals:

• Muskrats
  

Visit to the Brenne:

• Hen Harrier [male]
  
• Honey Buzzard
  
• Black Kite
  

• Purple Heron
  
• Great White Egret
  

• Pintail
  
• Teal
  
• Shovellers
  

• Black-necked Grebes [loads - La Gabriere]
  

• Roost of Cormorants