As my old thread is still locked up I thought I'd start & new one. New home, new thread, new forum!!
Since moving in we've been really busy but here are a few photos taken along the way, these are a pair of Gland weevils, up to something naughty on the moth trap,
a Shield bug (for Rockwolf, where is she?) ,Pantilus tunicatus,
A flight of storks passing over on migration, someone asked me once, how do you know a bird is on migration "Does it have it's suitcase with it?" & they are quite right, most of the time it's circumstantial evidence,
& a local stork flying around,
meanwhile, whilst insulating the roof space I found this perfectly dried Garden dormouse (male!) which obviously died a horrible death from poisoning,
a Robin on the overhead cable, they don't come too close;
This is it's & our view of the estuary marshes,
A spider visiting the moth trap, Hogna radiata,
A burying beetle, Necrodes littoralis, also around the moth-trap
& a hornet, who wasn't agressive fortunately,
a Migrant Hawker on the marshes,
some Great White Egrets,
Cattle Egrets (probably), sitting on the fence,
& finally another Spider around the moth trap, Xysticus sp,
I'll try & finish this update later. Thanks for looking.
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
Energetic & dedicated preserver of this species HinNH, no wonder you haven't had much time for posting stuff!!! Such an interesting story, different from the norm definitely but you do get to see quite a diverse range of critters over there that we don't here! It's always good when you do get time to inform us, keep up the good work!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Fantastic job Hazel, well done :-)
"Let loose the Kraken!"
Here are the photos that Ron took the same day as me & are much better, I was hoping for a Large Copper & had my macro lens & Ron had his bridge
& another shot of the Night Heron from Ron too
Thanks for your comments, it was a bit of a pain at times when the temperatures were high 30's & I had get in the car & check the tapes & signs. However it all worked well & they all bred so it was a magnificent compensation. I'm just hoping they go back to their original home next year which is on private land & safe from disturbance. In case they return to this years spot I'm getting a list of all the landowners in the area & will try & meet them in the winter to get an agreed system of managing the closure of the track as quite a few were rather disgruntled! To be honest the odd tractor going past wasn't a problem, but a fisherman & wife pitching up for the day in front of the colony, possible with their children milling around could have been catastophic. Also there are a lot of quads/4x4 that love going around off-road & they could easily have scared the young chicks into falling from their flimsy nests, especially if they stopped to have a look (although most just speed around noisily), I'm not a fan of them (if you haven't guessed already).
Lovely photos again, I commend you on the getting in and out of the car in that heat, I remember it well - in Greece - not here where we are lucky to get one day's heat!!! Have to agree on the 4x4's, handy for the farmers to work with on their land, but off-roaders, no need.
Lot to learn
You are a star,Hazel.
A fantastic story Hazel, with a happy ending, I'm glad that you made the effort. As you say, the reward was seeing the young ones fledge successfully.
My bird photos HERE
Gosh, I missed this update Hazel. What a great story and good on you for all the effort you put in. Just shows if you approach people in the right way they will cooperate.
It must have given you great satisfaction that they all fledged successfully. A big well done from me.
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
Thanks all for your comments, I only did what anyone else would have done in the same circumstances!
A couple of weeks ago we had some Bee-eaters going through on migration. We heard & saw them one day & managed to re-find them the next day for better views & photos. These are the best of the photos,
they kept flying off the wires to catch insects
then on the way home we had a low flying Honey Buzzard
the photos are horrible as I had the camera adjusted too much for the sky!!
by the time I got it sorted it had gone!!
I think they look pretty good against the white background as you can see every detail of the colours of the Bee-eater, fantastic shots. The honey buzzard is terrific too, are they lighter in colour to the ordinary buzzard? and maybe smaller?
Thanks Gaynor, the Honey Buzzard has a much bigger wingspan than the Common buzzard but the same size body, so looks less "stocky". As both species have light & dark versions colour is tricky, but generally lighter I would say. We don't get them in the winter only May to September, but they are lovely birds & a lot more rare than the Common.