Sunday 31 July 2011

Butterfly garden

After a few days near Geneva we moved to the southern end of Lac Annecy in the French Alps today. Staying in a luxurious chalet, I was pleased to find that the back garden was in fact a rich wildflower meadow, with about a dozen species of butterfly counted over the course of a week. Silver-Washed Fritillary (above) was the most numerous, Great Sooty Satyr (below) probably the largest and most spectacular to my eyes at least.

Saturday 30 July 2011

Lac Leman

On my first visit last year I realised that Goosander is a common bird on Lac Leman. This bird was sitting over a brood of fledglings on a platform just off the quay of the village of Yvoire on the southern shore.

Thursday 28 July 2011

Different garden birds

Staying with friends near Geneva this week meant a distinct change of scene in terms of garden birds - Serin, Black Kite and Black Redstart being the main delights. This young Black Redstart was perched on the kids trampoline on the back lawn.

Saturday 16 July 2011

Two wheels around Wareham

Cycling from my new home in Wareham around the area produced few birds but quite a few dragonflies, this Keeled Skimmer (top) near East Holme and Emperor (bottom) on a small pool on Stoborough Heath being the pick of them. Tried Middlebere later in the day where a lone Greenshank and pair of Yellow-legged Gull were the highlights before a rainstorm forced a hasty retreat.

Brecks and Fens

Birding - and blogging - have been the main casualties of a house move from Poole to Wareham over the last few weeks. With most of the boxes unpacked, I can now dig out some old CF cards and remind myself that there has been life beyond duct tape for the past few months. I did manage a trip to the Brecks back in June, catching up with Stone Curlew at Weeting and a fleeting glimpse of Golden Oriole at Lakenheath but dipping on the long-staying Bluethroat at Welney towards the end of the day. Many photos of this approachable Swallow were taken while waiting for the latter to appear. An aggresive Avocet was also hovering and calling loudly near the visitor centre.

Monday 4 July 2011

Terned out nice again

A better year for breeding Terns on Brownsea than last, with plenty of young Sandwich Terns (top) on the islands in front of the Macdonald Hide. Fencing around one of the islands seems to have helped, though there were also fledglings on the unfenced islands. Adults were back and forth constantly with food, confirming the impression of a good year for the terns.