May 17, 2006
Local surprises
This evening I worked my way home through the Bois des Rames and birded the woods and fields immediately adjacent to my house. The latter site now has two singing Melodious Warblers (Hyppolais polyglotte)- my first in goodness knows how many years!
Another big surprise was this pair of Stonechats (Tarier patre).
Given that the male was observed song-flighting, I assume they're breeders rather than late migrants.
This area also holds a healthy population of Linnets (Linotte melodieuse).
The Common Redstart (Rougequeue a front blanc) in my street is still singing, although he seems to have abandoned his favourite tree and is singing from a wider range of locations.
The highlights of a walk in the Bois des Rames were my first Hobby (Faucon hobereau) of the year and a perched Cuckoo (Coucou gris). This impressive-looking beetle crossed my path - reminiscent of a Stag Beetle but with smaller 'antlers' (It is, in fact, a male Lesser Stag Beetle - cheers Dean!).
Hi Richard ( hope i`ve got the name right ), looks like Lesser Stag Beetle, very similar to female Stag Beetle but this one has black wing cases not brown as stag has.
Posted by: Dean Stables at May 18, 2006 12:16 PM