August 2, 2006
Same old, same old
A week of sweltering heat followed by impressive thunderstorms and rain... not exactly conducive to birding! Here's an approaching thunderstorm as viewed from my flat.
Also viewed from my flat, this Red Squirrel was the first I'd seen in a while.
Last weekend I walked to the Chateau de Madeleine and Chevreuse. Clouded Yellow butterflies and Hummingbird Hawkmoths were abundant.
This slow-moving stream in Chevreuse was good for dragonflies...
..including Small Red-eyed Damselflies, a relatively recent colonist of the UK. Most of the features separating this species from the similar Red-eyed Damselfly are apparent: slimmer build, duller red eyes, and much more blue on segments 2 and 7 of the abdomen.
Bird-wise, the highlight was seeing a silent Black Woodpecker (Pic noir) in the wood at the end of my street. This wood really doesn't seem big enough to hold this species - perhaps this is post-breeding dispersal? The three commoner woodpecker species were also seen that day (for some reason, Lesser Spotted seems to be calling again). Also encouraging, I confirmed breeding of Spotted Flycatcher (Gobemouche gris) at this site, with at least 3 begging juvs seen. The fields close to my house continue to hold Grasshopper Warbler (Locustelle tachetee), Tree Sparrow (Moineau friquet) and Grey Partridge (Perdrix grise).
This will be my last blog post for a couple of weeks, as I'm returning to the US for a conference in Memphis (fingers crossed for Prothonotary Warbler) followed by a return visit to Davis, CA - let's hope the birding is better across the pond!
Posted by rjhall at August 2, 2006 11:10 PM