Firecrest

We saw this firecrest at the resevoir at Mialet, a pleasant area with a footpath that went around the perimeter, it was a designated nature reserve.

Green and common Wall lizards

The green lizard we found out in the countryside of the Dordogne, the wall lizards were photographed in my cousins garden, they were an endless fascination to one of his dogs who spent hours each day trying to catch them with very little success, when he got bored with the lizards the shadows of butterflies had him tearing around trying to catch them, at the end of each day he was just about exhausted.

Coypu

These were in the Valley where my cousin lives in the Dordogne, they appeared to have poor eyesight as I was able to approach them quite close before they got our scent and scuttled off into the safety of the water (pic 2)

Wild boar

We saw these in the Dordogne region of France, sadly a hunting mad area, we were advised not to go into the woods on Sundays as there was a good chance of getting shot, we thought the wild boar were wonderful, and cannot understand why anyone should want to kill them,

Frampton marsh highlights

Les and I had a long week end in Lincolnshire, with all the best pictures being obtained at Frampton.
One morning I arrived early to find it shrouded in mist but I could hear the huge flock of up to 5,000 black tailed godwits calling, (see picture above of part of the flock in flight when the fog cleared).
While I waited for the sun to break through I watched a group of mallards walking across the grass eating the spiders from the centres of the dew laden webs, also two pairs of mute swans were in a loose group and both cobs decided to make show of who was boss, they slowly approached each other in typical agression pose, they stood really close to each other and bent their necks down so that their heads were facing downwards, they both stood their ground and then seemingly with their honour intact quietly ambled back to their pens.
the top picture is of a little stint, two is a black tailed godwit, four is a very obliging goldfinch and five is a distant pectoral sandpiper, a visitor from America.

House martins

Some more images from Welney, the pictures are interesting in that the different light on the plumages look like different hues of black.

Barn swallow juvenile

Les and I spent a very pleasant day at Welney including a trip out with the livestock ranger to the parts of the reserve that are normally off limits to the public. There were large numbers of hirundines around the centre and this was one that allowed us to get quite close without disturbing it.