Purple Heron: Ardea purpurea

Taken in the Brenne France.

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Tau Emperor: Aglia tau

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More from the moth trap later

Little Owl: Athene noctua

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The Little Owl  in the chimney stack, it watched me every day as I  worked in the garden. 

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More from France later

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Slow Worm: Anguis fragilis

It's not been a disappointing two weeks in France, Black Redstarts are in the Garden, the Little Owl is in next doors, chimney stack, it watches me every day as I go about my business in the garden.

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Chiffchaff are singing across the road in the woods whilst the drumming of a Woodpecker can be heard in the background. In the garden on the other side Blackcap are nesting.

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After cutting the grass and a bit of weeding I decided to dig out a small pond,( it's for Dragonflies although I will be putting some frogs in).

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It only took a day to complete along with a rockery for the Lizards and finishing the job with some plants around the edges.

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I had the Moth trap out for two days and got some good results with one or two new species to add to the catalogue.

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 I have managed to photograph Some butterflies which I will be posting later

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You can hear the sound of a Cuckoo most days too but I have only seen one and managed a crap photo of it.

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I was quite lucky to be able to photograph a Slow Worm again and just missed out on an Adder.

Wall Lizards are starting to show next to the pond  and are worth getting out the camera for some close-up shots

More later

I'm off to France for two weeks today just as bird migration swings into action in the UK.

I have not had much chance to visit the usual places to get  in on the action.

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With only one trip to photograph the Dippers last week I couldn't even manage a trip to photograph the Black necked Grebes, that's how it goes sometimes

I am hoping to be able fill a few cards with the local wildlife in France, with luck I will be getting Cuckoo in the garden again and other migrant birds.

Dipper

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I had a quick check to see if the Fire Salamanders in the cellar are ok, I only found two
 

but I didn't bother to look for the other one.
 

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One of the other regular birds that are photographed is the Firecrest, with plenty of them about, you hear them before you see them as they search for insects.
 

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Not in the best of light and you have to be quick to get a photograph them.
 

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More later
 

Singing in the rain
 

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This is the shot I wanted a Black Redstart sat on the spade handle in the rain
 

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Can it get any better
 

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Still going through my Black Redstart photographs taken in the back garden in France.
 

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Back from France after a wet week, I still managed to cut the Grass and trim the hedges and even prepared and seed my wildflower bed.
The Little Owls are around I could hear it calling most days but I was unable to locate it.
 

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After setting up the garden feeders I turned my attention to the resident Black Redstarts,
 

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Partial Solar Eclipse

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Taken at Lymm Dam

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Full Moon

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