Thursday 31 March 2016

We saw the first slow worm of the year basking in the garden beside one of the sheds. This was a biggy, probably about 70cm long.

Slow worm, Christophstal March 2016

Slow worm, Christophstal March 2016

Easter Monday 28 March 2016
Jelly Ear Fungus, Christophstal March 2016

Jelly Ear Fungus, Christophstal March 2016

Raspberry Gall Fly gall, Christophstal March 2016

Raspberry Gall Fly gall, Christophstal March 2016

Common Butterbur, Christophstal March 2016

Common Butterbur, Christophstal March 2016

Marsh Marigold, Christophstal March 2016

Marsh Marigold, Christophstal March 2016

Wood Anemone, Christophstal March 2016

Wood Anemone, Christophstal March 2016

Meadow Hawkweed, to be confirmed once flowering Christophstal March 2016

Meadow Hawkweed, to be confirmed once flowering Christophstal March 2016

Red Squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Red Squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Firecrest, Christophstal March 2016

Firecrest, Christophstal March 2016

First thing this morning, the weather didn't look too bad so we went for a walk down the valley to see what was flowering.

We saw some jelly ear fungus on a log and this nice Raspberry Gall Fly gall (Lasioptera rubi) on a bramble stem.

In the woods, the common butterbur was just poking through the soil whereas we've seen that the white butterbur is already flowering elsewhere. Wood sedge was flowering but very little else at the moment.

We had a bit more luck outside the woods by the fish ponds. We saw the first wood anemones and marsh marigolds in flower. This hairy leaf is the rosette of a hawkweed (id coming).

Just as we got back home, the wind picked-up and it started raining. The red squirrels came back into the garden which is unusual. We only usually see them first thing in the morning, but today they decided to come back early. It has been very changeable all day, switching between sunny and stormy.

The firecrest came again in the afternoon, but I only managed this terrible photo.

Sunday 27 March 2016

First thing this morning, Christine spotted this plume moth on a potted hyachinth outside one of our windows. Plume moths are a difficult group to identify definitively, but there are very few plume moths that overwinter, so I'm going to put this down as Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, a new species for the garden.

The red kites and buzzards were out in force today, presumably picking off any migrating frogs and toads. The pond seemed empty of frogs and toads today, but that was probably due to it being a lot colder than yesterday. This red kite was eating something on-the-wing. Presumably this was a frog that it had already eviscerated.

There were several black redstarts flying around the garden and I was able to get a few photos, including this one of a black redstart diving down from one of the perches I constructed and put up yesterday.

Down by the pond, we had a couple of chiffchaffs and a grey wagtail. In the late afternoon, we saw this fantastic firecrest in the spruce. This is a lot more colourful than the one we saw in autumn. It was incredibly difficult to photograph as it was very active.

Ambyptilia acanthadactyla, Christophstal March 2016

Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, Christophstal March 2016

Buzzard, Christophstal March 2016

Buzzard, Christophstal March 2016

Red Kite, Christophstal March 2016

Red Kite, Christophstal March 2016

Red Kite, Christophstal March 2016

Red Kite, Christophstal March 2016

Black Redstart, Christophstal March 2016

Black Redstart, Christophstal March 2016

Black Redstart, Christophstal March 2016

Black Redstart, Christophstal March 2016

Black Redstart, Christophstal March 2016

Black Redstart, Christophstal March 2016

Grey Wagtail, Christophstal March 2016

Grey Wagtail, Christophstal March 2016

Chiffchaff, Christophstal March 2016

Chiffchaff, Christophstal March 2016

Firecrest, Christophstal March 2016

Firecrest, Christophstal March 2016

Saturday 26 March 2016
Frogs and Toad, Christophstal March 2016

Frogs and Toad, Christophstal March 2016

Frog, Christophstal March 2016

Frog, Christophstal March 2016

Ravens, Christophstal March 2016

Ravens, Christophstal March 2016

Raven and unknown bird, Christophstal March 2016

Raven and unknown bird, Christophstal March 2016

Blackbird sunbathing, Christophstal March 2016

Blackbird sunbathing, Christophstal March 2016

The frog numbers are growing. I counted 26 frogs and one toad in the picture. This photos shows a large frog we found this morning in the garden. Christine's hand provides scale.

Three ravens gave an aeronautical display today. The photos are rubbish. It is very difficult to photograph such dark birds against a bright sky.  

There was a mysterious fourth bird flying with them and imitating their flight. It was considerably smaller than the ravens. This is the best photo I could get. I have no idea what it was. 

There also was a kestrel flying around, but he stayed quite a distance away and I didn't manage to get a good photo.  

Talking of not being able to get a good photo, this is the best I could do with this blackbird, which was sunbathing under a spruce.  

Good Friday 25 March 2016

Yesterday, the weather forecast on my phone said that there was 100% chance of rain today. This seemed a bit categoric, but not only did it rain today, it rained 100% of the time.

The few early frogs in the pond didn't seem to mind. There is already a lot of frogspawn even though the big frog/toad migration hasn't started yet.

We had 20 species of bird visiting the garden today including this male hawfinch. He's quite a long way away in this photo, but he looks quite enigmatic.

I've been trying to get a good photo of a dunnock. They always seem to visit when the light is fading. We had two dunnocks today, but it was still poor light when I took this photo.

Earlier, a male and a female siskin visited. The male was feeding the female which we've never seen before.

This mallard was with two others, but his plumage seems a bit strange. This is probably his eclipse plumage growing out.

Towards the end of the day, I saw a couple of mistle thrushes on the Harrerbuckel. And a very wet and unhappy brown hare was eating grass between the poplar saplings.

As I had a gap in the layout, I've put up a photo of a blue tit and a very wet long-tailed tit on our peanut feeder.

Frogs and Frogspawn. Christophstal March 2016

Frogs and Frogspawn. Christophstal March 2016

Hawfinch, Christophstal March 2016

Hawfinch, Christophstal March 2016

Dunnock, Christophstal March 2016

Dunnock, Christophstal March 2016

Male mallard, Christophstal March 2016

Male mallard, Christophstal March 2016

Mistle Thrush, Christophstal March 2016

Mistle Thrush, Christophstal March 2016

Brown Hare, Christophstal March 2016

Brown Hare, Christophstal March 2016

Brown Hare, Christophstal March 2016

Brown Hare, Christophstal March 2016

Blue tit & long-tailed tit, Christophstal March 2016

Blue tit & long-tailed tit, Christophstal March 2016

Thursday 24 March 2016

The first black redstart of the year visited the window sill in front of my work desk twice today. I think he was eating flies off the wall outside.

Sunday 20 March 2016
Coltsfoot, Langenwald March 2016

Coltsfoot, Langenwald March 2016

View towards Freudenstadt, Schoeneck March 2016

View towards Freudenstadt, Schoeneck March 2016

Small tortoiseshell on snowdrops, Christophstal March 2016

Small tortoiseshell on snowdrops, Christophstal March 2016

Snowdrops, Christophstal March 2016

Snowdrops, Christophstal March 2016

Heron with frog, Christophstal March 2016

Heron with frog, Christophstal March 2016

The glorious weather continued today.

I got up very early to hear the dawn chorus and to see if there were any interesting birds around first thing.

There was a heron down by the pond catching frogs. He didn't seem too keen on them to be honest, but I saw him despatch four frogs before he'd finished. The whole process is a bit grim as the photos show (they're a bit grainy as it was still quite dark).

We went for a run and found an amazing new site for stiff clubmoss. We also saw the first coltsfoot flowers of the year (actually we saw them down by the Rhine last week). The run also took us past Schöneck, with an impressive view through the trees to Freudenstadt.

The butterflies were flying again today and nectaring on the snowdrops. We reckon the snowdrops in the garden this year are the best we've had.

Later in the afternoon, two white wagtails gave an amazing aerobatic display, flying all around the valley in close formation and at great speed. They were doing this for a very long time, so they obviously have a bit of spare energy.

Saturday 19 March 2016

I'd hoped for a wonderful day of photographing birds - the light was excellent and the weather was warm again. Alas, the number of bramblings made all the other species skittish and reluctant to stick around. That said, we had 23 species today.

The valley was alive with birdsong. These two song thrushes were sitting atop adjacent trees trying to out-sing each other. They were quite a long way away as you can see by the photos, but the songs resounded around the valley and it seemed as if the birds were in our garden.

This blackbird is one of two males who I saw lekking. They flew up vertically chest-to-chest. Clearly the sap is rising.

This chaffinch shows the beautiful blue-green iridescence that some of the females have developed.

Some of the male bramblings are almost completely black on top. This fine specimen shows how impressive they look.

I got a photo of one of the male hawfinches today, but it was taken through a window hence it lacks a bit of contrast.

Song thrush #1, Christophstal March 2016

Song thrush #1, Christophstal March 2016

Song thrush #2, Christophstal March 2016

Song thrush #2, Christophstal March 2016

Blackbird (post-leck), Christophstal March 2016

Blackbird (post-leck), Christophstal March 2016

Chaffinch, Christophstal March 2016

Chaffinch, Christophstal March 2016

Brambling, Christophstal March 2016

Brambling, Christophstal March 2016

Hawfinch, Christophstal March 2016

Hawfinch, Christophstal March 2016

Friday 18 March 2016
Red squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Red squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Red squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Red squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Siskin, Christophstal March 2016

Siskin, Christophstal March 2016

It was feeling very spring-like today. It was warm and the birds were singing late into the evening.

There was a common lizard basking in the flower beds and we saw the first butterflies of the year: brimstone, small tortoiseshell and peacock - all hibernators.

We're overrun with bramblings at the moment. It's difficult to count, but we estimate that there have been several hundred at some times with the ground under the feeders seething. And the trees look like a Daphne Du Maurier nightmare.

The warm weather has coincided with the first visits of hawfinches and dunnocks to the garden this year. I tried to get some photos of these 'new' species but they didn't stay long enough.

I did get a few nice photos of a squirrel who sat watching me on one of our shed roofs. I've been also trying to get a photo of a siskin in which they don't look too ugly. This is the best I can manage so far.

Monday 14 March 2015

Today a tree sparrow visited the garden and became the 72nd species we've recorded here. He stayed long enough for me to take some good photos - this being helped by the bright sunshine today.

The tree sparrow seemed to enjoy the fatballs, but also seemed familiar with the bird feeders so this probably wasn't his first visit.

While I had my camera out, a great spotted woodpecker came to the fatballs. She has been visiting regularly for the last few weeks, but this time, she ventured out from behind the branches she usually sits behind.

Tree sparrow, Christophstal March 2016

Tree sparrow, Christophstal March 2016

Tree sparrow, Christophstal March 2016

Tree sparrow, Christophstal March 2016

Great spotted woodpecker, Christophstal March 2016

Great spotted woodpecker, Christophstal March 2016

Sunday 13 March 2016
Coal tits, Christophstal March 2016

Coal tits, Christophstal March 2016

We walked up to town early this morning and one of the trees at the top of the Steige had a huge number of chattering birds. We couldn't see what they were, but later on in the day we had a large flock of bramblings and chaffinches in the garden.

There wasn't much to photograph today, but I couldn't resist these three coal tits sitting in the empty peanut tray. At one point there were six coal tits in the tray, but I wasn't quick enough to capture that moment.

Saturday 12 March 2016
Female Hazel Flower, Christophstal March 2016

Female Hazel Flower, Christophstal March 2016

Strutting crow, Christophstal March 2016

Strutting crow, Christophstal March 2016

Male bullfinch, Christophstal March 2016

Male bullfinch, Christophstal March 2016

I've been meaning to take a photo of the female flowers on our hazel for some time now as they are quite impressive at the moment. Today the light was just right.

I've composited some photos of a crow that had found some bread. He was strutting around in the snow, really enjoying himself.

We haven't had a bullfinch in the garden for a couple of weeks. Today we had a male and a female. The male looked extremely impressive in his breeding finery.

Monday 7 March 2016

Despite the cold weather, we saw a goldfinch and a white wagtail today. The white wagtail was running about on the ice which is covering the pond at the moment, seemingly quite confused.

White Wagtail on the ice, Christophstal March 2016

White Wagtail on the ice, Christophstal March 2016

White Wagtail on the ice, Christophstal March 2016

White Wagtail on the ice, Christophstal March 2016

Sunday 6 March 2016
Great Crested Grebes, Knielinger See, March 2016

Great Crested Grebes, Knielinger See, March 2016

Black Woodpecker, Knielinger See, March 2016

Black Woodpecker, Knielinger See, March 2016

Black Woodpecker, Knielinger See, March 2016

Black Woodpecker, Knielinger See, March 2016

Yellow-legged Gull, Knielinger See, March 2016

Yellow-legged Gull, Knielinger See, March 2016

Great Cormorants, Knielinger See, March 2016

Great Cormorants, Knielinger See, March 2016

Male and Female Tufted Ducks and Coots, Knielinger See, March 2016

Male and Female Tufted Ducks and Coots, Knielinger See, March 2016

We went down to the Rhine valley for a guided tour of the nature reserve at the Knielinger See.

It wasn't the best day to see the birds there as the Rhine is high at the moment and the weather today was horrible. That said, we saw a black woodpecker and various water bird species we'd never seen before. We also learnt a lot about the reserve and the work being done there to improve the habitat.

The light was horrible and I only had my second-choice zoom lens with me so the photos are rubbish. We'll definitely go back and get some better photos on a sunny day!

Saturday 5 March 2016

There were four red squirrels in the garden this morning - all dark ones. This one sat in our birch for a while. He's had a tough life by the look of it - he's lost half an ear and his tail looks a bit mangy. He seemed happy enough and did an impressive jump from the birch tree to the maple tree.

There were five long-tailed tits around quite a bit today too. They show a lot of colour variation from the standard ones with broad dark head bands through to nearly completely white heads.

Another visitor today was this great tit with an injured leg. He was struggling to perch and seemed to be happier hanging from the sheds and eating peanuts from the feeder.

The final photo is of another great tit eating a peanut in the hazel. The hazel is really spectacular at the moment with its brightly coloured catkins.

Red squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Red squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Red squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Red squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Red squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Red squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Red squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Red squirrel, Christophstal March 2016

Long-tailed tits, Christophstal March 2016

Long-tailed tits, Christophstal March 2016

Long-tailed tit, Christophstal March 2016

Long-tailed tit, Christophstal March 2016

Great tit with injured leg, Christophstal March 2016

Great tit with injured leg, Christophstal March 2016

Great tit with hazel catkins, Christophstal March 2016

Great tit with hazel catkins, Christophstal March 2016