Dunnock, Christophstal March 2017
Bee on Willow, Christophstal March 2017
Large Tortoiseshell, Christophstal March 2017
Blue tit on nestbox, Christophstal March 2017
Spring has really taken hold this week. We've had some nice warm sunshine.
This morning I went for a long run and got some photos of the White Butterbur that is flowering above Friedrichstal. There was also lots of frogspawn in a puddle at the top of the hill. I'm sure this puddle won't be around long enough for anything to reach adulthood.
Christine planted out some red campion in the garden a week or so ago and it is thriving.
I took this photo of the frogs in the pond down by the house. There's a lot of splashing going on.
We've had several dunnocks around the house too. They normally stay in the shadows, but this one crept out into the sunshine for just long enough for me to take a photo. We saw our first chiffchaff of the year this morning. We've heard them in the woods and around the house for a week or so.
The willow is in full bloom and there were lots of bees buzzing around in the afternoon sunshine. It was really nice to see this large tortoiseshell butterfly basking in the sunshine too. These are extremely rare butterflies!
Finally, the blue tit that has been performing his parachuting display flight around the house for several weeks, was inspecting our bird box again. He doesn't seem to have attracted a mate yet.
We did a long run this morning up the longest, most difficult hill in our area (up from Friedrichstal to the Wasenhutte). At the top we saw that the white butterbur was in flower as was coltsfoot. This photo of coltsfoot was taken on Ebeneweg on the way back. It was taken with my cameraphone and I got the focus wrong.
Coltsfoot, Ebeneweg March 2017
Ice spike, Christophstal March 2017
Ice spike, Christophstal March 2017
Ice spike (hollow), Christophstal March 2017
Oxlip, Christophstal March 2017
Male black redstart, Christophstal March 2017
Female black redstart, Christophstal March 2017
To follow up on last month's ice formation (henceforth referred to as ice spikes), we had another, larger one this morning. I took some photos early on and you can see that the columns are still full of water. Just a couple of hours later, the water had emptied (presumably back into the bowl) and the columns were hollow.
In other news, I saw a white ermine beside the steps of the Steige. It seemed to be carrying something black, probably a bird. I tried to get a photo but it had gone before I got a chance.
We saw our first oxlip flowers this morning on the sunny side of Talstrasse.
Some of our summer birds have started returning. This week we saw black redstarts, wrens and ravens.
We had noticed more birds of prey - especially red kites in the last week. They usually come when the frogs and toads start appearing and we had seen a squashed toad out on a run last weekend. Then today, when we ran down to Friedrichstal, we saw the toad fences had been put up, so we looked in the pond by the Untere Sophie mine entrance. It was full of toads.
The weather has been quite changeable recently but it has not deterred the birds from thinking of spring. A very blue male blue tit has been flying to and fro with his display flight showing off his wing feathers to best effect. He seems to be flying to the house martin nests we put up under the eaves last year.
Another pair of blue tits were also investigating the bird box on the birch. It is still early days but it is good to see their interest.
A pair of great spotted woodpeckers have also started appearing together at the bird table. The male is rather timid but the female gets quite a few peanuts.
Unfortunately, Peter spotted two pigeons flying over the garden. It turned out they were feral pigeons or rock doves, which is a new species for the garden - our 79th and the 80th for the valley - quite a milestone, even if it is not the most interesting species!
On a walk back from town we spotted a number of spring crocuses on the hill below the Steige.
Male blue tit displaying, Christophstal March 2017
Male blue tit displaying, Christophstal March 2017
Hawfinch, Christophstal March 2017
Rock doves, Christophstal March 2017