Wednesday 31 August 2016

We thought we were going to have a bumper hazel nut crop this year as the hazel was laden with nuts about a month ago. Lately, a great spotted woodpecker has been visiting nearly every day and we could hear him hammering away in the copse, gorging himself on our hazelnuts.

Today he was joined by an equally hungry spotted nutcracker. These birds are really difficult to photograph and, although he came out into the open several times, he flew off just as I got the camera pointed towards him. The sequence of photos here shows how he slowly got more settled with me watching him. 

Spotted nutcracker, Christophstal August 2016

Spotted nutcracker, Christophstal August 2016

Spotted nutcracker, Christophstal August 2016

Spotted nutcracker, Christophstal August 2016

Spotted nutcracker, Christophstal August 2016

Spotted nutcracker, Christophstal August 2016

Tuesday 30 August 2016

A month or so ago I mentioned that we'd had three species of bird visit the garden every day since we started recording. That was down to two species when we had no blue tits for one day last month. Today we're down to one species, great tit, as we didn't see any jays today.

Monday 29 August 2016

I spotted a green sandpiper briefly this morning. It flew over the pond and was gone before I could even pick up my camera.

Saturday 27 August 2016
Hokkaido squash, Christophstal August 2016

Hokkaido squash, Christophstal August 2016

We planted some hokkaido squash seeds in the garden in spring, not expecting anything to come of them, but they're thriving. I saw this photo opportunity as Christine was watering them with the sun behind.

Friday 26 August 2016

I recorded a rather unexpected butterfly in the garden today. The caterpillars of this chalkhill blue feed exclusively on horseshoe vetch which grows in chalky areas. We're a few miles away from chalk so this individual must have been wandering. I patiently waited for him to open his wings, but the second picture here was as close as he got.

To keep the blue theme going, this kingfisher was hunting over the other side of the pond today.

Chalkhill blue, Christophstal August 2016

Chalkhill blue, Christophstal August 2016

Chalkhill blue, Christophstal August 2016

Chalkhill blue, Christophstal August 2016

Kingfisher, Christophstal August 2016

Kingfisher, Christophstal August 2016

Wednesday 24 August 2016
Lizard Skin, Christophstal August 2016

Lizard Skin, Christophstal August 2016

I ran the moth trap again last night. There was a reasonable haul of 20 species but nothing special.

While searching for moths hiding in the surroundings, I came across this shed lizard skin in a strange location on top of the leylandii hedge.

Monday 22 August 2016

Once again, a lovely sunny day. I finally managed to get a photo of a holly blue butterfly on the buddleia. I'd seen one before but hadn't managed to get a photo.

The greater burnet managed to survive the grazing cows and is now flowering impressively.

Holly Blue, Christophstal August 2016

Holly Blue, Christophstal August 2016

Greater Burnet, Christophstal August 2016

Greater Burnet, Christophstal August 2016

Sunday 21 August 2016
Bullfinch Fledgling and parent, Christophstal August 2016

Bullfinch Fledgling and parent, Christophstal August 2016

Young bullfinches, Christophstal August 2016

Young bullfinches, Christophstal August 2016

Greenfinch, Christophstal August 2016

Greenfinch, Christophstal August 2016

Raptors over Freudenstadt August 2016

Raptors over Freudenstadt August 2016

Sparrowhawk, Christophstal August 2016

Sparrowhawk, Christophstal August 2016

Spotted flycatcher, Christophstal August 2016

Spotted flycatcher, Christophstal August 2016

Deadly nightshade, Obertal August 2016

Deadly nightshade, Obertal August 2016

We've managed to work out that there are at least three bullfinch families around at the moment. We've seen a breeding pair with a single fledgling for a week or two. Today this newly fledged youngster and parents were in the bird table as well as this pair of juveniles and their parents.

This extremely yellow greenfinch was watching the bullfinches.

There were a lot of raptors about today. These three different sized birds were flying over Freudenstadt. I think this is a buzzard, a sparrowhawk and a hobby. While watching the birds from the wndows in the top flat, we were buzzed by a huge sparrowhawk which later settled in a nearby tree.

Towards the evening, a spotted flycatcher was hunting near to the house.

Earlier we'd gone to Obertal to photograph this deadly nightshade we'd seen last weekend. This photo was taken with a camera phone, so isn't very good.

Saturday 20 August 2016

We've had a few blackcaps around all week, hopping between the elder and the hawthorn. Today I saw this female blackcap with her beak in an apple.

A large flock of goldfinches were flying around the valley and grew in numbers during the day. I reckon there were about 20 at one stage. This photo shows 8 of them. There's only one adult in this photo so it looks like they've had a good breeding season.

It seems that a lot of the birds are moulting at the moment. This male blackcap looked really shabby - their back caps are usually neat.

Today this lesser whitethroat visited briefly.

Female blackcap eating apple, Christophstal August 2016

Female blackcap eating apple, Christophstal August 2016

8 goldfinches, Christophstal August 2016

8 goldfinches, Christophstal August 2016

Moulting male blackcap, Christophstal August 2016

Moulting male blackcap, Christophstal August 2016

Lesser whitethroat, Christophstal August 2016

Lesser whitethroat, Christophstal August 2016

Thursday 18 August 2016
Small copper, Christophstal August 2016

Small copper, Christophstal August 2016

Heath potter wasp, Christophstal August 2016

Heath potter wasp, Christophstal August 2016

There were lots of butterflies around today including this nice, fresh small copper.

I also found this heath potter wasp, Eumenes coarctatus on the patio.

Wednesday 17 August 2016

Although this is one of the best times to see interesting birds, we've both been too busy to spend too much time watching them. So it was extremely lucky that I happened to have my camera to hand when this crested tit briefly perched on a thorn on the hawthorn. I've gone for an artistic crop - but only because a tighter crop would reveal the poor focus.

The wryneck seems to have gone now. He spent three days with us, so having huge ant nest lumps in the lawn is worth it. To be honest though, he only really seemed interested in the ants near the house or accessible from a paved area.

Crested tit, Christophstal August 2016

Crested tit, Christophstal August 2016

Tuesday 16 August 2016
Wryneck, Christophstal August 2016

Wryneck, Christophstal August 2016

Wryneck, Christophstal August 2016

Wryneck, Christophstal August 2016

Wryneck poo, Christophstal August 2016

Wryneck poo, Christophstal August 2016

Common whitethroat, Christophstal August 2016

Common whitethroat, Christophstal August 2016

The wryneck has stayed with us for a few days now. Today he was eating ants on the patio in the morning and eating more ants in the front garden towards the evening. I'm guessing he has a particular penchant for the red ants - the Formicidae - the ones that produce formic acid as a protection. Maybe I'm anthromorphising, but I'm assuming these are like a good, hot curry to a wryneck and I reckon the first photo above (taken through a window, so it is a bit fuzzy) shows our wryneck getting a bit of a burn on.

Taking a walk around the garden after he'd gone, we found these little ant poo packets in little piles around the best ant nests. You can see the ant bodies in the poo.

Another favourite bird of mine visited today. This common whitethroat was spending a lot of time up by the elder bushes with a pair of blackcaps. There aren't many berries on there yet, so maybe he was enjoying the raspberries underneath.

Sunday 14 August 2016

I got up early to check the moth trap. It was a reasonable night's catch, but I noticed lots of bats flying above the patio this morning so they'd probably taken a fair few of the catch during the night.

After recording the moths I spent some time photographing the early birds. The jays were making a lot of noise so I went into the back garden to check what they were up to. I thought they might have been harassing the red-backed shrikes again but they were actually mobbing a really large sparrowhawk.

Some ravens have returned to the valley after all the recent tree cutting. There were two flying around this morning and I got a photo of one of them with a non-sky background which I'm always trying for, but seldom get right.

Back in August 2014 we had a wryneck in the garden. We thought we'd probably never see one again as they are so rare and so shy. However, today one came to the garden and stayed all day. He was eating ants right beside the house and spending lots of time in the trees close to the house.

Sparrowhawk, Christophstal August 2016

Sparrowhawk, Christophstal August 2016

Raven, Christophstal August 2016

Raven, Christophstal August 2016

Wryneck, Christophstal August 2016

Wryneck, Christophstal August 2016

Wryneck, Christophstal August 2016

Wryneck, Christophstal August 2016

Wryneck, Christophstal August 2016

Wryneck, Christophstal August 2016

Saturday 13 August 2016

We've seen this pair of young song thrushes around for the last few days catching and smashing open as many roman snails as they can. They looked a bit lost today and spent a long time crouching in the shadow of the yew.

It was a warm, sunny day and the butterflies were enjoying the marjoram and buddleia. There were a few small coppers, sooty coppers, high brown fritillaries and silver washed fritillaries.

As the light began to fade we saw a pair of adult red-backed shrikes in the garden with a single fledgling. The jays were trying to separate it from its parents but the male was fighting them off. The fledgling wasn't very keen on flying and the parents were doing their best to encourage it by not feeding it.

Juvenile song thrushes, Christophstal August 2016

Juvenile song thrushes, Christophstal August 2016

Fledgling Red-backed Shrike, Christophstal August 2016

Fledgling Red-backed Shrike, Christophstal August 2016

Tuesday 9 August 2016
Juvenile Goldfinches, Christophstal August 2016

Juvenile Goldfinches, Christophstal August 2016

A pair of young goldfinches spent a bit of time in and around the garden today. They look quite different from the adults and had me confused for a while. In this photo, they appear to be feeding each other.

Monday 8 August 2016

The grey dagger moth I'd collected as a caterpillar at the end of July emerged today, enabling me to get some photos of this species as an adult. Previously, I'd collected larvae but they'd all been parasitized.

Grey Dagger moth, Christophstal August 2016

Grey Dagger moth, Christophstal August 2016

Sunday 7 August 2016
Mystery bird, Christophstal August 2016

Mystery bird, Christophstal August 2016

Red-backed shrike on homemade perch, Christophstal August 2016

Red-backed shrike on homemade perch, Christophstal August 2016

Spotted flycatcher, Christophstal August 2016

Spotted flycatcher, Christophstal August 2016

First thing this morning after I'd checked the moth trap, I spotted this mysterious bird of prey in a distant tree. I waited for a long time for him to fly but I didn't get any clear photos of him flying so I'll have to try and work out what it was from the perched photos.

Yesterday, we reassembled the perches we'd put up back in spring which the cows had knocked over and trampled. Today I was pleased to see a female red-backed shrike hunting from the one on the triangle.

It was warm today and there were a lot of insects flying about. There were several spotted flycatchers in the willows towards the pond.

Saturday 6 August 2016

We enjoyed seeing a blackcap family today. The male was rushing backwards and forwards with raspberries and beetles. I really wanted a photo of him feeding the fledglings, but they stayed out of sight. Here's a photo of him returning with a red soldier beetle he's found on an angelica plant and another when he posed in the apple tree.

The red-backed shrikes continue to come to the garden. Here's a photo of a female.

A great spotted woodpecker has been a regular visitor too. He takes a peanut from the table and wedges it in a crack in the table base and pecks at it from there.

Male blackcap with beetle, Christophstal August 2016

Male blackcap with beetle, Christophstal August 2016

Male blackcap, Christophstal August 2016

Male blackcap, Christophstal August 2016

Great spotted woodpecker, Christophstal August 2016

Great spotted woodpecker, Christophstal August 2016

Red-backed shrike, Christophstal August 2016

Red-backed shrike, Christophstal August 2016

Friday 5 August 2016
Great Cormorant, August 2016

Great Cormorant, Christophstal August 2016

Juvenile White Wagtail, Christophstal August 2016

Juvenile White Wagtail, Christophstal August 2016

This great cormorant paid a short visit to the pond today. We've seen great cormorants here before, but we usually just see them flying over and  they don't usually stop.

The cows have now left the area, but there are still a few white wagtails hopping around in the trampled mud. This one had me confused for a while, but it is a juvenile white wagtail.