Tracks on the Tracks

Today the temperature dropped even more down to around minus seven so we still have the snow and we now have a lot oft racks around from all the animals and birds, so today I have added a few of the ones I saw around........................

But first here is a shot of the male Chaffinch I said I would try to get - you can see he has a darker head and back of neck and the red  chest is far more prominent.

On leaving the house the first things I found were these they look like the old arrows they put on convicts uniforms, they are are made by our Chickens, the others are my size 8 boots and the ones at the bottom are cat Tiger's.

These are from our Mallards the still have three points but you can see the webbed joining sections. 

Although similar to the Chickens these are a lot lighter and thinner and belong to our Moorhens.

 

These all belong to Rabbits along the railway, you can see how they hop rather than walk plus how much they have been coming and going over the last two days.

Although at first glance they seem the same these are made by a Hare and have longer flatter back feet they use to push off and bounce with and do not really use their front ones in the same way as rabbits. 

Here we have a Mr Fox's paw prints. In the seventies the French government in their wisdom paid the farmers to remove hedgerows to give more productive large fields, similar to those in the US.

The farmers took the money but kept the fields the same size - this meant that the wildlife no longer had their green hedges to use to get from place to place, so they turned to the railways and now use them as byways, highways and motorways. The Foxes now use these to get from home to prey etc.

so we are always finding signs of them when out walking.

Finally a Great Tit looking for goodies in the snow..............

The Snow is still here.

The snow stayed around today so I spent some time in the garden watching the comings and goings of our little friends.....................

 

The first of the usual suspect was one of the Robins.

They are very territorial and sing Tuc Tuc at each other to so show who is in charge.

Then along came a lady Chaffinch and tomorrow I will try and get a male

Next came one of my favourites who can be hard to catch as they are very fast and cautious but I  managed to get this one as it left with it's spoils

Then who should pop up but my new mate Mr Pu, it was the middle of the day but still out of his nest he came to steal the ducks grain..............after being spooked by something he runs and hides down out came more creatures who should wear striped shirts, masks and carry bags marked SWAG on their backs.

Our colony of Sparrows almost always fly as a flock for safety so when one arrives the rest soon follows.

You just cannot stop her she was waiting outside in the freezing cold for me to get her lead and take her down the lane.

First Snow of 2012

Well it started snowing at around one o'clock or 1300 hours for the French and by four we had around 100mm that's four inches in old money settled on the ground.....................so it was time for the animals to explore.

Paddy the Cat was the first he went out to see what all the white stuff was and was mesmerized by the falling flakes but not impressed with his first contact as you can see it was obviously far to cold and wet for a house cat, so after this shot ran straight back inside.

The dogs however always want their normal evening walk regardless of wind, rain, gales etc. so a little snow only added to their excitement.............

The lane was pristine white and the loved running and snuffling in the snow still trying to pick up the scent of other animals that use this thoroughfare.

Beau has fun but is a true Collie and very serious unlike Syrah who in the words of Frank Gallagher

really knows how to PARTYYYYYYYYYYYYY 

  The next two shots are just to give you an idea of how much snow we had in such a short time.



lastly here is Myami the only one of our chickens to go out into the snow as the others all stayed under cover it did mean she got extra treats from me that the others missed out on.

Saint-Cyr Reserve

Today Sue and I visited the LPO reserve at Saint-Cyr for the bird fair so I could make a few contacts amoungst the members and workers there. Although at this time of year we didn't expect to see many birds, I saw something I did not think would be there..............

A Black Swan: they are natives of Australia and are the symbol of Wetsern Australia. Like many other species they were brought to Europe as ornamental novelties for large gardens with ponds. They have subsequently bred and started to spread - I have seen them across mainland Europe and the UK but normally, like this one, as singletons not pair bonded couples.  

They have red beaks with the distictive white band across it, and red eyes. 

They also have what can only be described as Frilly Knickers - the feathers towards the tail as you can see are very curly can give the impression to me of fine ruffled lace.

On a previous visit here on a wet and rainy day I was also able to get a shot of this Water Pitit. 

Normally found near torrential watercourses but here it seems happy to search around in the mud on the edge of one of the islands to find its food - quite successfully, as seen below.

 

Sunfink from the weekend

I spent a night camping on Ile de Re and visited the LPO refuge and managed to get a few shots worth sharing..................

Getting a good perch to watch the sunset

A Cormorant reflecting the red sky

A little Egrit fishing

A Marsh Harrier being mobbed by gulls

a supper time sunset

Dunlin feeding

The sun feflrcting off a Little Egrit

Lining up for bed


 

A Grey Heron going home

Saying its prayers....

While cutting the grass today I saw my little friend below and remembered that I had not posted these shots of a Praying Mantis devouring a fly.

Just after this it moved down the wall and caught a fly
 the strike was far to quick for me to catch.

Finished and now a quick clean up