With all this wind I might go and buy a kite ha ha.
Snakes, Herons and Cows giving the slip
A few days ago we were out walking and we spied a patch of Snakeshead Fritillary. I really like these wild flowers but they are becoming increasingly rare in the UK. We planted some years ago in our bog garden and they are still doing well. As the weather was slightly better today, I decided to take some pictures, fortunately it was not too windy this morning and there was a hint of sun, so armed with camera and tripod off we went. After taking the pictures of the Snakeshead we noticed some Cowslips close by, in fact they are really abundant around here so it would be rude not to take a picture of those too.
Following the small river back to the village, we always stop to look at the family of Ragondins, not everyone's cup of tea on the wildlife front but we do enjoy watching them play and sunbathe, our dog Lottie also takes great interest in them but as she is averse to water they are quite safe.
Anyway on the way back we spotted a Heron looking bird which flew off but did not go too far. So we donned our invisibility cloaks and slowly approached its new perch, took some pictures but did not really have a clue what type of bird it was. Anyway the Internet is really useful and in fact it is a Black-crowned Night Heron. These birds are active early morning and at dusk and it usually stands around waiting for frogs or fish to go by which it then spears with its long beak. This is a juvenile as the adults have red eyes stand between 23 - 28 inches high and have a wingspan of up to four feet.
Regards
Neville
Malc says: these birds are among many herons and similar species which nest and breed each year on the Ile de Pessote in the Tarn river at Montauban. Last year 55 pairs of the Bihoreau Heron were counted as nesting on the isle.
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