The French Alps - Haute Savoie

Well were back from a lovely relaxing week in the Haute Savoie area of France where we stayed in a glorious chalet in Combloux with the most magnificent views of Mont Blanc.  The alpine flowers stole the show with raptors coming a close second particularly the Lammergeiers at Col de Columbiere.  I have tried to identify and label the flowers but  please any experts out there let me know where I have gone wrong!  More photos to follow.

Views from the chalet

One-flowered wintergreen - my favourite little flower only about 3cms tall and only found one very small group
Spring Gentian?
Creeping BellFlower?
Solomans Seal


Mountain Sainfoin

Purple Gentian - the only one we found

Pale Pasque Flower
Orchid sp.
Bilberry

Mountain Pansy
Mont Blanc
We couldn't believe our luck with  this hire car - it was a brand new Mercedes model which had only been launched two weeks ago in Switzerland, it had every gadget known to mankind however the sat nav made some very dodgy decisions!
Meadow Cranesbill
Ecological swimming pool in Combloux

May Lilly
Orchid sp.
Marsh Gentian?

Lammergeier site
Kidney Vetch
French MeadowRue
Herb Paris
Heart-leaved globe daisy
Broad bordered Bee Hawkmoth
Spiked Rampion
Globe Flower
Mer de Glace - Chamoniz

Fritillary Sp?
False Helleborine
Elder Flower Orchid
Alpine Columbine
Chequered Skipper
The Chalet
Bugle and Bettony
Bistort
Birdseye Primrose
A typical meadow
Cows which need liberating from their neck bells!

Off to France

No posts for a week as we are going to the French Alps tomorrow for seven days - not really a birding holiday but something completely unusual for us 'a chilling out holiday' however I'm sure there will be the odd bird, flower, mammal, butterfly etc to look at and no-doubt a few photos to take - watch this space.

Normanby Park - Time for a cull?

Spent time in the park this morning looking for Spotted Flycatchers but failed to see or hear any - what struck me this morning was a lack of young birds compared to our garden and its' boundary.  In total I saw 1 young Song Thrush, 1 young Nuthatch and heard 2 familiy parties of either Blue or Great Tits.  However there are several pairs of Carrion Crows and Jackdaws with young and numerous (6 at the bird feeding station!) Grey Squirrels could this be the reason - are these predators becoming too successful and is it time for a cull particularly of the squirrels?

On a positive note the gardens were looking great and the Lime and Copper Beech trees just stunning.

The avenue of Lime Trees.

Copper Beech and Lubernum.

The rose above smells absolutely gorgeous and lines a whole pathway, so as you walk along the scent goes with you.

Spoonbills at Alkborough

Yes 2 immature Spoonbills at Alkborough this afternoon (first of the year) - too distant for any decent photos!

Garden Nest Boxes

I thought all was well with our boxes - Box 1 has fledged Tree Sparrows, Box 3 has Great Tits still sitting, Box 5 has had Blue Tits feeding chicks that is until Sunday. On Sunday morning we noticed that the adults seemed to have disappeared and the chicks were very vocal and trying to clamber out the box, we went out for a couple of hours and on our return we could hear that the chicks had left the box and were up in a nearby Yew Tree or so we thought. On walking down the garden we found 5 chicks all on the ground unable to fly and with no parents in sight.  We waited over an hour but no happy ending I'm afraid - we tried to find caterpillars to attempt to feed them but it was a lost cause.  The adults never appeared and the box is completely empty with no sign of any chicks.  

We have had a Sparrowhawk hunting through the garden and I'm sure he had one of our Blackbird chicks but could he have taken both our Blue Tits in such a short space of time?  On a happier note we now have a Pied Wagtail nest in the front garden so fingers crossed....