A photographic diary featuring my latest images
Thursday 7th January 2010
Troyes, France
Once retired my wife and I had always planned to take longer trips away in the caravan and now finally we had set off for a ten week trip through France to Spain. This was not a wildlife trip, but I did take my camera with me, just in case! The trip through France was an experience to say the least, like much of Europe we had to endure freezing temperatures and snow and ice. In fact we got snowed in at our first site in Troyes for three days and I did take a few photographs.
Canada Geese
House Sparrow
Mallards
Thursday 28th January 2010
Vilanova near Barcelona Spain
Our trip took us south to Vilanova, a town just south of Barcelona and I took the opportunity to wander around the campsite and record some of the varied wildlife. This is the Monk Parakeet which originates in South America, but there are large colonies (originally escaped cage birds), living and breeding in Barcelona and the Balearics. The Collins Bird Guide also mentions colonies in Belgium, Slovakia, Italy and The Canary Islands. The DEFRA website records a colony living in Hertfordshire since 2006.
The Blackcap.
Coal Tit
I was delighted to find this Crested Tit on the campsite, as the only British ones are confined to the Caledonian Forest in Scotland.
I watched this Firecrest feeding for more than 15 minutes, its continual movement made photography very difficult.
The Hoopoe is rarely seen in Britain but I was privileged to watch four or five birds feeding at the same time on the grass alongside the swimming pool at the campsite.
This is the Sardinian Warbler a resident in Spain Portugal and Southern France. I spotted this one flitting in and out of the bushes alongside the caravan. You won`t see this species in the UK so I have recorded it here for interest only.
After chasing across the Isle of Wight trying to photograph the Red Squirrel without much success, I was pleased to see that a couple had taken up residence on the campsite. They were still very difficult to photograph and I only got two decent opportunities.
