The noisiest bird in the garden.

Everything in the garden grew well while we were away so there is a fair amount of trimming and tidying to be done.

In amongst all the foliage it is very difficult to spot the birds but we can hear that they are still around. There is one bird in particular that likes to make his presence heard and that is our resident wren. It is hard to believe that such a tiny bird can make such a lot of noise and keep making it for such long periods.

Collins Field Guide says this: "Astonishingly powerful song (almost all year) long, breathless stream of strident but not unmusical notes and trills. Call loud, stony tit-tit-tit, becoming harsh churr... in alarm"

He might be the noisiest bird in the garden but we love to know he is still around.

What a vacation!

We have been to Spain and France for a break. Took the car on the ferry to Bilbao and wandered roughly north-east from there. The last time we where in Bilbao the sky was almost thick with vultures but we didn't see a single one, probably the difference in the season.

We spent quite a lot of time traveling and eating and not an awful lot of time birdwatching but one of the highlights was to come nose to beak with a thrush sitting tight on its nest in our son's orchard as we inspected the fruit. When I came back with a camera I couldn't remember which tree it was in and the light was failing so I didn't get a picture!

At the back of our hotel in Luchon we spotted a bird we had not seen before and we had to refer to the European bird guide to identify it. After a couple of false starts we decided that it was a Black Redstart. Once identified, there were lots of them and some appeared to take pleasure in teasing the local cat population.

We think we heard a Capercaillie in the woods at Gavarnie (check the photo) but we couldn't see it and the area it was calling from was inaccessible. As you can see the terrain is a bit precipitous.

One species we where disappointed by was the Gannet. Last September the ferry was escorted by these elegant birds for most of the trip but we didn't see a single one this time. Presumably they are still around the breeding grounds.