ABtrees

High Stubby - in central France. We regularly get some rare birds (and animals as well) especially during migration seasons and there is a huge national park just to the north of us. We are also lucky to have a river in the garden (!) and have about 40+ acres of self regen ancient woodland some marshy (mainly oak, hornbeam,cherry and alder but other stuff as well). That said, Merlin has gone completely off on one since I posted on Wednesday : I accept that we may have had Siskin,Kingfisher, Grey Partridge, Bullfinch, Goldcrest and Reed Bunting (as I have seen all those in the past) BUT ...... I think even my enthusiasm won't take me as far as : Tengmalm's Owl, Little Bittern, Ring Ouzel and one that I can't even bring myself to write down - either through inevitable ridicule or a need to keep quiet !!! I do agree btw Turtle doves are so good to see (and hear). Pic from last year - a bit crap - too far away and the piggin thing is sat in the wrong place !!!! Was out yesterday and saw a pair of Black kites (and nest) so might have to go back there again 'coz the pictures are crap ! AB

Turtle doves arrived this morning. Then Goldcrest, Redwing (!) and Red Legged Partridge !

I did think that but we have seen upwards of 90% of the birds it's identifying and some of them are fairly rare (apart from round here !) e.g. Black Woodpecker and G. Oriole. And it's not coming up with loads that i have never seen/ heard of - but some that are easily confused (e.g. Willow tit v. Marsh Tit). Tree pipit etc. I was really pleased with the Nightingale though.

So is mine - and my kids. And my neighbours !

Ah yes Mick - I should have looked it up in my Collins Guide before posting - mind you, I've never heard of a Fan-tailed Warbler either tbf ! Have you had any interesting/ unusuals where you are ? Waiting for the Hoopoe and the Turtle Doves - they should be in the next week or so. Also saw a couple of Hen Harriers when driving down from the ferry on Friday - but not here yet.

I've had a few more since then : First Cuckoo - I didn't hear it (obv.) - but the app did Black woodpecker (we'd already had Green and Gr spotted) and something called a Zitting Cisticola - which I have never even heard of !!!!!! I'll keep you posted as more turn up - tell me when you get bored !

I agree - even with my hearing aids in and even if i had heard them wouldn't have recognised the species ! A huge 'Thank You' to whoever (all of you) who brought Merlin to Arb. It has added a totally new dimension to living in a wood in the middle of France ! I downloaded it on Saturday evening and in the 48 hrs since then have id'd some birds i didn't even know we had ! It's not a competition (Mick - I reckon you'll be up there) but ignoring the Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens and Blue Tits etc, here the list (so far): Blackcap Hawfinch Tree Pipit Firecrest Willow Warbler Nuthatch Black Redstart Chiffchaff Mistle and Song Thrush Golden Oriole Yellow wagtail Nightingale Short toed Treecreeper Marsh Tit Grey Wagtail Cetti’s Warbler

.............. or this ! Could this rookie hit the axe-throwing target? WWW.FORESTRYJOURNAL.CO.UK A new addition for this year’s APF Exhibition, Anastasia Gandzha had a go at axe throwing.

Not quite as I remembered it but close enough ! Here is the link to the fun guys at last years APF - just scroll down their homepage and you'll see what i meant! Axe throwing and Archery | Axes & Arrows WWW.AXESANDARROWS.CO.UK Axes and arrows, Mobile Axe throwing, mobile Archery, outdoor activities, have a go, wedding entertainment, festival entertainment, axesandarrows.co.uk, @axesandarrowsuk...

Hi Steve To be clear, this wasn't a ring it was chunky boards 6"wide x 4" deep x 30" square (ish) grain running vertically on a target easel. Thought i had a picture somewhere but can't find it atm !

Had a go at this at the APF - good fun. Chap on the stand suggested to use pine for the target but whatever you use it works better if it's wet - i.e. chuck a couple of buckets of water over it the night before / leave it out in the rain ! Obv. he is right - wood is not only softer but seems to grip the axe better - no bounce out.

Probably the same one Mick - we are NE of you. Did he have his mate with him ? !!!

No pictures but ...... .... saw a pair of swallows heading NE yesterday - in central France. First for mr this year.

Thanks Paul. They are a bit variable - The one above has a lot more black on it than most of the other pics I can find, but I guess it makes sense as we do get them here. (see my post on 21st April in Pictures of Spring thread).

Can anyone help me with an ID on this caterpillar please ? Originally thought swallowtail but now pretty certain it isn't. So some kind of Hawkmoth maybe ? Seen on bramble and don't forget - taken in France !

You're right - that isn't a great picture - looks like some of the crap pics I end up with ! That said, they may be some sort of Sawfly - there's loads to choose from ! Your best bet on here is to ask @Anno

I initially had a similar issue - getting carried away with the 2in1. I have found what works best for me is to use a round file in the holder for two sharpens Stihl File Holder With Round File SKYLANDEQUIPMENT.COM The Stihl file holder comes with the correct depth and angles to make life that little easier when sharpening your chainsaw chain. This is particularly good for the small 3.2mm chain as... then every 3rd sharpen I use the 2in1 to take the rakers down - keeps it all sweet ! For the sake of £10 - give it a go and see how you get on - it's just trial and error till you find something that works for you and gives consistent results. Practice, practice, practice !

Hi Tom I thought I'd seen this topic before. If you put Harkie Defiance in the search box, there already quite a bit of opinion on them on here. Not having a go - just trying to help ! AB

However ..... a few more interesting fauna !

As we're now on flowers, here are some 'Whitebells' and some 'Pinkbells'

You know spring is here when these guys turn up !

Hi Beth, I'm no expert but those do look like Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica Alni), and you certainly seem to have plenty of them ! And it seems once you've got them, you've got them ! Roughly whereabouts are you (in the UK ?)? I'm not sure what you aim is - to 'protect' the trees / other plants or just to get rid of the beetles ? I am in France and we have loads of these but don't notice so much because we also have loads of Alder trees (200 +) along the brook. Because they're endemic here we also have loads of predators (and therefore a nice ecological balance). These beetles were (very) rare in the UK until a decade or so ago and it may well take time for the local predators to catch on ! I attach a link to the RHS website which basically says that it is unlikely that they will kill mature trees, spraying anything other than small trees / shrubs is likely to be ineffective as well as damaging to other (possibly predatory) insects. It also mentions other host plants . Good luck ! AB https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/alder-leaf-beetle

A few follow up pics Oily, adult slow worms then youngster. And a butterfly found in a tree (i know it doesn't really belong here).

I have a few dodgy phone pictures - will try to get out with the proper camera tomorrow. 20+ degrees here (in central France) today and suddenly loads of stuff turning up. Was out in the woods this pm and in no particular order in 2 hours i saw all 3 spotted woodpeckers (my wife saw the black one on Tuesday), Oil beetle, Lots of early season butterflies (Red Admiral, Peacock, Brimstone, Large Tortoiseshell and male Orange Tip) and finally under a bit of matting a mum and 2 baby slow worms. Not bad for one afternoon. Oh and one of my daughters saw loads of Palmate newts in the old millstream !

Hi All Mick, I have to pick you up on that - we had a guy come round and he had done exactly that , (as described) last year. Took out an Asian hornet nest (at about 40-50 feet up) in a field on the outskirts of a local village with said paintball gun. We passed by a few days later - no activity at all. To be fair it wasn't your average gun, some higher powered version and surprisingly accurate. It does work. On a separate note, we have had Asians for (at least) the last 4 years - never had any trouble from them apart from grabbing my bees as they returned to the hive. I found letting some grass stalks grow tall in front of the hive seriously reduced their chances of catching one though, and must confess to an adrenaline fuelled 20 minutes with a badminton racquet !!!!!