Found in the garden

[Blaze]

Thank you Char They're discrete little birds, scuttling about in the undergrowth. But they have a beautiful song if you're lucky enough to hear it. There are some young ones around, one has vey few feathers on its neck, I'll try and get a shot of it.

[Char]

Thank you Char They're discrete little birds, scuttling about in the undergrowth. But they have a beautiful song if you're lucky enough to hear it. There are some young ones around, one has vey few feathers on its neck, I'll try and get a shot of it.

I look forward to seeing it.

[Doug]

Yesterday we had a family of golden orials fly through the trees in our garden, far to hidden to get a photo but its lovely that they are back after being frightened away by the farmers bird scarers.

[Oldblueraincoat]

We have a Little Owl that is a frequent visitor - Late afternoon/ Early evening and yesterday a pair of Hoopoes paid us a visit:

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This times last year our mirabelle was bursting with fruit - it's a beautiful tree and delicious plums but unfortunately as with the other fruit trees and Laurier rose they were devasted by a late severe frost in the Spring. We will be lucky if we get a handful of mirabelle - not a single cherry and the Apple tree is looking grim. Here's last years harvest:

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[Doug]

Same here with the fruit trees, plums were a picture of bloom, on all the mixture of six espaliers barely a handful of fruit

[Spardo]

Saw this toad in my swimming pond last evening, then again just before my swim as he was swimming to the other corner. He even allowed me to swim not far from him for several lengths before climbing out and finding a fold in the liner to settle in. Only problem was, that is where I place my foot as I climb in and out on the rope ladder, so I reminded myself to be very careful.

Then, after drying off I fetched the camera, it is only the little GoPro with no zoom or macro so what you see is how close I really got to him.

vlcsnap-2021-07-29-09h31m47s747 - This toad, first seen in the water in the other corner, swam, while I went to fetch the camera, to this corner and gradually left the pond as I swam up and down nearby._Easy-Resize.com.jpg

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This morning he was still there, though he had turned round to face the rising sun. Again he raised no objections as I took my morning swim, and while I was doing that, he slowly swam back again to his original, eastern, corner.

[Sunflower]

Found this little fella on the spuds.



He looks better up the other way.

[Spardo]

Blimey, he looks like plastic, I see you have him well trained though, watching the high bar gymnastics at the Olympics perhaps?

Any idea what 'breed' he will become?

[Sunflower]

Any idea what 'breed' he will become?

I think it is a Acherontia atropos (the African death's head hawk moth)

[Spardo]

Thank you, I can see where the colouring comes from.