Green neighbours

In a repeat performance of two years ago, I was getting ready to go birding yesterday when I spotted this very young Green Woodpecker from my kitchen window.  I then observed some interesting interaction as a Ring-necked Parakeet flew in and gradually edged itself closer, as if it wanted to check out its weird-looking neighbour, until the wary woodpecker decided it had come too close for comfort and frightened it away.  The rest of the morning was spent guiding at my old patch near Mechelen, starting with a female Green Woodpecker perched out in the open and finishing with a singing Reed Bunting.  We also got to see some baby Long-tailed Tits, with a total birdlist of 51 species.  Most impressive, however, was the large amount of Meadow Brown butterflies all over the place, although this Large Skipper was easier to photograph.

Admiral admiration

As you may well have noticed from the latest pictures on my blog, it's that time of year when birds are most difficult to observe since migration is more or less over, trees are at their leafiest, and parents are busy caring for their young hiding in the undergrowth.  In June, my attention generally turns to insects, therefore, and, since dragonflies are now on the wing, I tried photographing some last weekend.  I managed to get some decent shots of a few species, including a Scarce Chaser, but this Red Admiral stole the show as is sat sunning itself on a wall, the pattern of which made for a lovely background.

Adonis' revenge

Since my last visit was rained off, I made another trip to the south of Belgium this past weekend in the hope of seeing some more butterflies.  This time, I was more successful and managed to identify 14 species, including this beautiful Adonis Blue, which I've only seen once before in Belgium.  It is a recent coloniser from the south and still restricted to just a handful of locations in the very south of the country.  I also got to photograph the similarly rare Red-underwing Skipper, and added a few birds to my year list, including Melodious and Marsh Warblers, plus Spotted Flycatcher.  The most exciting encounter of the day, however, was with a mother Wild Boar and her seven or so piglets which were walking quietly along the trail until they saw me, then skirted around me through the undergrowth before rejoining the trail, with the mother turning round to give me a disparaging look for getting in their way!