More of Modane (part 1)

I'm well behind with my blogging but, at the end of June, I finally made it back to Modane, which I visited two years ago.  This time, I'd given myself four full days there, primarily for butterfles (more of which later), but I also booked a day with a local, mountain guide to try and find Rock Partridge, one of the few European species I'd not yet seen.  He admitted he'd never gone specifically looking for Rock Partridges before, most of his clients wanting to see marmots, ibex and Black Grouse, but he certainly knew where to look.  After a steep hike up to the edge of the Vanoise national park, he'd only just said that we were reaching the likely area to see Rock Partridge when he spotted a distant one on a boulder overlooking the valley.

I really hadn't rated our chances knowing how shy they are and having failed to find them elsewhere in the Alps, although admittedly where they are even rarer, so I was thrilled by our immediate success but the above silhouette was pretty much all I saw of the first bird as it then took off and disappeared behind the outcrop.  Another two very distant views of perched birds followed but I could hardly make out any colours at all, although we could hear several more calling from the hillside above us.  We thus decided to have a picnic below some rocks where my guide thought they might be and, sure enough, one then started calling.

The calls sounded ever so close and, scanning the area, we soon realised why since I located the male at the base of the arch in the centre of the above picture, using the rock formation to amplify and resonate his call.  Here is another, strongly zoomed-in shot from the same position, with the bird perched in the shadow just to the left of the pine tree.

Thankfully, my guide's assistant had brought a hand-held telescope so I finally got to see all the markings and the male was even joined by a feeding female for a while.  Mission accomplished; my one and only new (bird) species of the year thus far. 
Many thanks to Oliver Trompette, whose magnificent wildlife photography can be seen here.

Another eagle!

Earlier this month, I guided a small group in the Ardennes.  The excessive rainfall of the preceding weeks meant we failed to find Dipper and we didn't have any luck with Nutcrackers either but, just like my guided tour in May, we got to see an eagle instead!  We had climbed up the observation tower near Trois-Ponts and were admiring the aerial antics of a couple of Ravens when an immature Short-toed Eagle came down the valley and passed the tower at eye level.  This is only my second Short-toed Eagle in Belgium, the first being fifteen years ago. 
Other than that, a brief visit to the Hautes-Fagnes once again failing to find my nemesis Belgian butterfly, Cranberry Fritillary, did provide some other species.  I was admiring this beautifully fresh Small Copper (I've never seen one with such pronounced lilac spots) when a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary obligingly landed on the same patch of thistles!