Spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)

This little fellow has been around for a few days. I think it is a Song Thrush but if I am wrong, please let me know. Some of my most trusted readers suggest that this is a Spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) and considering its size, I tend to agree. Even a very young Song Thrush would be larger.

Mallows

There are a couple of places in our wild garden where mallows (Malvaceae) grow. Wonderful, elegant flowers ranging in colour from white to pale purple.

The Field

Many people never get tired of looking at the sea. Depending on the light, the time of the day, the wind and many other factors, it is never the same and always interesting or pleasing to the eye. I feel the same looking at the meadow I call The Field. It changes color during the year, it is where so many animals live and depending of the time of the day, it can look very differently  from one hour to the next.

This picture is taken around 22.00 in July 2017.

To see all the nuances, click on the picture.

Rose

The wagtail chicks have left their nest !

It was a rainy day when the wagtail chicks were, more or less, forced to leave their nest. The parents were pushing hard for them to try their wings and eventually they could be seen all over...

This poor chap ended  up on the window sill..

While this one found her/him self down on the ground..

 One found a soft spot on stone covered with moss..

And a third one managed to land on the electrical wire where one of the parents very quickly found it and started to bring some much needed food. 

This feeding has now gone on for several days and I wonder how long the stressed out parents must do this? 

Hairy visitor

This fellow, a Woolly bear caterpillar, will eventually become a Garden Tiger Moth. Right now it looks more like some form of insect from the sixties with its long hair :) It was surprisingly fast when it crossed over the lawn and it was not easy to get a reasonably sharp picture of it.

Party !

A sudden and unplanned garden party took place on the lawn the other day. It all started when hundreds of small beetles (Phyllopertha horticola or the Garden Chafer) appeared from nowhere. Within a few minutes a number of various birds were feasting on the poor insects.

A Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) and our friendly Wagtail. Click on the picture and you will see the beetles flying around !

This Common Blackbird (Turdus merula) has its mouth full of beetles! 

Even a Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) started to walk around among the other birds to ge its share of the free meal! 

Last but not least, a Great Tit (Parus major) managed to catch a beetle and bring it home to its nest under our roof.

Deer in the field

There are always some deer roaming around the field. These animals belong to the same group but I don't know how "close" they are. They are lovely to look at but unfortunately they carry a lot of ticks around.

Female

Male

The Wagtail is back !

The probably most typical bird around our house is the Wagtail. I have posted serveral pictures of them and was almost a bit  concerned when they did not show up until a week ago. Everything seems to be OK now and they are busy building their nest. Lovely and very sociable bird!

Beasts!

I have written many times about the wild pigs that seem to be everywhere in and around Svångemåla. They destroy gardens, paths and fields but are difficult to see since they are mostly moving around during the night. My neighbor told me that he had seen a group of them a couple of evenings ago so I changed the settings on my camera to ISO 24,000, put on a long lens and went off at about 10 PM. Just outside our plot two big pigs were slowly walking along the road. I stopped and managed to take some pictures although I felt a bit nervous when I saw how big they are. When they eventually spotted me, the ran off at full speed leaving me with a good memory and some shaky photos :)