France - Red Squirrels stealing walnuts

Another highlight from our holiday in France was to be found, again, at the bottom of the garden - Red Squirrels. Another first for me and being able to stand at the bottom of the garden and see them running across the branches of the trees was fantastic.









Beginning their winter preparations, they were leaping from the oak trees over to a walnut tree...



... and returning with a mouthful of walnuts, taking them back to hide in their larder.







Not all of the walnuts necessarily made it back to the larder though.





I was amazed at how close I could get to this one, totally engrossed in its tasty treat. I was standing directly beneath, with it only a couple of metres above me.

France - Wild birds and guns

As well as the animals at the house itself, the area was full of bird life - it was great.

One of the main features of the area is the Etang de Saint-Estephe, a man-made reservoir just outside the village. The day we walked around, it was slightly overcast and there wasn't that much about. However, walking past a pine tree, I noticed is was absolutely alive with House Martins, busy feeding on the seeds within the pine cones.




As we continued our walk, I spotted a Pied Flycatcher sitting on a branch. This was rather nice, as I'd never seen one before, not that I realised what it was until I got home.



This was obviously a day for firsts as we also spotted a Willow Warbler towards the end of our circuit of the reservoir. Again, another first time spot.



As well as birds, there were lizards. This little guy, a Common or Viviparous Lizard, was spotted warming himself as best he could on a tree stump.



There was also plenty of wildlife to be found back at the house. A number of bird feeders were attracting incredible numbers of Great Tits...



... as well as Blue Tits.

A couple of the bushes next to one of the barns was attracting a large number of House Sparrows.







The bees were attracted to all the flowers in bloom, including this Carpenter Bee.



In the woodland to the rear of the house there are Woodpeckers, Great-spotted, Green and Grey-headed are all to be found, as well as this, which I actually thought was a woodpecker at first, a Nuthatch.



The surrounding area is mainly wood and farmland. This gives the perfect habitat for Buzzards. This one below could be found, a lot of the time, sitting on one of the fence posts of a field we regularly drove past. Unfortunately it was a fence post at the opposite side of the field.





Another experience we had was of "La Chasse à Courre", or hunting with hounds, in this instance for Wild Boar and Deer. This is is perfectly legal when done right but no less scary with gun shots going off in the field next to you and the barking of the pack of hounds echoing around the countryside - especially when there are two domesticated pigs in the garden!

Brantôme, France - Sun and a Kingfisher

While in France, we were recommended to pay a visit to a local town called Brantôme.

Brantôme is encircled by a sweep in the river Dronne, is home to a Benedictine abbey and was originally founded in 769. There is no doubt that Brantome is very beautiful, even if it was overcast and drizzling the first time we visited.  It is what I imagined a "typical" Dordogne town to be. Forgetting about the weather, we had a wander around the town. We managed to find a nice little cafe and using my very rusty French managed to successfully order some food, followed by a waffle with chocolate sauce and whipped cream for dessert.  Delicious.











Kelly spotted some aquatic life which we later managed to identify as a Ragondin, also known to non-French speakers as a Coypu. Unfortunately, on this occasion, I didn't have my big lens with me so this is the closest shot I could get of it.



The second time we visited turned out to be an afternoon for wildlife rather than the gift shops we had originally gone for. This was mainly due to the fact that, as soon as I'd got out of the car, a Kingfisher decided to show himself on the opposite side of the river. This time I did have my big lens with me and the sun was shining, affording Kelly and I an opportunity to sit and watch him fishing. He was absolutely gorgeous.











Granted, the Kingfisher wasn't going for the subject of my next photo but it was very clear to see how clean and healthy the Dronne is from the amount of fish, both small and large, to be seen.



Whilst walking up to the abbey I spotted a Hummingbird Hawk-moth. This was fantastic to see, as Kelly's aunt had mentioned that they're regularly spotted back at the house. It was amazing to see it flying from flower to flower, not once stopping for a rest. As an aside, the next photos were taken with a shutter speed of 1/250 sec, showing just how quickly those wings are moving. I later found out their wings beat at 85 beats per second.





It looks as though the spiders had been busy as well.

Les Petits Moulins, St Estephe, France - Absolute heaven!

My girlfriend and I have just returned from a great week in France. We were staying with Kelly's aunt and uncle, Tracy and Don Neal, at their house and holiday gite, Les Petits Moulins, the latter being available to rent. Set in the heart of Parc naturel régional Périgord Limousin, Les Petit Moulins is a little hamlet, just outside the village of Saint Estephe, about a 1 hour journey from Limoges, where the nearest airport is situated.



The hamlet of Les Petits Moulins is a collection of four water mills which, in their day, milled flour and walnut oil. From the garden there is a great view of the St. Estephe and yes, that is a swimming pool in the photo below, which is yours when you book the gite. For me, this place was absolute heaven; in the middle of a national park, surrounded by animals and more photographic opportunities than one could ever wish for.



Without even mentioning the wild fauna, which I cover in subsequent posts, Tracy and Don have a menagerie of animals, all very friendly, all milling (no pun intended) about the property.

First are their three dogs which will no doubt welcome you to the property. If you do ever stay here, and have a few spare hours, you might want to think about playing fetch with Thornton, one of their Dachshunds. Once you start, he will expect you to continue until he's ready to stop, with him regularly prompting you to throw his ball again.



Next up are the chickens. I should probably have researched the different breeds but, well, I didn't. I was too distracted by everything else going on, sorry.





Then there are the ducks and geese you will see wandering around the garden.





This is Antoinette. She's a gorgeous young duck saved from a French market and is to be found messing around in the garden, enjoying the tubs of water she finds, making everyone chuckle at her drinking technique.





A couple of the other stand out characters are Blush and her surrogate child, whose name escapes me. Blush's own brood unfortunately died whilst very young so she became the surrogate to another and they are inseparable. Not withstanding the fact that her child is a completely different breed, they still go everywhere together and love to laze around the pool, much to Don's dismay.



This is Blush...



... and this is her child.



And this is what Don doesn't want to see; those two enjoying the pool (notably only with the cover on, which I found a bit strange for a pair of ducks).



You might also get welcomed by two of the geese, Lou-Lou and Bow. Born and bred at the house, they are very much part of the family and sometimes, when the gate isn't shut, they even manage to sneak into the house when no one's watching.



Tracy and Don's latest addition to the flock are two pigs, Bakewell and Buxton. Full of character, these two can be hand fed and even made to sit before they take their food.









There are also cats; two domesticated, Merlot and Frank, and one semi-wild cat. Soon after Tracy and Don moved into the property a cat appeared in the garden which, as they later found out, was sleeping in the roof of one of the barns. Having now become accustomed to Tracy and Don, she will come into the house to have some food and warmth. This is very much on her terms, however, and she is definitely not a cuddly cat; hence her name, Hissy!



Tracy is heavily involved in wildlife rescue and regularly takes in sick and injured animals, helping them back to health and re-releasing them into the wild wherever possible. One of the current animals is a hedgehog which is thought to have been hit by a car and lost its sight.  Unfortunately it will never be able to be released. Still, he looked very happy when he was in the kitchen munching on some leftover chicken he was given.  Previous tenants have included two Tawny Owls and a Little Owl, all now successfully re-released into the wild.



Personally, I think I've saved the best for last. This is the one animal I knew Tracy had and the one I was most keen to meet; a Barn Owl called Lunar. Orphaned and raised by Tracy since a chick, Lunar now lives in an aviary in the garden as she would be unlikely to survive if released. She seems very happy about it too, especially at feeding time.

Kelly was also pretty pleased to meet her as well.

Each evening we were able to sit out in the garden and watch a couple of Lunar's wild Barn Owl friends coming to say hello. You will definitely hear them coming and hopefully, when we go back, there will be a breeding pair in the barn they were checking out.



The property backs onto protected woods, with a myriad of pathways, wooden bridges and granite boulders, including Roc Branlant which, although weighing many tonnes, can be rocked by a persons hand.



With south and west facing aspects to the garden, we were treated to sunny days and beautiful, constantly changing sunsets.