On Monday evening we set the moth trap overnight. The catch was impressive with around 20 species :

We had one or two other species (possible Willow Beauty and another Footman species). As our garden list for moths is growing I have decided to separate it from the bird and butterfly lists. Click here to see the full list. All the species were photographed but I have chosen just a few favourites to illustrate this page.

Also this week we came across a Blood-vein moth in the woods.

On Thursday afternoon I joined a guided walk led by a naturalist from Bretagne Vivante. The walk centred around an area just 5 minutes drive (or a good walk!) from home. Among the more interesting butterflies spotted were Purple Emperor (Le Grand Mars changeant) and White Admiral (Le Petit Sylvain). We saw several species of dragonfly and damselfly, all expertly netted and handled by our guide : Scarce Chaser (Libellule fauve); Keeled Skimmer (L'Orthetrum bleuisant); Yellow-spotted Emerald ( Somatochlora flavomaculata) or Cordulie à taches jaunes; Common Darter (Sympétrum strié); Ruddy Darter (Sympétrum rouge sang); Southern Darter (not sure if correct English name, but seems to have been adopted by some websites) The French use the latin name – Sympetrum meridionale ; Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle (Caloptéryx viérge and éclatante respectively); Large and Small Red Damselfly (Corps de feu and Agrion délicat); White-legged Damselfly (Agrion à larges pattes); Common Damselfly (Agrion à porte-coupe); Azure Damselfly (Agrion jouvencelle); Southern Damselfly (Agrion mercure) and Green Emerald Damselfly (Leste vert).

Great excitement as we had a Broad-bordered Bee Hawkmoth (Le Sphinx Gazé) hovering around our buddleia today (Bastille Day). He only stayed or a couple of minutes and the wind made it impossible for the camera to focus. We saw this moth on the same plant last August. Other butterflies present on the plant were Brimstone (Citron) male and female, Comma (Robert le diable), Peacock (Paon du jour), Red Admiral (Vulcain), Large White (Piéride du chou), Small White (Piéride de la rave), Meadow Brown (Myrtil) and Gatekeeper (Amaryllis) all in good numbers. There was also a Purple Hairstreak (La Thécla du Chêne). A Vapourer Moth (l'Etoilée) came to the office window and landed briefly before flying on to continue his search for the flightless female.

After lunch we set off on our bikes and rode down to the river and along a path all the way to Pont de Cran - about a 15 km round trip. Along the way we had a Swallowtail (le Machaon) as well as good views of hunting Black Kites (Milan noir), Marsh Harrier (Busard des rosseaux), Kestrel (Faucon crecerelle) as well as being serenaded by Skylarks (Allouette) and Fan-tailed Warblers (Cisticole des joncs), Turtle Doves (Tourterelle des bois) and a Yellowhammer (Bruant jaune).

We put the moth trap out in the evening and on Tuesday morning we had the following moths -

Drinker (La Buveuse); Buff Ermine (L'Ecaille Lièvre); Buff Tip (La Bucéphale); The Lackey (La Livrée); Scarce Footman (Manteau à tête jaune/La Lithosie aplatie) and a Scalloped Hook-tip (La Lacertine).

Later, an afternoon trip to a local garden centre brought us another Swallowtail butterfly(Machaon) (rather stupidly trying to escape by the perspex roof and, thus, risking getting caught in the spiders' webs) and our first sighting this year of a Hummingbird Hawkmoth (le Morio-Sphinx) behaving much more sensibly as it hovered around the flowers.

Great excitement on Wednesday afternoon with yet another new butterfly species to add to our garden list - a Short-tailed Blue (l'Azuré du Trèfle) decided to join me as I was gardening. This species is only seen as an extremely rare migrant in the UK, but breeds here in northern France. Whilst taking its photo I noticed an old favourite of ours - a Brown Argus (Collier de corail) joined us.

Highlights later during the week were:-

Woodlark (Alouette lulu) - singing in the wood;
Hoopoes (Huppe fasciée) - daily sightings in and around the garden;
Swallowtail Butterfly (Machaon) - feeding on our buddleia (Saturday morning);
Jersey Tigermoth (Ecaille chinée) - in hedgerow along the lane;
Black Kites (Milan noir) - daily sightings flying low over the garden and also 3 individuals calling and circling over the wood;
Cinnabar Moth caterpillar (Ecaille de Séneçon) - found wandering across our drive, we transported it to a clump of Ragwort and a few days later it had doubled in size (the caterpillar, not the ragwort!);
Crested Tits (Mésange huppée) - daily sightings in the wood;
Nuthatch (Sittelle torchepot) - juvenile in the wood;
Hare (lièvre) - in the field at the end of the lane;
Green Woodpeckers (Pivert) - adults with fledglings;
Cirl Buntings (Bruant zizi) - calling in wood and along the lane;
Chiffchaffs (Pouillot véloce) - some individuals still singing.

Butterfly species present in addition to those already mentioned this week: - Wall Butterfly (Megère); Small Copper (Cuivré commun); Large Skipper (Sylvaine) and Small Skipper (l'Hespérie de la Houque).

The weather has put paid to any decent photography so far this month and the wildlife has been sheltering, as we have been. However, we have managed to see one or two things of interest:

Little Owl (Chevêche d'Athéna) - we were very excited to hear one calling at about 11 pm on Tuesday evening as we were walking the dogs. It was in a barn opposite our house. This is a species that was very frequent here until this year;
Black Kites (Milan noir)- a pair calling and soaring above the woods;
Cirl Buntings (Bruant zizi) - several males calling along the lanes and in the woods;
Fan-tailed Warblers (Cisticole des joncs) - calling above the reedbeds along the lane by the river;
Turtle Doves (Tourterelle des bois) - calling everywhere, including chez nous;
Swallows (Hirondelle rustique) and Swifts (Martinet noir) - very large flocks flying low over the garden and neighbouring fields. The Swallows often landing on the house and in the trees. There were many juveniles among the flock.
Red Squirrel - feeding high in a pine tree overlooking the river;
White Admiral (Petit Sylvain);
Marbled White (Demi deuil);
Small Copper (Cuivré commun);
Southern Hawker Dragonfly (l'Aeshne bleue);

I think the French ought to re-think their "common" names for dragonflies! They don't exactly trip of the tongue.