A Night For Harriers

Firstly last night we had a fierce storm but little rain.  The outcome was that we had no electricity for three hours so I could not post yesterday.  After the storm we found an adorable Stripeless Tree Frog under our terrace table.  They are fantastic little frogs with big suckers on their feet and this one jumped onto my leg for some time.

Stripeless Tree Frog - photo John Van Enem

First thing this morning there was a bit of bird activity at the back of the house and I discovered a pair of Woodchat Shrikes and three young.

Adult and juvenile Woodchat Shrike

Juvenile Woodchat Shrike

This evening as things started to cool I decided to drive around local lanes looking for birds.  There a few Hoopoes, Bee-eaters, Woodchat Shrikes and a Roller. Travelling between Aigne and Azillanet I had splendid views of a male Montagu's Harrier hunting and then soaring high up a lone Honey Buzzard.  I drove on through vineyards flushing a female Montagu's Harrier and headed up from Siran into the Garrigue.  This is a great area for harriers.  Before returning home I saw a further 12 Montagu's Harriers including pairs with 3 and 2 fully fledged young.  Also I found a couple of juvenile Red-backed Shrikes and a Tawny Pipit before calling it a day.

Juvenile Montagu's Harrier

Then the best news of the day.  My brother John is off the life support machine and making steady progress to recovery.