Upupa epops – Bucerotiformes (Coraciformes) – Upupidae – C’est la seconde couvée de l’été! Ces photos datent de la mi juillet; le mâle continue d’apporter des insectes à sa femelle qui couve seule. Ces affûts ont l’air faciles mais détrompez-vous, certaines fois il va directement au nid dans le mur en terre battue de l’appentis, […]
Tag: France
Common Hawker or Sedge Darner emergences
Emergences d’Aeschnes des joncs – Aeshna junceaOdonata – Aeshnidae – Il n’y a rien de plus beau qu’une libellule qui émerge de son exuvie mais rien n’est jamais gagné à aucun stade de la vie de ces insectes extraordinaires.J’ai trouvé cette larve mourante sur la mousse de la tourbière que je scrutais pour trouver des […]
Common bullfinch
Pyrrhula pyrrhulaPasseriformes Fringillidae This species is uncommon in my area. It was one my many challenges to photograph this beauty, although the male is much more colourful than the female. I had heard about a pair coming to a friend’s garden early in the morning. So I set my hide tent at 7H30 and lo […]
Mallard duck and bird magnetic navigation in migration
Anas platyrhynchos – Anseriformes – Anatidae – Camargue, Rhône delta, France – the Mallard duck is at the origin of many other domestic ducks species. In captivity it lives 6 times longer than the wild ones and has been domesticated before the chicken. Taking birds in flight is a real exercise and fun to practice […]
Red kite showing off
Milvus milvus Accipitriformes – Acciptidae As I was taking ordinary pictures of this magnificent bird, he turned swiftly around and flapped his wings to impress another individual intended on perching on the same branch. Beginning of April 2013
The Coypu, or River rat
Myocastor coypus (Camargue) – Rodentia – Myocastoridae – It can reach a weight of 12 to 14 kg! It lives in burrows alongside stretches of water. They waste close to 90% of the river plants they feed on eating only the stems, a destructive feeding and burrowing behavior but… that is not the full extent […]
The Lesser flamingo
Phoeniconaias minorPhoenicopteriformes – Phoenicopteridae It is the smallest species of flamingo; it lives in sub-Saharan Africa with another population in India. It mainly breeds at Lake Natron in northern Tanzania andfeeds primarily on a cyanobacteria or Spirulina, algae which grow only in very alkaline lakes and contains the photosynthetic pigments that give the birds their […]
The Southern Festoon butterfly
Zerynthia polyxena – Papillonidae – Parnassinae – A rare butterfly in France except locally in the southeastern areas. It is on a red list. It pupates for winter and the adults emerge from the end of march to end of may. Their life span does not exceed 3 weeks during which the females lay their […]