Large Blue

And here is another great butterfly, a Large Blue Maculinea arion. I snapped this fine male in the Bukk Hills yesterday. This species was extirpated from the UK and today only exists there in a few reintroduced populations.

Swallowtails

Here's a couple of Swallowtail butterflies I snapped today at Aggtelek in Hungary.

Common Wall Lizard - Croatia

This Common Wall Lizard posed obligingly on a stone-wall in the Velebit Mountains. This male is typical of the region in having an orange throat and belly.

Back from Croatia

Just back from Croatia. A great trip with fantastic landscapes and habitats and all kinds of highlights. For example, I got recordings of Black-headed Bunting and Eastern Orphean Warbler, some nice photos of herps and 99 species of butterfly were seen by my companions! And this sign warning about snakes... a chap clutching his throat though the snake apparently has gone for his ankle. Wonderful. 

Croatia again

Off to Croatia again though the focus this time is on butterflies. We'll explore the Plitvice, Paklenica and Northern Velebits National Parks... I hope to get some sound recordings of birds, too. 

Birdwatch Magazine

I have an article entitled "WOODPECKER ROYALTY" in this month's (June 2011) issue of the UK magazine BIRDWATCH. It focuses on (yes, you got it in one) the Black Woodpecker... 

Birding and birding and birding...

No rest. Another trip done. Eastern Hungary from the Kiskunsag to the Bukk Hills to Hortobagy. Now how many is that now that I have done? Well, 100s and 100s...