June 2019

A busy month, mainly spent away from Bristol.

28th. The fox next door returns.

22nd-30th. An amazing holiday on Mull. Click on the white-tailed eagle for the diary.

10th-14th. Orielton, for one of the wettest field courses on record. the students were great nevertheless. We caught a whiskered bat on site, though the lesser horseshoe bat had only 17 bats in it now. Large numbers of barrel jellyfish were washed up at Barafundle Bay. Birds included choughs and puffins at Stackpole Head. Hummingbird hawk moth and female broad-bellied chaser below.

1st-8th. Kefalonia. Hetty wanted to go on a ballet retreat, so we stayed at Verikoko retreat near Spartia. The weather was great, and the villa had an amazing outlook in a quiet area with views to Zakynthos. Most migrants had passed through, so the bird life was quiet.

A group of about 10 bee-eaters was nearby, and we also saw Alpine swift, Balkan wall lizard, Roesel's bush cricket and a male European dwarf mantis.