Spotted Nutcracker ...

.... singing his heart out. A wonderful solitary walk with many chamois and a black squirrel (both in extras). A golden eagle flew overhead and a dog fox walked up amongst the chamois, never seen that before! 

Interesting facts about forests and these birds .... Wikipedia....

“Surplus seed is always stored for later use, and it is this genus that is responsible for the re-establishment of their favoured pines over large areas either burnt in forest fires or cleared by man. The nutcracker can store as many as 30,000 pine nuts in a single season, remembering the location of as many as 70% of their stash, even when buried in snow. Nutcrackers will cache seeds as far as 32 kilometres (20 mi) away from parent plants, about eight times farther than related dispersers like jays and crows, and are thus important in re-establishing forests and responding to climate change.”


We have just had a fantastic evening, an Indian “going away” meal at a friends’ house for a couple who are returning to England. It felt so normal to be with folks again as we are now allowed up to 15 people together out of doors and 10 indoors. Hence the very late blip!