Hoch die hände, Wochenende!

 

A few pics from this week ... I thought this was a dried up, dead, slow worm but on closer inspection I see it is just the shedded skin of some lizard. It had a spectacular silvery metallic sheen.

(Update 240721) I pass the 'skin' the following day (see pic above), which has since been invaded by ants and beetles, suggesting that it was in fact a complete slow worm (European glass lizard) and not just the shedded skin.

A buzzard of some description perched on a nearby fir tree. The buzzards were very vocal this week and many could be seen in the sky at the same time. No doubt young buzzards from one family.

 Buzzards galore.

Below a wildflower that I think is a new addition.

Below a young heron in Pforzheim, just a flurry of feathers, as it alights upon a levee. This may be a young great blue heron as further along the levee, out of my camera range, was an adult great blue heron.

There were also several cormorants, which managed to elude my camera.

Finally managed to capture this butterfly (below) which rarely settled long enough to be photographed, maybe a marbled white.

... and another new addition.

A thistle ready to flower.