The New Arrival

Local breed of cow from the north of Portugal ( Minhotes)

Dear fellow bloggers, as you probably know my first love is painting, and just recently I have been offered a couple of portrait commissions. Untill they are compleated I will be taking a blogging break.I should be back in August.

Gliders

The Swallowtail
Papilio machaon ( Papilionidae)

This Swallowtail has lost one of it's trademark tail streamers on the hind wing

The Scarce Swallowtail
lphiclides podalirius (Papilionidae)

The ground colour of the wings is yellowish but can look confusingly white in strong sun light as above photo shows.

From The Depths

The Viperine Snake
Natrix maura

Whilst I was at the pond one day last week, this Viperine snake emerged from it's depths.This gave me an opportunity to capture these two photos before it saw me and slithered away hidden by the vegetation.My first thought was for the Newts,but although I stayed there for a while hoping to get another shot it didn't reappear.These snakes eat fish and amphibians, and grow to 70cm in length.