Agility Champion of France! ... and an Eagle Owl

Exceptionally, a composite blip with two very important items.

Below is an Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo), Western Europe's largest owl, digiscoped on the distant cliff of a quarry--hence the lack of sharp focus. Nonetheless, it was the best view of the species I'd ever had. It's probably a female, most likely on her nest. On the first evening of our trip, at the same quarry, we had heard an eagle owl hooting--a wonderful deep sound (probably her or her mate). A bit earlier, we'd had marvelous view of a wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria), another very hard-to-see bird (and also my best looks ever).

Above is Chippie, a nine-year-old fox terrier type, who last October won France's agility championship in her class (Class A, the smallest competitive class). Her owner and trainer is Patrice, our host at our hotel, and Morgan, his 14-old son, runs with Chippie in her competitions; the next major one is the European championships, in July in Berne, Switzerland. Patrice found her at the pound when she was two days old, and visited every day until he was able to take her home. She is a wonderful little dog, and we are delighted to have made her acquaintance.