Thursday 26 January 2017

El Hondo after the bad weather

After last week's snow and days of very persistent rain it has only been in the last day or so that it has been wind free and enough sun to warm the air. Even then it was only about 10 degrees when I arrived at The Visitor Centre at El Hondo. I met a fellow birder who informed me that there was a male and female Pintail and that he had also seen a Wryneck. The latter one has been seen in winters past. Sadly for me neither species I saw this morning.

However on the corner of water just outside the car park I had two separate views of a Bluethroat feeding close by to six Little Stints. White Wagtails flew and called, a Purple Gallinule showed itself and so did a Little-ringed Plover. I moved on past the water at the rear of the information center and another Bluethroat showed close by. Feeding in the margins were more Little Stints and I had great views of both Teal and Snipe. Crag Martins flew around me and Chiff-chaffs fluttered between the reeds. A Stonechat perched nearby. At the end of the boardwalk, in the flooded field opposite, there were a number of Ruff and more Stint. Common Sandpiper were feeding also and in the far distant Godwits. I am told that both varieties had been seen this morning.

Going on to the next hide on the left revealed nothing worth mentioning and the further hide was not accessible due to water levels being too high. However the water was clear and on this sunny morning I did not see one raptor.

I am on FB with Crónicas Naturales de Torrevieja and they say that Razorbills are in the harbour at TORREVIEJA.

Tuesday 24 January 2017

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

I have just read The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths which was the first in her Ruth Galloway series. She has nine stories with Ruth Galloway and another shorter series entitled Stephens and Mephisto. She was long-listed in 2016 at the Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival for her 'Ghost Field'

I only picked this book up because she is the 2017's programming chair for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival at Harrogate in July. The marketing blurb tells us that she has gathered together some titans of the genre and that will include a Vera TV event with Ann Cleeves and the actors Brenda Blethyn and Kenny Doughty

The story is set in around the marshes on the Norfolk coast and there she makes good use of the myths, the legends and weaves them into her story. This wild place, of shifting sands and water, and the people that live and work here all add to the mystery of the place. Of course it is a crime novel and there are periods of tension. A young girl goes missing and after several years another one disappears. Galloway is the archeologist that has the knack of being closely involved with the local police and she adds the expertise they lack. Griffiths paints a stern picture of the investigating detective inspector, but eventually he is shown to be human. This poor image irks me as they cannot all be uneducated and gruff.

There are elements within that are difficult to accept and therefore the reality is poor. The culprit is one that is known to us and after eliminations it is fairly easy to work out. It is all nicely tied up at the end and most appear to live happily afterwards, but not all survive.

It was an easy read and enjoyable. My wife refers to such a book as a 'palate cleanser' and one to clear the mind after having read a really good one. I agree with her.

Sharon Bolton and Little Black Lies

Sharron Bolton is the author of the bestselling Lacey Flint series. This book, Little Black Lies, is her first stand-alone thriller since 'Blood Harvest' which was short listed for the CWA Gold Dagger for crime novel of the year. In 2014 she was awarded the CWA Dagger in the Library for her whole body.

'We were inseparable' so the front cover tells us and then 'until the day she killed my sons' is added under the title of Little Black Lies. Then what you could ask?

It is set in The Falklands Islands where in that small community everyone knows everything. The inside cover gives more more details telling us that it was a tragic accident in which the children died and then there are thoughts of how to avenge their deaths. It is not as simple as that. The complexities of changing relationships and then a child goes missing adds to the tension. And yet there is more when the impact the surrounding seas create and the recent history of that flawed Argentinian invasion.

My wife recommended it to me and I would do the same for everybody. I like the detail of where this book is set and Sharon Bolton has melded the physical aspects into the intricacies, with good reason, of the main story and the other personal stories that she has included. There is a cleverness here and that ensures that the reader is held on to what she is saying.
The number of personal relationships add so much to the storytelling and their importance is revealed as it is told. She uses the first person to make it more poignant, real and human.
It is very intense added to which there is the outcomes of the missing.

A last page enthralls me. It makes me wonder; leaves me with something to think about.

.


Monday 23 January 2017

More Rain in Spain

It was very wet during December with a year's supply of rain in just two days. January saw the first snow fall in San Miguel de Salinas since a winter of ten years ago. Our Spanish neighbours were excitedly chatting by their front doors when it started. I suppose that we have all done that somewhere and at some time in our lives and had pleasure in watching snow fall. It may be thought of to be juvenile, but I still like to watch it.

We did not have that much and then it was sleet and then the rain came heavy and stayed almost without a break for two days. Okay, we had spells of just cloud, but hardly any sun and then we had some more heavy deluges. Thunder and lightening added their touch to our days. It was cold too and much colder than normal with a northerly wind chilling us.

We have our houses and thick winter clothing, but the fields had standing water and what about the wildlife? It must have suffered. Usually the small white snails that the Spanish will come out to pick after rain for their paella are not on the stems of dried vegetable matter. The ground is littered with this shells. I will watch to see what their recovery will be.

Today the sun made a difference, but we still have a cold wind blowing. Maybe some birding will be possible now.

Wednesday 18 January 2017

Snow Storm in Costa Blanca

This morning I did not expect to sit by my word burner and watch a snow storm through the window, but I did. It had been getting colder for days and the forecast for today, and probably still is, is a fair amount of rain. The snow has even settled in roads around us, the beach at La Zenia is covered in snow and on FaceBook AP7 was closed. I had intended to go to San Felipe Neri at El Hondo, but I knew the forecast was bad, but wet and not this cold. However I am still booked in for the North Gate this coming Saturday. I expect it will be cold, but who knows what I will see. Perhaps not that many people!

Saturday 14 January 2017

El Hondo National Park

My first local birding trip for about month saw me enter through the North Gate at El Hondo (or Fondo) on another Saturday morning with the temperature at 8 degrees, but with a full moon still showing and full sunshine. The breeze was intermittent and chilly.

I first went to the farthest water and despite the glare from the sun I had clear vision of an Osprey perched on a post. On the water were Common Pochard and Shovelers and nothing of any distinction. In fact it was very quiet with not that many bird calls. I did not hear one Water Rail and I only caught a glimpse of one Kingfisher. Only a few Marsh Harriers were seen.

There was hardly anything to see from the large hide and so I moved on in the direction of the main gate. A Robin showed itself, one White Wagtail flew and a Southern Grey Shrike perched and called. From the small hide which overlooks the main water (which is over full with four people in it) I could see in the distance Shellduck and no Flamingos were in sight. Closer in there were Lapwing sheltering in the sun. Across the road in the other direction were more Lapwing and Black-tailed Godwits.

I like the viewing position of the board walk, but there was not that much to see. Again it was quiet, but Crag Martins put on a very good aerial show flying low and around me. I checked the usual perches for any raptor and eventually found one that I believe was a juvenile Bonnelli's Eagle perched on a pylon. It was some distance away and it was confirmed that one had been seen that morning (and previously) and also confirmed by Antonio. It was a good bird to finish the morning with. Water levels are now high and are close to the viewing area on the boardwalk with the channels all brim full. I had no view of the Spotted Eagle this time.