Starting over
Nature Trail by Malcolm Palmer
To somewhat obsessive listers – who, moi? – each January the first presents a new challenge, and you have to set aside the hangover and get out as early as you can to get that dreaded list under way.
By the time I reached the
Clot de Galvany, I had seen seven species, but then the serious business began. ‘Getting one’s ducks in a row’ has a new meaning there, as you start to add Teal , Shoveleer and Mallard, and I was lucky enough to find four Whiteheaded Ducks, plus a couple of Purple Swamp-hens on the main lagoon. A Black-necked Grebe was something of a bonus there too.
I headed for the Vistabella area, seeing both Marsh Harrier
and Booted Eagle on the way, then I was really in luck – a flooded field! Two lovely Marsh Sandpipers, three Wood Sandpipers, a Ruff and a whole lot of Lapwings were feeding there. Back I went via the Salinas, and was fortunate enough to get a Spoonbill in my sights, as well as several Great White Egrets, now becoming a common sight there. But then I found a row of waders on a mud-spit – and my annual tradition of always finding something that evaded me for the whole of the previous year was maintained – there, dwarfing a couple of Dunlin, were three big fat Knot – by no means a common sight in our area. A Mediterranean Gull in full breeding plumage and a couple of Lesser Black-backs completed my morning.
Should you have anything to share with me you can email me at malcaves@yahoo.es