The rain in Spain falls, mainly on the mountains not on the plains! Wet weather here at the moment and according to the State Meteorological Agency the period between March 2009 and January 2010, has been the warmest on record, since 1943. However, we decided to give the “warm” weather a miss and visit the cold UK instead. So this report is slighly different as we report on our UK sightings.
One bird we do not get here in Spain is the Smew,a beautiful duck, especially the male, which visits the UK in winter from the Artic tundra. It had been seen on the various lakes at the Lee Valley Regional Park in Essex but it was always once step ahead of us and in our visits there we always managed to miss it. However, we did manage to see a good variety which included the following; Gadwell, Wigeon, Goldeneye, Tufted duck, Pochard, Teal, Mallard, Garganey. The winter sunshine made the colours of the Goldfinches, Great tits and Blue tits and Chaffinches stand out and the Long tailed tits are always great to see. Although we did not see the elusive Smew we managed to spot a Bittern and a Water rail at Fishers Green hide in the Lee Valley park, not a bad consolation, I suppose.
Another birding day out saw us at Ladywell cemetary in South London and interesting place to see in its own right but pretty good for birdwatching too.
The usual small woodland birds were there as well as Collard Dove, Wood pigeon, Jays, Magpies and Green Woodpecker and we also heard a Greater Spotted Woodpecker drumming a tree to mark his territory. Looking up into the sky we spotted a female Sparrowhawk, easily gaining height on the thermals (even in winter) only to be chased by a Crow which didn’t seem to bother her.
Back in Spain now and not much to see as the rain and cloud seem to have reduced visibility in the village to only a few hundred metres. Although we can see at least about 30 plus House Sparrows (Gorrion comun) sitting on the telephone wires outside the house.
Is Spring on its way ? The House Martins (Avion comun) have returned and are busy trying to rebuild their nests onto the village houses and Sarah spotted a Swallow (Golondrina) just outside the village, plus the Crag martins (Avion roquero) are still around.
It doesn’t feel like spring at the moment but the blossom on the Almond trees is out and it makes a colourful sight, the pink and white leaves against the green fields in the countryside with a dash of yellow from the Bermuda buttercups growing in-between the olive and almond trees. We shouldn’t be suprised with the rain, as Andalucia actually has more rainfall than the UK, but it all appears at the same time !
