We know, and we apologize. We haven’t appeared on the blog for months now. Now, it’s not as an excuse, but rather as information, that we can tell you we have been very busy working on a new Birding In Spain Tour brochure, and a great competition where prizes can be won every month. Additionally, there will be a Big Year Prize at the end of those 12 months, with the option of winning a place on one of our Wonderful Winter Tours Winter wallcreeper tour info (1) to take place in 2019 or 2012.
Want to know more? Then get in touch via e-mail, or follow Birding In Spain on Facebook. There will be competition announcements on Twitter and Instagram, as well as on this blog.
Brrr! Is it cold outside? Have you got the heating on? Or have you been out gathering winter fuel?
When I write file names for photos I often write the first unimaginative word that comes into my head, often followed by a number to distinguish it from the previous, similar but slightly different file that preceded it. It’s a symptom of my inherent indolence and disorder, and is something which almost inevitably leads to organizational problems further down the road. Florinda, the wife, well, I can almost hear her sighing in frustration and disapproval, because she is so organized (and it’s often her who has to pick up the stray bits I leave in my trail and rearrange them in some meaningful order). I’m not proud of that, but I’m not young either, so that’s why I’m telling you this.
Well, no, actually the reason why I’m telling you this stems from what I was intending to say (easy distraction being another symptom of my age): that I actually named the image file of these two Griffon Vultures sitting together in a snowstorm “Snow Griffons” How about that? It actually sounds quite fitting for these two very stoical birds who would have already written off the rest of the day given the weather conditions.
There’s so much I could tell you about Griffon Vultures, and maybe I will remember some of it in later posts.
The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem
Pirates of the Caribbean
Note that this image is smaller than the rest: that is intentional, as I surrounded the Griffons with a wide white frame in order to extenuate their isolation and exposure to the elements.
And sometimes it can be the other way round, if it’s the right number of words, and in the right order.
A winner is a dreamer who never gives up
Nelson Mandela
I worked this image of a Little Egret from a photograph taken by Adam Crowther in the Ebro Delta in November 2021. I was with him and his wife, Daniela, also a keen amateur wildlife photographer, when he took this photo. They were virtually the first travellers I was fortunate enough to guide after almost two years of forced inactivity, thanks to Covid-you-know-who.
Since then another two years have passed. You can’t sit still, because life is always in motion; yet if you are too impatient and you make a false move you’ll either scare the fish away, or miss it when you strike.
I’ve watched Little Egrets catching little fish before in the Ebro Delta, but I’ve also watched them try and fail. Imagine what would happen if the egrets just gave up after a couple of misses. They don’t.
We’ll deviate a little from birds today for another landscape. It’s a mountainous landscape, set in the National Park of Aigüestortes in the Pyrenees of Catalonia. It’s the only place where I’ve been able to show people the rare and retiring Capercaillie, plus other birding gems such as the Black Woodpecker, Citril Finch, Lammergeier, Ring Ouzel, Crossbill, Crested Tit, White-throated Dipper and some other goodies.
I tried many ways to get the image I wanted, but it was beyond my capabilities. Nevertheless, the beautiful landscape somewhat compensates for my poor technical skills.
When someone says you can’t do it, do it twice and take pictures
