More fine weather means a contented dog and a slightly stiff author! We had a four hour walk on Sunday, sandwiched by two trips up the same mountain on the road bikes. Today was the ideal day for a walk down the beach to the marina at El Candado. I even remembered to charge up the camera battery, and not leave it on the kitchen table as I am prone to do.

The ride follows the river Guadalmedina from it’s urban cement casing up to the dam, and beyond into a rocky ravine. It has been quite a few years since the lake at the top of the Concepción dam has been this full:

What really amazed me was seeing small fishes jumping! Only last month this was just cracked earth.

My absolute favorite spot on this ride. Ancient oaks among the olive and almond trees, plus some run down barns provide excellent habitat for a host of bird species. Crested and Wood larks sing from their prospective perches, A Hoopoe flashed it’s barred wings, and a Corn bunting cranked up it’s call, a bit like starting an old petrol lawnmower! Barn swallows flew an inch from the tarmac and reared up just as we passed. Cirl and Rock buntings completed the set, and a pair of Booted eagles passed, well below us, heading up the valley.

I chose binoculars over the camera for the dog walk as there were showers forecast, and the two of us did get a proper soaking on our way home. My highlight of the day was to hear four different Nightingales doing their thing, and a very close second, a good look at a pair of Subalpine warblers, my first of the year. We were treated by a Rock bunting singing a few meters away.

So back to the beach. The swollen rivers and arroyos have covered the beaches with all sorts of debris, mainly canes and logs but with a lot of plastics mixed in. There will be a concerted effort to clear all this up before the Easter tourists arrive, but for now, the birds are taking advantage.

House martins are busy scooping up mouthfuls of mud for nest building:

All of the silt that gets washed out to sea provides valuable food for small fish and in turn,for the acrobatic Sandwich terns.