by Robin Noble (Photography by Martine Howard)
As I rather vaguely “forecast" in my last, something like winter has come eventually to the Pyrenées-Orientales; today is cold, wet, and very grey. We managed, however, in the last week, to have three lovely sunny days in an almost deserted Costa Brava, which was delightful. On the way home, we spent time at one of our favourite places, the wetland nature reserve in the Emporda. As we approached, we passed through an astonishing shower of seriously heavy rain (the purple of roadside almond orchards glowing eerily in the gloom), but it then cleared away completely and all was lovely. In fact, the combination of that rain, and generally high water-levels meant that the whole reserve was wetter than we had seen it before, which the ducks certainly seemed to be enjoying.
As I rather vaguely “forecast" in my last, something like winter has come eventually to the Pyrenées-Orientales; today is cold, wet, and very grey. We managed, however, in the last week, to have three lovely sunny days in an almost deserted Costa Brava, which was delightful. On the way home, we spent time at one of our favourite places, the wetland nature reserve in the Emporda. As we approached, we passed through an astonishing shower of seriously heavy rain (the purple of roadside almond orchards glowing eerily in the gloom), but it then cleared away completely and all was lovely. In fact, the combination of that rain, and generally high water-levels meant that the whole reserve was wetter than we had seen it before, which the ducks certainly seemed to be enjoying.
There were a lot of birds there, of course; and lots of duck: mallard, inevitably, but also dozens of shovelers and the tiny teal, as well as wigeon, with dabchick, coot and moorhen everywhere. The storks were very visible, as ever, with two species of egret, grey heron, ibis, and a mute swan making her nest on a tiny island in front of one of the several hides. Among the waders were a few curlew and redshank, (which reminded us very much of the UK), and, as before, we had fantastic views of snipe with the very complex patterns on the back.
Dabchick (Little Grebe)
Snipe
The improbable stilts were stalking about, just beginning to come into summer plumage with the black patch forming on the head. A pair of avocets made an interesting contrast. Among the land birds, a wren and a robin added a touch of home, a kestrel hovered overhead, and the chiffchaffs and Cetti’s warblers called continuously. (Spring is coming!). The first few swallows arced above the shining wetlands to prove it, too. And while there were, sadly, no cranes or flamingos on this occasion, we had one very special sighting to make up for that.
As I joined Martine in one of the excellent hides, (this one quite tall, with a splendid outlook over a channel between two very wet meadows), she gestured to me to be quiet and sit down quickly; there was a kingfisher sitting on the top rail of the fence below us. It was some distance away, it is true, but in the wonderful light, the brilliant colours were very noticeable-a dazzle of blue and orange when it eventually flew.
As I joined Martine in one of the excellent hides, (this one quite tall, with a splendid outlook over a channel between two very wet meadows), she gestured to me to be quiet and sit down quickly; there was a kingfisher sitting on the top rail of the fence below us. It was some distance away, it is true, but in the wonderful light, the brilliant colours were very noticeable-a dazzle of blue and orange when it eventually flew.
Also very evident were quite a number of the elegant fallow deer, walking briskly through the shallows between the duck; they seemed rather nervy, and it was probably due to the fact that there were parties of school-kids making their way noisily around the Reserve. We managed to time our hide visits quite well, and were leaving each time they arrived, which was as well as it would hardly have been feasible to share the limited space with them. But they were clearly enjoying the sunshine, the countryside, and a day out of school, and perhaps one or two of them at least may have been inspired by the visit to think about the wonderful world of nature which we as a species inherited, and, in some special places like this, can still enjoy. Let’s hope so!
