Natural Selection

I said I would write about the holiday ‘local patch’ today. So where is that? Well in the map below my hotel is above where it says ‘crocodile farm’ (of which more later in the week), and the patch is the tidal lagoon to the south.

Yesterday there were a couple of flamingos lounging about. Today there was only one, but it was actively feeding which is always preferable. I’ve seen Greater Flamingos at a few places in the Med before including Cyprus, Ibiza and Sicily but you can never get bored of these unique birds and even one is fascinating to watch.

A flock of 50 or so Slender-billed Gulls were knocking about yesterday. This species is a thinly distributed breeder across the Mediterranean to the north west Indian Ocean. Unlike other species including egrets and other gulls they haven’t become more regular in Britain with climate change, and remain a major rarity here. As well as their long bill the pale iris is a good distinguishing feature from Black-headed Gulls.

A couple of Caspian Terns were also around yesterday and today. Yesterday they were loafing distantly among the large gulls. Today presumably with more favourable tide conditions they were fishing. Caspian Tern is the biggest tern species in the world. Like flamingos their fairly widespread range doesn’t make it any less special when you do see them

I had a good look through the scattered trees on the west side of the lagoon for small birds. There were Spectacled Warbler and Sardinian Warbler, but both were very skittish. One area held several Chiffchaff but I didn’t get any pictures of these either, so here are a couple of Spanish Sparrows that were more obliging.

A round island tour tomorrow so more historical sites and less birds I imagine!