Birds, wildlife and travel
Another sunny day and an afternoon that started well with a new bird for the house list, in the form of a Honey Buzzard on its way north. No photos of that, but a Bee Fly was laying eggs by the pond. A trip to Pulborough yielded the hoped for Tawny Owl chicks, Nightingale and Adders.
There’s much to be said for a pre-work seawatch. On a good day it can send you into office buoyed up with early success. Today it made the prospect of a morning’s work an attractive improvement.
Still, the reward came in the garden this afternoon. A flock of 11 Red Kites drifting east at lunchtime was remarkable as we have only had singles before at home, but pride of place goes to the magnificent male Redstart that took up residence in the back field. It wouldn’t cooperate enough for a decent photo, but these digiscoped ones show it reasonably.
Colder today and relatively bird free. On the upside, the Adders today were a bit more torpid than yesterday’s Grass Snake.
After finding a large Grass Snake in the pond (which slithered off before I got the camera) we went for a look around the commons. It was warm and pleasant in Sussex today. and the birds were enjoying it. A final stop off at Cissbury Ring for the seven Ring Ouzels there at the moment had a bonus in the form of a Black Redstart too.
The last lot: a morning at the wetlands of Las Salinas, more Todies, and a mojito at last.
Around Playa Larga, with a morning in Zapata Swamp to find the eponymous Wren, some time in the Hummingbird Garden in Palpite, Quail Doves and general birding.
A day around Cayo Coco, followed by a day moving from Cayo Coco to Playa Larga, with birding stops on the way.
The journey from Camaguey to Cayo Coco was interrupted by a bus breakdown, but fortunately there was some decent birding.
A long drive from Havana to Camaguey, with a stop off at Zapata Swamp on day 2 and a day’s birding at La Belen on day 3, which provided a whopping 15 ticks for the day. Unfortunately they were the wrong sort of ticks: it took me ages to find and remove them all.
Back home, spring is just about springing, with a few Swallows today, but nothing worth photographing. I’m still wading through the Cuba pictures, so here is a selection from day 1 to be going on with.
