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An entry to our 2019 Writing Competition, Jane Sherlock travelled on our 'Go Slow ... in Andalucia' tour.
As a novice birder with an ageing hip, it was with some trepidation that I arrived in Gibraltar for my first experience of a Go Slow holiday. The warmth immediately enveloped our group which was partly the weather but also due to our outstanding trip leaders, Niki and Simon, and our host at Huerte Grande. Our group quickly settled into the routines. Right on time each day we set off for our adventures, navigating a variety of landscapes from the areas of weird umbrella shaped stone pines, cork forests, beaches, salt pans, rice and cotton fields to the high rocky observatories. Each one provided a different birding experience and along the way we picked up lots of local and conservation information. This was so helpful and gave us a real insight. What a great idea to switch off the wind turbines whenever the raptors were going through. We even had the luxury of chairs to sit on whenever the need overwhelmed us.
Having been given a quick method of identifying some of the key species, we were set free, rather like the birds, to just enjoy the spectacle of the sheer numbers of birds. We even had the luxury of chairs to relax into, although I passed on the suggestion that the best way to observe would be lying on the ground. Our second time at the Cazalla Observatory was enhanced by the glorious sunshine, which gave the Honey Buzzards a golden shine and the squadrons of storks seemed to have lights glowing where their bodies should have been. Is this why some birds have mythological status in many cultures? It is difficult to do justice to the scale, numbers and sheer beauty of the migration. To think that our ancestors have stood looking up to the skies at that spot watching similar sights throughout history.
Excitement escalated at the sighting of the Dotterels on our inter-tidal exploration at Le Lances, although we had already seen a bevy of Audouin’s Gulls amongst the waders and a lone but beautiful kingfisher. Gulls have acquired a new interest for me, having taken them a bit for granted until now. The wandering white horses showed little interest even in the marvellously named Zitting Cisticola. What a cute little bird and how busy it was. At the Selinas de Barbate, the salt pans, we were treated to flamingoes in flight, with colours and shapes so extraordinary that it looked like Walt Disney had created the scene. How do they stay in the air and look so graceful? I will have to ask a physicist.
At the rice fields we must have made an interesting sight for any onlooker as we tiptoed in silence to the scope to get a rare view of the ground roosting Red-necked Nightjar. This added extra interest to our daily report which now listed 117 species of birds.
Having had a bad experience in the Azores I was a bit anxious about our cetacean spotting boat trip, but WOW! Six, or more, majestic Sperm Whales glided close to the boat interspersed with Bottlenose Dolphins ‘playing’. The shouts of glee that went up when these majestic beasts took their dives with the flukes in classical pose were echoed by everyone in the group. It was humbling and the was the main topic of conversation over our very excellent tapas lunch that followed in Tarifa.
The famous picnics in beautiful places, including high in the hills of Monte Facinas by a natural spring (El Chorrito), gave another peaceful opportunity to marvel at fleets of raptors, Red-rumped Swallows and the homemade tortilla. What bliss especially high up in the shade of the cork forests by the natural spring.
Then there were the more unexpected things like the Egyptian Praying Mantis that landed on a guest one evening walking back from dinner, the Moorish Gecko that set up home in my bathroom and the pigs in the woods near my cabin. I haven’t even talked about the 17 species of other animals including butterflies, moths and jumping spiders. Oh, of course, the rest of the group. Knowledgeable, interesting, friendly and fun. Artists and scientists, engineers and nurses all brought together through a love of birds, conservation and nature in general. Fabulous locally sourced Spanish feasts ended each day. I returned from the trip fitter, more agile, relaxed and having learned much more than I expected. I think this could be a prescribed treatment regime. What a joyful week. My dreams all seem to be of open sunny skies in which I appear to have become an expert bird spotter. I can’t wait for my next trip to the Camargue which is already booked.
Read more about our 'Go Slow ... in Andalucia' holiday.