Raptors

Shadow Leader

Shadow Leader

At the Start
Joined
Nov 9, 2003
Messages
9,884
I've been thinking about DG & his "good to be alive" sentiments the last week or so whilst I've been out & about - the weather has mostly been glorious here & I've been riding a lot this week before work. It's been absolutely amazing; a friend of mine has recently set up a new yard in the middle of nowhere (for those that know Andalucia, it's about 20kms inland from Algeciras on the way to Ronda) & it's on the outskirts of a national park, it is stunning. On the drive there, next to the road are rows and rows of pylons, all with stork's nests resting on top, it's a pretty comical sight to see the storks perched on top of their nests, with their babies, on top of the pylons for seemingly miles!! There are several different types of raptors indigenous to the area; they are amazing, I love watching & studying them, I must learn more about them. Today a buzzard flew very low over my car (about 15ft off the ground) as it had just swooped & caught some prey, that you could see still wriggling in it's talons. Other species common to the area are red & black kites, griffon & egyptian vultures, preegrine falcons, kestrels, montagu's harriers & incredibly, both golden & imperial eagles, which I must make a concerted effore to go & find.

When I was riding this morning there were tens & tens of Griffon Vultures around too - it is simply awesome to have them flying less than 50ft over your head whilst you are on a horse, simply amazing. There was a dead horse on the hillside above the yard & it was simply incredible to watch the vultures in action, circling & circling lower & lower, then landing one at a time, gorging on the corpse then moving away for a bit to sit & digest their food for hours. They are so clever, it is fascinating to watch them at work, different birds circling & scouting in different areas; it is amazing how good they are at spotting food. They are absolutely massive too - their wing sapn is simply staggering - they have around about a ten foot wing span so to have them flying so low, so close is incredible, words can hardly describe watching them at work. It is nature at it's most best; simply astounding & wonderful to watch and so devastatingly effective.
 
Shadow, digressing slightly, what is Gib like to work in/live in? I was there about 6 yrs ago for a day and thought it a tip. Do you live in Spain?
 
I think calling Gib a tip is pretty harsh, it's not the greatest place, granted, but it's fine. It will have changed a lot since you were here if you were here 6 years ago! I live in Gib, in one of the better apartment buildings though, granted! I spend a lot of time in Spain though, Andalucia is simply stunning. I enjoy living & working here, it's very relaxed compared to the UK & it can be a good laugh.
 
Originally posted by Shadow Leader@Mar 28 2005, 09:05 PM
I think calling Gib a tip is pretty harsh, it's not the greatest place, granted, but it's fine. It will have changed a lot since you were here if you were here 6 years ago! I live in Gib, in one of the better apartment buildings though, granted! I spend a lot of time in Spain though, Andalucia is simply stunning. I enjoy living & working here, it's very relaxed compared to the UK & it can be a good laugh.
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Fair enough. My recollection of the place was bad English pubs and people desperate to cling on to a British identity. I have a lot of time for Spain though and can think of plenty worse places to live.
 
I can see where you're coming from, Homer - but I think you'll find that a lot of that comes more from the bloody British tourists!!!! Yes, there are a lot of Brits out here that like the bad English pubs (I can name several such pubs - The Angry Friar, The Horseshoe, The Gibraltar Arms etc) but they are mainly populated by the British tourists who love all that dross - english fry-up breakfasts & the like - so it's a vicious circle really, supply & demand. It's no worse that the Costa Del Sol though - an area I cannot abide!
 
Homer, I don't take offence, don't worry. I was just informing people of a useless fact!!
 
Oh I don't dispute that for one second, Brian - in fact, I feel privileged to live so close to an area of such outstanding beauty. Hence, why I ride as often as I can, just driving around Spain is enough to take your breath away, it is simply beautiful.

I don't know - I post about something happening that I thought was simply amazing, (in fact words cannot describe it at all, how many people can say they have watched vultures feeding?) & fantastic to watch, albeit from a distance, nature at it's most astounding. What do I get into?? A discussion about poxy Gib & British tourists!!!!!!!! <_< :lol: :lol:
 
Delete all those and get back to nature...

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Now there's a nice backside!

Dom, you're a victim of the amazing Topic Sidetrack, which can occur without warning within the space of a single posting! I loved bird-watching in Saudi - it lies on the migrant run to the South for dozens of species, and over the decades, many non-indigenous birds have set up permanent residence in the oases. In the Eastern Province, where I lived (that's Gulf-side, not the Red Sea-side), we had all kinds of visiting water fowl, even flamingoes, herons, egrets, spoonbills, Indian rollers, kingfishers, loads of yellow and pied wagtails (though the latter's common enough in the UK now), hoopoes (that really looks assembled by committee!), doves, rock pigeons, and several species of owl, including the astounding eagle owl, with blazing orange eyes you can see from half a mile off. There are plenty of smaller birds, many finch and warbler species, too, the Middle Eastern speciality being the beautiful Bulbul, which most nearly resembles a great tit.

I've spent many a peaceful hour, at a distance with powerful bins or a scope, watching the variety of bird life which enriched the country. There are also raptors, mostly the buzzard, which enjoys hunting the bustard in the open desert, and almost too many different types of birds to mention! Of course, the Gulf provides a rich fishing ground for all kinds of sea birds, including little turnstones, waders, as well as gulls and terns. The terns nest on small desert islands, mostly populated by mice, which also get visited by turtles during their nesting season.

One of the most moving experiences was spending a night, with a natural history group, onshore Karan Island in the Gulf, to watch pregnant turtles working hard to scrape out their egg chambers, lay, crying their tears as they did so, lumber clumsily to the water's edge, and then glide away gracefully into a moonlit sea. Absolutely beautiful!
 
Coming back to the original thread, what a beautifully descriptive piece SL, probably your best ever, you’ve almost persuaded me to go and have a look, bugger the Costa Brava. Mother Nature is a wondrous thing, although here in Cornwall the only birds of prey tend to be the seagulls who swoop down on their startled prey, i.e. tourists with bags of chips !

Here in Cornwall we are almost an island, surrounded by the Channel to the south, the Atlantic to the north and the Tamar river, which separates us from Devon to the east. The salty winds here heavily influence the plants, animals and their habitats.. The warm waters of the Gulf Stream flow from the south and mix with the cooler northern waters, so that Cornwall supports many species on land and sea which are at the edge of their climatic ranges. Sightings include basking and thresher sharks, whales, dolphins ( what beautiful creatures), porpoises, seals, leatherback turtles and jellyfish, whilst inland otters are reported to be on the increase near to here and also over the border in Devon on the Tarka Trail. Mink can be seen on the banks of the canal but disappointingly the water vole known as "Ratty" from The Wind in the Willows is virtually extinct.

On the bird front the Cornish chough appeared back back in Cornwall, two or three years ago which was the first time for around 50 years. It prefers short well-grazed coastal pastures and eats ground-dwelling invertebrates such as ants, beetle larvae and spiders. Its rather untidy nest is built largely of sticks and usually well concealed within a crack in the cliff-face or deep inside a cave. In 2001 four wild choughs were seen in west Cornwall and three took up residence, leading to hopes that they might stay to breed. Developments were eagerly awaited during the early spring of 2002 and to everyone's delight two of the birds began nesting. By mid-April they had built a nest tucked away out of sight within a sea cave and the female had begun to incubate a clutch of eggs. A team of dedicated volunteers provided a round-the-clock watch over the birds to ensure illegal egg collectors could not raid the nest and thereby ruin any chance of the chough returning to Cornwall. Legend has it that King Arthur when he died was transformed into a Chough. The "Talons and beak all red with blood" are said to mark the violent end to which this celebrated chieftain came.The red in the Cornish tartan represents the beak and legs of the Cornish Chough. and it is considered very bad luck to kill a Chough.

Another aspect of Mother Nature here is the weather which although it can run to all extremes. is by far the best in the country, because of its lateral position being the most southern county. The particular area I am in is known as the “loveliest peace of Cornwall” you will note the spelling. There is a spot you can sit on the cliffs about a mile away and on a clear day see all the way down to Trevose Head and looking North towards Hartland Point Lundy Island stands out about fifteen miles away. Along this stretch of coast the remains of numerous shipwrecks lie, some now buried by shifting sands. One day all is calm, the next can see tremendous waves smashing over the rocks causing an effect similar to a giant bubble bath on the shoreline. Another day the mist can descend and all is still and sound carries a very long way. When the mist comes down the local fishermen sit it out off shore and tell you they can hear the people on the beach even though they cannot see them. It is an unwritten rule you never go to sea alone as a friend of mine discovered to his cost last year. He went out to check his crab pots, merely to pull them up, empty them and drop them down again. By nightfall he had not returned and a rescue helicopter discovered his empty boat with no sign of him. His son went out to look for him with some friends in another boat and decided to raise his crab pots. As they hauled them up they discovered his body tangled in amongst them, the theory was as he chucked his pots overboard a rope tangled around his ankle and took him with them.

On yet another day tremendous gales can drive the waves in and always seem to coincide with the highest tides of the month, especially September which sees the highest tides of the year. Hardly any two days are the same. A little over six months ago saw utter devastation ten minutes down the coast at Boscastle with eight inches of rain falling in 18 hours. Between here and there other communities were badly affected but did not receive the publicity. At the bottom of our hill there were similar rescue scenes to there of people being airlifted from the roofs of their properties, the environment has still not recovered.

I was born here, I will be laid to rest here, it is home.

This first image is the coastal footpath walking North away from Boscastle. On that dreadful day as well as the devastation down in the village a wall of water was pouring down there down into the sea like a gigantic waterfall, the footpath is still closed even now.

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I only have to go a mile to see this

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Looking North towards Hartland Point, unfortunately Lundy Island not visible in these conditions

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But on a nice day I can sit and look at this

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and take a solitary walk up here to put the world to rights

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Oh, lovely Hartland!

I used to spend my childhood holidays there and in fact got married in N Devon in Woolsery, as my parents bought a house there.

We always used to spend our annual summer holiday on a farm just outside Hartland and I blame Mr Yeoman for my current love-affair with farming life! The poor bloke used to have me shadowing his every movement, from morning milking, through hay-cart etc etc and my most exciting moment was helping him hold the transfusion for a downer cow with milk fever and watching the almost miraculous recovery! I think I was about 6 at the time..... poor b@stard has a lot to answer for!

We've had four days of pretty good weather over the Easter weekend and yesterday, when walking the dogs first thing, I counted myself very lucky in being able to watch the resident herd of Roe deer grazing in one of the fields, always on the alert and then bounding off on springs when they spotted us, into the wood. We've buzzards a-plenty on this farm I am glad to say (even if the gamekeeper of our local shoot isn't too fond of them!) and one of the most evocative sounds of summer here is their call when soaring on the thermals on a hot day... bliss!

We've also probably more than our fair share of rooks and crows - they sum up winter for me as the rookery is on top of the hill behind me. For a few weeks each winter, like clockwork, at first light, more than two hundred of them all take off together and set off, presumably to their first feeding station - on a clear mornings, the noise is just incredible, both from them cawing and the noise of their wings. They put on a complete show of tumbling and playing in flight and it's known as 'That Crow Moment' in this house!

One thing I am ashamed of not doing is spending more time just watching the wildlife on my doorstep - the farm has a long stretch of river frontage and I know there are both otters and kingfishers resident there and I still haven't seen either. This year I am determined to make the effort to spend there and to simply watch!
 
Originally posted by Songsheet@Mar 29 2005, 11:56 AM
I used to spend my childhood holidays there and in fact got married in N Devon in Woolsery, as my parents bought a house there.

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Yes Julie or to give it another name, Woolfardisworthy as you probably know. Confuses the visitors does that one when you tell them it's pronounced Woolsery. I spent the other evening at the Farmers Arms after a nice afternoon mountaineering up the hill from Clovelly !
 
When my mother and I returned from Africa, we bought a big house in Carbis Bay, with direct views over our sloping lawns (complete with little palm trees) to the Hayle Estuary. We were only a mile and a bit outside St Ives (Snives), but this was already (in 1965) becoming twee and over-touristy. But the bay was spectacular, and the sound of a high tide running there was very exciting. I used to cycle into Hayle when I had free time, and sit by the Estuary and watch the birdies there - chockful of species, and a wonderful natural 'nature reserve'. I enjoyed walking and cycling around the countryside's nooks and crannies very much, there was always something interesting or beautiful to see.

Regrettably, I can't say we enjoyed the Cornish in them thur parts, DG. We found them prying, unhelpful, and untrustworthy towards furriners like us. (Totally unlike the Devonians we later lived among.) As two women, we seemed to be the target for as many rip-offs as they could fit into a day. Perhaps that was a legacy of Snives' past - most of the Cornish coast being infamous for its' smuggling and putting one over the Reevers. But it's nice to know there's one good Cornishman about!
 
I went on holiday to Hartland in 1992 with some friends - we rented a cottage and walked down to Hartland Point and spent most of the time in the pub .

We went to Barnstaple , Bideford and Bude - Clovelly I was pleased to see had changed little from a trip to see it as a kid from Saunton Sands
 
Originally posted by Ardross@Mar 29 2005, 09:48 PM
we rented a cottage and walked down to Hartland Point and spent most of the time in the pub .

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That would be Hartland Quay unless you spent your time drinking in a lighthouse :P :P
 
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