Almost Abortive

A quickie, somewhat late to press.

J18_1002 Sky Blue PinkWe embarked on a trip down towards Torrevieja, about 150km south. Torrevieja has an “interesting” reputation, or so we believe, but the draw was two lakes, one of which is pink and the other of which is blue/green. Large quantities of salt are harvested at the pink lake, which is what causes the pink coloration. What we were hoping for was something like this picture, which was taken at what we thought was a similar salt lake at Gruissan in France last year. What we got was a tour around the lake in the car with no sign of any decent access point. Someone knows how to get to it ‘cos there are photographs but how to get to it eluded us.

There is easy access to the blue/green lake but we couldn’t see any wildlife, which would have given a reason to access it. We stuck our nose into a part of Torrevieja and pretty swiftly stuck it straight back out again. Our coastal trip was saved by a pleasant pause at a bar in Guardamar for an interesting tapa of scrambled eggs with morcilla [black pudding], pine nuts and a yoghurt dressing. Francine opted for an avocado and prawn salad.

J19_2350 Booted EagleThe wildlife interest was saved by a sighting above a fuel station that we used for a comfort break as we approached Torrevieja. Three raptors were circling around above and behind the fuel station. They were a bit far away for anything a good shot but I managed one (with the old Canon 7D mk I and 100-400 lens) that was good enough to identify them as Booted Eagles (Hieraaetus pennatus). My old Collins Guide shows central Spain as a breeding ground but the coastal margin, as here, as a migration route back from over-wintering in Africa. So, maybe these were on their way back.

Posted in 2018-2019 Winter

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