We’ve had a couple of trips into Calpe recently. Calpe has been one of our regular destinations both for wildlife and for lunch. We had heard people muttering about it becoming a second Benidorm, rather worryingly, so we thought we should go and take a look for ourselves.
Our first trip in was on a sunny but windy day. We abandoned ship at our regular parking spaces beside Las Salinas, crossed the road and began sauntering along beside the southern edge of the water. The usual gaudy pink flamingos were in residence but mostly too far distant for any engaging photographs. Much better positioned close to shore was a youngster, sifting water as it waited to develop its pink adult plumage. Francine snagged it as the wind whipped across into our faces.
To the left (west) of Las Salinas was abundant evidence of the development going on in Calpe; several high rise blocks were under construction with their attendant cranes standing guard. “Salinas Towers” overlooked Las Salinas itself. Further west nearer the centre of Calpe, other new towers stood completed. Through the imprecise memory induced by time, it’s difficult to be sure precisely which blocks were additions but there were clearly many,
In search of shelter from the wind, we wandered along to the base of the Peñon d’Ifach, the large rock that stands sentinel overlooking Calpe. There was a large, shiny, metal gate into a shipyard which produced some interestingly abstract images. Worth a try.
Once on the short path at the foot of the rock wildlife interest proved rather scarce, though it looked as though some of the seagulls were pairing up ready for the coming breeding season. We did find a couple of specimens of Potter Wasp, an Ancistrocerus species, I believe, but I wouldn’t attempt to be more precise than that.
Our usual lunch stop here was Las Barcas beside the fishing harbour. We stopped there again, sitting in the sheltered sun, for some chiperones [baby squid] and boquerones fritos [fried anchovies] washed down, of course, with some rosado. The passing years have brought with them a changing of the guard and, pleasant though it was, it didn’t quite feel the same.
Our second trip to Calpe was in much calmer conditions so we walked the circuit around the margins of Las Salinas, two sides of which go through what has been productive from the point of view of nature. This time, however, we saw the sum total of two honeybees [discounted] and a wasp; hardly a scintillating haul. Well, it is January, I suppose.
Recent Comments