long time, no write blog

True, long time no write but things have been a bit on the pear-shaped side of things with the older female of the family rather unwell and about ready for the knacker's yard at the rate she's going (she can't read English, ha-ha!)so a lot has devolved around myself, even unto cooking (I hate bloody food, why can't we have tablets?), hanging up and taking down washing (wonderful for reflection about the meaning of life!) and cleaning (why every day? Why not until you can write your name in the dust?).

The last time I was at the Guadalhorce was Sunday 1 December and was it cold! It was the weekend when there was snow on all the sierras, on Tejeda-Almijara over the eastern side of the bay (below left), and inland behind the Guadalhorce a lot on Sierra de las Nieves (below right).


Really, the only birding that I've done has been bits and pieces when I've been able to escape. I have been doing occasional flying visits to the beaches and port at Fuengirola to look for colour ringed gulls, with some success at least.

Most of the colour ringed gulls are Lesser Black-backs but trying to see the rings amongst a forest of legs and bodies, plus the disturbances from nasty little children and some mentally retarded adults like the wobbly grease-ball that waved her arms at them and kept flushing them because the she liked watching them fly. She'd have flown with a 12 bore shotgun, the way I felt about her antics!

These gulls have included a rather nice adult Mediterranean Gull green 3E8 which was ringed in France in 2006, which means it is now in its first winter as an adult.

The green ring can be seen and read quite well in the enlarged photo (useful these digital cameras).




Left is a 1st winter bird and a 2nd winter bird on the right to show the differences.
(The photos are mine, all mine!)