Birdies

Don't know what time this is… outside is still dark, but my eyes are now open.  I try to fall asleep again, but i can't… i've slept enough already. The morning cold gives me the chills and I lazily lie under the sheets till the alarm goes off, It's good to wake up earlier :) My throat is still lightly aching as a reminder of my own dumbness... when will i learn? when will i change? I easily get over it and try to ignore the fact that this is all my fault... maybe someday I'll get the hang of it.

 

Now... i might have said that winter started for me about a month ago, but i surely didn't know that things could get much worse on this part of the country.  The thermometer marked 1ºC  and even though i didn't know that i made the decision of putting on extra clothes today. A second pair of jeans was my best decision in the last few days, making my day way more comfortable.

The good thing about planning something is that it never goes the way you expected. You might argue that's not good, but i think it is =P 

Me and eduard planned on walking around the reserve looking for birds and to visit my sampling stations to look for animal signs. No need to say that that's not exactly what we did... xD As we get to Faia Brava we take our stuff from the jeep and find out that we're not alone... voices from someone else can be heard. Who? Antonio and the workers. Turns out that antonio is gonna be hanging around in the morning to take care of some matters. Given the choice of going with him, we quickly accept it :) we always learn something new with him :) He has to talk with some workers about the reserve fence... the horses have run again. On the way, subtly alighted on a bush, a dartford warbler (Sylvia undata). It's the first time i lay my eyes on one :) it's funny that i see it one day after learning its peep ^^

We spend the morning running the fence and visiting 2 future vulture feeding spots, where we eventually stop, now with the workers, for lunch. Autumn colors have invaded the area, spotting the green hills with yellow shades. The responsible for this colorful pattern is the Pistacia terebinthus, a native plant of the Mediterranean area.

On the way back a hoopoe (Upupa epops) poses for me :) It's always an amazing sight watching this animal fly ^^

Off the car it's time to go take a walk to watch some birdie birdies :) We've  been practicing for a few days now and it feels great starting to know those cute creatures :) 
 

We saw european robins (Erithacus rubecula), thekla larks (Galerida theklae), a southern grey shrike (Lanius meridionalis), chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) and another hoopoe. Beside griffins in the air, to cheer up our day, we also saw a juvenile golden eagle. It's been sometime since we last saw one ^^

To finish the day, we gathered up some firewood, leading me to some finger injuries, but it's ok. What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger =P