Spain 2016 - Aymonte zoo and Casa Grande

Nicky and I headed into to town today just to wander and take pictures. We stopped in at the tourist  bureau and found out that there are no boat trips up the Guardiana River in the off season, so that strikes that off the itinerary. Walking behind the tourist office we found this lovely statue.

We kept saying that all our pictures would have looked better today, with blue sky behind.

Stone tears.

We walked all the way around the block, almost back to the tourist office, and found the entrance to the zoo. It's free, you just walk in. No dogs or bicycles allowed. Closed Tuesday and Sunday.

A small herd of deer.

Got an itch I just gotta scratch.

I just figured out the photo editor on my netbook and am playing with it. This has a filter added.

I'm looking at you looking at me.

There were 4 ostrich.

One lioness asleep on the grass in her enclosure with her tail twitching. The highlight for me was the tiger. I love tigers and took lots and lots of pictures.

Huge paws.

Licking him or herself, just like the big cat he (or she) is.

I was taking the pictures through glass so there's a bit of a reflection but the glass did allow us to be really close. On looking closely we could see that the tiger was probably blind. One eye didn't look right and the other was completely opaque.

Still a beautiful creature.

The bears were asleep, just a pile of brown fur. The baboons are really rather ugly so I didn't take many pictures. The zoo is old and the enclosures are small and, as usual, I feel a bit sorry for the animals but when I noticed the tiger was blind I thought it wasn't probably likely to run around a huge amount. All of the animals looked healthy; not overweight, not too skinny, glossy coats or feathers.
From the zoo we walked across the river and up a road to Casa Grande.

 

It was built by Manuel Rivero González, a local merchant, about the year 1745. It is now the home of the offices of culture for Ayamonte.

It has concert and exhibition space and lots of art. Surprisingly none of the art was identified in terms of artist or even the title of the piece.

Lovely interior courtyard.

Over the door.

A wide range of art from local scenes to

carnival posters (this ones for you, Heather) to

antique furniture to

dark religious paintings to

a variety of modern paintings.

Reminded me of the kiteboarders at home.

I love this one, the movement of the old and new boats towards Ayamonte.

This was an interesting painting as the foreground was a bit blurry looking and the sharpest detail was in the tiles and stonework behind. Almost like a photograph with the focus at the wrong depth.

On the way back to the car we found a similar bench.

Spain 2016 - Nicky arrives.

We got up early and checked Nicola's flight and found that she had been delayed. Good, able to have a second cup of coffee after breakfast. We drove back to Faro finding that it took about an hour. We just had time to get a coffee in the terminal and Nicky arrived (with just carry on). Stopped for a quick trip to the market and another coffee in Ayamonte and then home for lunch.
After lunch Nicola and I went for a walk as she wanted to see the beach.

Tides out, huge expanse of sand.

Weird little starfish thing on the beach. We saw a few of them. They weren't moving.

Sand poop? According to askanaturalist.com its the castings of a lugworm. You wouldn't believe some of the sites I got when typing in "sandy poop".

Off the beach and across the causeway to Punta del Moral for a glass of wine in the sun.

Love the colours of the fishing boats rafted at the wharf.

Different symbols on the bow of each.

 

 

 

I've been getting a bit of flack from my daughter about the blog being a bit "bird centric" these days. There's not much else here to focus on and its one of the reasons Mum and Dad like the place. So Nicky said she would assist in finding other things to see and do. Then, as we parked near the water, she said "Oh is that a cormorant?" and then "Shit, it's happening to me too!".

Spain 2016 - taking the bike back.

Today I had to take the bike back so rode from Isla Canela Marina to Campo de Golf. I figure it is about 10 km on a flat bike path. Some of it is by the ocean and some across marshland.

It wasn't nearly as windy as it has been and was a lovely ride.

It took me about 35 minutes and after I returned the bike key, Mum and Dad were just pulling up in the car. They were there to see if I wanted to go into town with them but I opted to walk home.

There is a place where water goes under the road and I stopped to look for birds. A Black Winged Stilt. I just read in the bird book that it has the longest legs relative to body length of any of the world's birds (there's a bit of trivia for you)

I'm used to seeing these at the Port Dover harbour or the pond in downtown Simcoe, a Mallard

We have been here more than 2 weeks and this is the first time I have seen something other than a fishing boat go out.

It was about 1pm when I stopped for coffee at a chiringuito (beach bar) and I decided I didn't want to wait 'til I got home to eat. So I also ordered lunch.

The menu was in Spanish, English and Dutch. I was lazy and ordered in English - omelette and chips.

I didn't eat alone. There was a flock of sparrows who sat on the other chairs at the table and the floor around. I had to shoo them off the table. I think they would have shared the plate with me given half a chance.

Really can't complain about the view on this walk.

It was difficult to get a picture of him in the bushes beside the trail but he's a Stonechat.

While I was trying to contact Chris by cell phone a cat started milling around me and meowing. How appropriate as she is such a cat lover

His colleague was just soaking up the sun.

Such pretty markings.

I was going to cut across the parking lot to the apartment building but decided to walk right to the end and watch the fishing boats come in.

There are wrought iron benches to sit on. Not comfy, your not supposed to sit for long.

While I was there this guy, in full wetsuit and snorkel gear slipped into the water, with a harpoon gun. I wonder if he got anything.

Spain 2016 - Marismas del Odiel

We headed back to the Marismas del Odiel, on the other side of the Odiel River from Huelva, north of Punta Gumbria. We were trying to reverse the route we had taken a few days ago and there was some differences of opinion between the driver (me) and the navigator (Dad) and a few roundabouts were traversed more than once. We eventually found it only to discover that the visitors centre was closed on Mondays- sigh!

Statue of Columbus, across the river in Huelva, donated by the U.S. Columbus left from Huelva (actually just south) when he discovered America.

We drove down the nature reserve road, slowing to look at birds, stopping for flamingos, spoonbills and to try and identify birds we didn't immediately recognize.
The guidebook indicates that there is a tour from the visitors center that guarantees you will see flamingos.

They were in the Salinas, beside the road.

They are such weird looking birds that even though there is no shortage of them we found ourselves watching them for quite a while.

We pulled over onto a track and ate our picnic lunch and then Mum and I walked out in the Salinas. The wind was whipping the water up into foam and when we turned we actually had to lean into it to make headway.

There are control gates between these huge rectangular expanses of shallow water that allow for them to be flooded during high tide and then closed off so that the water can evaporate. I think this is probably done primarily in the summer so now they are left to the birds.

Vast expanses of mud flats. Great feeding areas for wading and sea birds.

While walking back we saw this diving bird. Every time I got the camera on him, he would dive and

I would end up with a picture like this.

We haven't been able to identify him. He looks most  like a Great Northern Diver but we are too far south for that. Looks a bit like a Goldeneye but he doesn't have a duck beak. Although a bit Grebe like he really doesn't fit any that are supposed to be here. A Mystery!

Spain 2016 - Isla Canela marsh path loop

Driving out from taking pictures of the bridge, yesterday, we saw 2 of these. We believe they were Red Legged Partridges.

Yesterday afternoon I went for a bike ride but it was really windy and biking into a headwind is no fun, so I rode the bike to the marsh path and walked around one loop. It was more for the walk than for the birds but I did see a few birds on the way.

Grey Herons are usually at the waters edge but this one was about 6 foot above the river. Maybe just taking a break from fishing and enjoying a windy Saturday afternoon.

The path follows a small river that empties into the river flowing beside Isla Christina

 It follows that river for a while with old Salinas on the other side. It was windy enough for white caps on the river.

The Salinas were used to harvest salt but now are great places to see wading birds.

I though he was a gull when I saw him fly because he is about as big as a black backed gull, but he's a Curlew.

Two Common Gulls hunkered down out of the wind.

Thistles and dandelions, they seem to grow everywhere.

The tide was out, exposing a shipwreck.

I looked across one of the Salinas and saw a large whit bird. It was too far away for my little binoculars or the zoom on the camera but as I walked the last side of the loop he had moved and I was able to get some pictures and identify him.

A solitary White Stork,

preening.

 Today was a relaxing, no driving day. We walked across to Punta del Moral for coffee and to go to the grocery store. The wind nearly blew Mum away as we walked back across the causeway.

This egret was hunched down to stay below the wind.

It was still blowing strong when we went to the beach bar, for a drink, this afternoon but on the deck, in the sun, it was nice and warm.

Mum loved this white wine at the beach bar, Sonrisa, but the waiter said we couldn't buy it in the supermarket. Oh well.

Palm tree blowing in the wind.

We saw rainbows off and on all day. Sun, rain alternating.

Spain 2016 - Guadiana Bridge

The Guadiana International Bridge (Spanish: Puente Internacional; Portuguese: Ponte Internacional) is a bridge that crosses the Guadiana River connecting southern Spain (town of Ayamonte) and Portugal (town of Castro Marim). It is the southernmost land crossing between Portugal and Spain. It is not split evenly between the two countries, a greater share of it situated in Portugal. Completed in 1991, its structural type is a cable-stayed bridge, with a deck of prestressed concrete. The bridge was designed by the Portuguese Structural Engineer Professor José Luis Câncio Martins on behalf of Huarte S.A. (now Obrascón Huarte Lain) and Teixeira Duarte. The bridge is open to vehicles only. It is the third longest bridge in Portugal and one of the longest in Spain.
The bridge is 666 metres long with the central span between the towers being 324 metres. The deck stands 20 metres above the river, allowing the navigation of ships of deep draft. The two towers of the bridge are 95 and 96 metres tall, respectively.^[1] The Spanish side tower rests on an artificial island built on the riverbed, while the pillar on the Portuguese side is on land. Copied from Wiki.

I took this through the windshield while driving back to Spain (Mum wasn't impressed with the one handed driving)

Dad had spotted a little track down below the bridge and we were able to find it. I love the bridge, it looks like a magnificent, practical, sculpture.

The river is tidal at this point and the water swirls around the base.

It was windy so there was the noise of wind in the cables but also the sound that cables make as the cars go across, like twanging a guitar string.

The track went right below the bridge.

Practical art.