I used to often go horse riding with my girlfriend Martine. We would ride for hours through the forest in Almere and regularly encounter bird watchers. That always made us laugh a bit because they would come crashing in with their car and stop it in the middle of the roadside and then they would jump out all dressed in green with their binoculars ready. And then they started running, apparently chasing a bird that we had not seen at all.
Although I am not yet running after it in greenery, I am now a bird lover. I think it's special to see rare birds, but I actually like to see every bird, big or small. Quite a few live and nest in our garden and in our immediate surroundings. We have Blackbirds, Sparrows, different types of Swallows, Owls (mainly many Little Owls), the Hoopoe, European Bee-eater, the Oriole and many more whose names I don't know (yet). Birds of prey also regularly fly over. The most spotted is the Kestrel, which uses the mountain on which our garden is located as a hunting ground.
The bee-eater
The bee-eater is my favorite, they always return from Africa in the spring and then they chatter so sweetly, high in the air. Then I know that spring has started. The bee-eater is a colorful bird of about twenty-eight centimeters in size. As the name suggests, they live on bees from which they first remove the sting before the bee is eaten. Besides bees, they also eat wasps, dragonflies, hoverflies and grasshoppers. The species generally breeds in southern and eastern Europe in self-excavated burrows in sand excavations or eroded slopes. Their nest is made in a tunnel underground. Here they lay between four to seven eggs that hatch after 22 to 25 days. Both parents care for the young. We have swarms flying over every day from April to October.
Flamingos in southern Spain
Many birds can be found in Andalusia, the province where we live. The most special are the kingfisher, the black stork, griffon vultures and flamingos. The latter can be found a 45-minute drive from us. This place is called la Laguna de Fuente de Piedra. This is a large saltwater lake where flamingos winter and breed. The best chance to see the birds is in the spring. In August the birds leave for cooler places.
Bird holiday Andalusia
If you are interested in a bird-centric holiday, don't figure it out yourself, but contact us. We can tell you more about interesting bird watching spots and possibly put you in touch with bird guides.
A single day is of course also possible.
