Twosies

When I was a kid we used to sing this song on the bus headed for summer camp up in the San Bernardino mountains. I was reminded of it when I started putting together the photos for this post, which consist of various pairs I saw at the wetlands. There were couples, mother and child, siblings, and oddballs, maybe you could call them twosies.

Rise and shine and give God your glory, glory!
Rise and shine and give God your glory, glory!
Rise and shine and (clap once) give God your glory, glory!
Children of the Lord.

The Lord said to Noah, "There's gonna be a floody, floody."
Lord said to Noah, "There's gonna be a floody, floody."
"Get those children (clap once) out of the muddy, muddy!"
Children of the Lord.

So Noah, he built him, he built him an arky, arky.
Noah, he built him, he built him an arky, arky.
Made it out of (clap once) hickory barky, barky.
Children of the Lord.

The animals, they came on, they came on by twosies, twosies.
The animals, they came on, they came on by twosies, twosies.
Elephants and (clap once) kangaroosies, roosies.
Children of the Lord.

Husband and wife

Mother and child

Siblings

Oddballs

Wetlands in Drought

 Early in September I returned to the Aiguamolls to see the birds. There was visibly less water but there were still birds there feeding. I found the same black-winged stilts, wood sandpipers, moorhens, and little egrets, although maybe fewer than before. I don’t remember seeing ducks.

But when I came back two weeks later, in the middle of September, there was no water and no birds. It was a depressing sight and I haven’t been back since. Where do they go when the ponds dry up?

This is the field where, on one of my first visits,
I found horses and white storks grazing peacefully together.
The greener area was the pond.

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Storks!

The Parc Natural dels Aiguamolls d’Emporda is a nearby nature reserve, much of it marshlands, where 338 species of birds have been sighted (not by me!), and 82 species regularly nest.  I began going there in the winter not so much for birding, but to take a walk out in nature on paths where there are no cars.  The birds are a plus.  The entire reserve, 4721 hectares (11,665 acres) includes 9 towns or villages, cropland, and a nature preserve.

When I went for my walk last weekend, I didn’t consider the fact that it’s spring and there would be far more people than on my previous walks.  I also didn’t consider that spring is when birds nest and that I might see them en famille.  Although the experienced birder might have seen many different types of nesting birds on that walk, I saw only the biggest – the white storks.  You couldn’t really miss them.

Now that it’s spring and there are more visitors, you have to pay to park on weekends.  On the other hand, now that there are more visitors, there are also guided tours every Sunday at 10:30.  For more information on the park, see http://www.castelloempuriabrava.com/en/natural-park.html . 

 

 

 

Snow in the Pyrenees in the last weekend of May

Mom?  Dad?

Baby peekaboo

More baby

Who's this?

Not just birds

On The Road: Aiguamolls (Marshlands)

I meant to create a post about Reis, (Kings), and the parade on the evening of the 5^th of January when the Three Wise Men rode into town on floats, attended by lots of colorful characters.  But my photos weren’t turning out well, and the streets were so packed that I couldn’t endure the crowds so I went home.  Nonetheless, I did learn something from the experience: first, that I can’t stand being in large crowds, and second, that I need to buy a book on photography.

So, instead of giving you the Calvalcada dels Reis, I give you the nearby Aiguamolls (marshlands) that I recently discovered and have visited twice.  This nature reserve is just 20 minutes away and much more to my liking.  There are no crowds – just peace and quiet and birds, although I didn’t get any good shots of them either!

For more information:
http://www.roses.cat/en/Turisme/Natura/AiguamollsEmporda.aspx