A Wonderful Day

Black Storks taken in a previous year.

A beautiful morning with little wind.  Opening the door all I could hear were Bee-eaters.  Looking below our house a dozen of this spectacular species were gathered on telephone wires.   They were dashing off and feeding and returning to preen.  A wonderful sight in the sunshine.

Some this morning's Bee-eaters

I took a walk down the goat path below our house and Nightingales were singing loudly everywhere.  Lower down I noticed a small kettle of birds soaring up the hill way up high.  As they got closer I could clearly identify them as 2 Black Storks and 3 Honey Buzzards.  More evidence of migration was a male Wheatear and a singing Bonelli's Warbler.  Back at the house a Melodious Warbler was singing from an almond tree.  Later as I looked around the garden 3 Griffon Vultures and a Hobby soared up our little valley, gained height and passed to the north.

One of 3 Griffon Vultures over the garden today.

Serge and Francoise came for lunch and Serge's sharp eyes picked out an Osprey passing over the 120th species for the garden and the 16th raptor species.  As we watched the Osprey 2 more Honey Buzzards, Raven and a Sparrowhawk passed over with hundreds of Swifts and Swallows.  What a wonderful day!