A Snapshot of Marjorca

A memory to treasure a week in North Majorca - a week or so ago - time spent walking - taking in the nature reserves - Albufera  just south of Alcudia and La Gola in Pollensa and a walk up the Boquer Valley in search of the blue rock thrush and a visit to Formentor.

Transport used ? - well the local bus - great service - and very entertaining as anyone will tell you who has travelled on those buses - a queue means nothing and the bus may or may not stop when requested and as many people as possible cram onto the bus until it is impossible to fit any more in.

The Albufera Marshes stretch over a distance of 1646,48 hectares - it is massive  consisting of waterways - walkways  - cycle tracks and scrubland with viewing towers and hides for observation at strategic points - the pic above gives an idea of the bigger picture - in the distance a glimpse of Alcudia Old Town -

 Although a continual chorus of bird calls can be heard it is quite difficult to spot a lot - birds are calling and flying through the trees and reeds

Two special shots for me were the Purple Gallinule  see above - this bird is so special - it came strutting out of the reeds right  below us - we were looking down from a bridge over the water - I have seen one before on the lagoons on a previous visit a few years back - bright blue feathers and red legs - amazing

 The Little Bittern is only small against the Gallinule - we spent quite a while watching as the Bittern slowly crept into the reeds - sometimes becoming invisible to the eye - although we were aware that it was so well camouflaged as to make itself invisible

Sheer Magic

This was not an organised break - but one thing was certain it would be cameras at the ready and 

 walking shoes on  - this was our first visit of the week to Albufera - we would return again later in the week as it so happens.

Puerto Pollensa is full of hidden gems just waiting to be discovered and only a short bus ride away from Alcudia  a scenic trip past Alcudia Old Town and up the coastal road.

La Gola is a small reserve in the centre of Pollensa consisting of pathways through woodland and shrubberies a lakeside walk - apparently crossbills frequent the treetops but we did not see any but we did see a Siberian Warbler I think- no pic unfortunately-but it was foraging around in the tall bush above this sign

 a Egret and a Heron 

 fished at the lakeside

The park was quite small and set in a quiet area  of Pollensa

Later in the week we made another visit to Pollensa - this time for a walk up the Boquer Valley

I have read so much about the Boquer Valley it was so so good to actually walk through the rocks and wild rosemary -

see the goats grazing - and this one was checking I am sure to see if we had brought lunch with us

- the bushes were bustling with birds but it was difficult to catch them with the camera - the Valley is frequented by the Blue Rock Thrush but we did not manage to spot one I did see a Woodchat Shrike through the binoculars
The views were incredible - stuff that memories are made of

I mean who could ever forget  moments such as these

Next day a trip to Formentor was on the agenda - see my header pic - again a action packed day - all on the local bus - we only touched on the beauty of the area so a visit in the future could be on the cards -  

North Marjorca will always be a special place to me - linking today with Our World Tuesday

Snapshots

Manobier - a castle - selfies   and family time - a chill out for all - just snapshots really and not many words . Wales in Spring - no better place to be - coastal walks - blue skies  - yes we were lucky and you know that saying ' a room with a view ' - well this was a house with a view.

.Taken from the patio -

and below x marks the spot

The castle is well worth a visit 

Special times 

And did I say selfies

And enjoying the view

Enjoy your week 

Shots around Town

Shrewsbury my home town - has a history dating back to medieval times with a colourful history - surrounded by a land of myth and legend - such is the county of Shropshire

Shrewsbury is a town of shuts and passages -

Bear Steps - above is a short shut - and was so they say named after a pub which no longer exists - The Bear Inn -

The Steps lead onto Fish Street

Fish Street as it implies was full of fish mongers and the smell of fish and at the end of the street you can catch sight of St Julians with a glimpse of St Alkmunds -

 the upper part of the Bearsteps house is a art gallery and a coffee shop - the best Cappuccino in Shrewsbury is served here well I think so !

More about St Alkmunds

This is the spire of St Alkmunds - haunted by a steeplejack - who helped to construct the church spire back in the 15c - so it is said the man accepted a bet to climb the tower and fell to his death - numerouis witnesses claim to have seen his form climbing the spire at night - whether this was before or after drinking a pint or two of ale!! it is not known .

Adjoining Fish Street - just below the Bear Steps is another passage called Grope Lane the scene of many a dubious tale - very atmospheric to say the least

 Linking to Our World Tuesday - best wishes for a lovely week - Jane

Looking back - February pictures and memories

Hello just a few pics for the record - memories of days out and times shared - precious times - time to reflect on life and how short it is - every moment to be treasured.

We spent a few days in a village called Mydroilyn near Newquay  Wales  in a cottage on a farm it was quite isolated but great for walking and bird watching - the birds were amazing and quite obliging for the camera - fabulous

A great spotted woodpecker just outside the lounge window - and below a nuthatch

 there were lots of other birds - blue tits  - this one was trying Blueys breakfast cereal !!

  great tits and a coal tit and two jays - pictured below

A favourite of mine the jackdaw - full of character and fearless with bright blue eyes

A 4 mile walk on the second day proved to be a success - the scenery was stunning even though the paths were wet and very muddy - we did a circular  from Aberaeron  to  Aberarth - walking alongside the River Aeron and up through Panteg Woods - I took my header shot of the Mandarin duck as we walked upstream and the pic below is looking back down onto Aberaeron

and the next shot is looking down from the top of the hill down to Aberarth - shame about the solar panels !!

The skies were hazy - with a light breeze and there were a great many red kites wheeling around but I didn't get a good shot - but they were fantastic to see - 

The next day we went to Llanerchaeron  a National Trust property approximately 4 miles inland from Aberaeron we walked in the woods and here are the captures of the spring flowers 

we took the river walk

Nature at its best

Bluey came too !

The Llanerchaeron cat - sitting in the walled garden looking very contented

 I have ended with a few pics of places visited - firstly Cwmtudu beach 

and a shot taken in Aberaeron

Posting also this week to Our World Tuesday 

Creta

Hello  - I have not posted for a while - but I wanted to share a few moments with you if you have time - Autumn in Crete - we have not visited Crete for a few years now - time to rekindle that love story we thought - we stayed approximately 18 km from Chania

- not far from Kolymbari and the Rodopos  peninsula - if you close your eyes to the new roads and building work the old Crete is still there - hidden away in the ancient olive groves

and small tavernas in the hillside villages -

raki is still the favoured tipple!!

- but the tractor is the new donkey.

The autumn bulbs were beautiful-

fragile and resilient in their struggle against progress

and also the native goats

everyday we walked using the local bus now and again but mainly walking - I had downloaded some walks of the internet to take with us and they proved to be really good - in fact we must have been quite conspicuous because towards the end of the week - locals were tooting the horns on their trucks and giving us a wave  as they sped by -  we only went on one organised trip which took us up to Imbros village - for a breakfast of cheese pancakes and honey and then a 11 km walk down the  -Imbros Gorge -

fantastic - a bit tricky at times but definitely not to be missed -  lunch at the bottom of the Gorge in Komitades and then a coach trip back.

We spent quite a bit of time in Kolymbari -

from there we walked to Afrata on the R Peninsula -we passed the monastery

 a fair climb - and it was hot - what is that saying 'only mad dogs and english men (and in this case an english woman go out in the midday sun ' - but it was well worth it - watching the goats showing off jumping to and fro on the rocky ground and the goats watching us
.
The  real stars to me were the Swallow Tail butterfly -

they were every where in the olive groves - on the bougainville and up on the mountain roads  -

stunning

Thankyou for calling by and God bless Paris - Jane