Guy did a sneaky van wash this morning with bucket and sponge then it turned into flying ant day in the countryside, except these ants were double barrelled and on steroids – cue many windscreen splats!
Our neighbour this morning told Guy about the huge amount of birds at the delta of the Ebro river, so after a quick re-stock at Lidl we ventured into the wetlands.
Once again, flamingos 🦩, herons and egrets everywhere and no wonder, as the air is full of insects (not my favourite thing)!
We stopped for a while at a viewing platform and then drove around the causeways to some proper parking. As we got out for a walk, there was a Spanish man gathering crayfish out of one of the ditches. We had a sort of limited conversation with him employing our best ‘Duolingo’.
He said (we think) that they were great for eating either on the grill or raw, then went further with a demonstration of how to prepare them…
Holding a live crayfish between thumb and forefinger, he quickly pulled its back end off along with the long black vein thing. Twisted its head and claws off then removed remaining shell and offered it to Guy who looked like he might be sick 🤢 …”errr no para mi “
Sure it would be really fresh and tasty, but the dirty ditch water it came out of could contain anything!
We set off walking around the marshes and paddy fields on the little tracks in between. So many birds around but looking down at the path, there were bits of crayfish everywhere where the birds had had them. I was so fascinated, I missed the fact that the path had turned to mud and inadvertently broke into the Casper Slide. How I managed to stay upright in the end I have no idea. White trainers are now caked in mud.
Saw lots of Ibis, kingfishers, marsh harriers, an elusive hoopoe and many poor dogs in cage like kennels in the gardens of remote little houses. 😢
Getting dark now and there are kamikaze bats everywhere 🤣
