A potter by the river

We had to go to a shop today so we decided to have a wander down to the river while we were there. We are so glad we did. We missed a lot of the spring down there last year due to the heavy rains. But I have to say the extra water seems to have helped a real flush of rich green bursting with spring flowers. We saw somw lovely birds. But there is not much else to say, the pictures say it all.

A white stork shading it's young from the sun

A black stork using it's wings to block the light so it can see the fish

So elegant

Heron

The bee-eaters have colonised several of the pits

Last year this pit was colonised by thousands of sand martins. We have seen none this year

Sparkly river

So lush

There were lots of butterflies flitting about but they wouldn't stay still

Many frogs, making big noise!

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A great (distant) sighting, a lesser spotted eagle

White stork "frogging"

The goat herd

That eagle again

Cormorants

The cow herder's dog, they come in all shapes and sizes

A gypsy dropping off some rubbish. It looks as if someone is doing a renovation

A shrike of some sort

European roller

Crested lark

Spanish sparrow

Some sort of duck

The shepherd

Another shrike

And home to our little oasis