I don’t know which one of us is more stupid — me or our dog, Sable. The two of us have taken to wandering the local tracks of the campo and trekking across open fields in the moonlight, when anybody with half a brain would be tucked up in bed.
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I was a little surprised when fishing the upper river Ebro at how abundant the barbel were. This area I had imagined would be home primarily to trout. The river source is not far away and the water is cold, just the way trout like it. But the barbel are here in good numbers and it is lovely just to watch these fish in the clear river water. Armed with a fly rod, however much fun they were to observe, I could not resist having a crack at catching one. As a result I have been fortunate enough to look at these fish from up close and they are absolutely stunning.
Continue readingAt the river inlet into the Embalse del Ebro reservoir the Ebro splits into two channels, each heavily weeded up in places but the clear water pushes through the weed growth, often in clear seams revealing the stony substrate beneath. Both flows converge before the water flows into a narrow tongue which extends to the west from the main body of the reservoir. From above it looks as though the embalse had extended an arm to greet the inflowing river that sustains it.
Continue readingWhen we were away at Doñana last month I was asked by my students what my favourite bird was and I found it hard to answer because there are two that are vying for that particular position. One of these is the European Bee-eater and the other is the Red-necked Nightjar and at this time of year they both turn up on our doorstep.
Continue readingSoon the iron bridge over the Guadalhorce river in the town of Estación de Cártama will be 100 years old. They started building the thing in 1927 and packed up their tools 4 years later. It seems like a pretty substantial bridge for what is, for the most part, a very modest river but there are times when the rains come and the river rises and the bridge needs to be robust enough to take everything that nature can throw at it.
Continue readingMy two dogs seem to be undergoing some kind of identity crisis. I am sensitive to the fact that, in this progressive day and age, we are encouraged to be more accepting and receptive to individuals identifying themselves in surprising and sometimes unexpected ways, but I must admit that transitioning to sheep, which is what the dogs seem to be doing, has caught me completely off guard!
As soon as the two dogs are let out of the gate on their leads for a walk, rather than pulling my arms out of their sockets and charging off down the road as they used to to, they trot across the path and start nibbling at thin stalks of the long grass that have sprung up everywhere following our recent rains. This goes on for a while before their brains eventually unfreeze and we can do our daily rounds of the quiet tracks in the campo that surround our house.
Continue readingA highlight of our recent visit to Japan was getting to see cormorant fishing on the Uji River which runs through Uji city in Kyoto. We came across this opportunity by chance, having climbed nearby to see the macaques on a nearby hilltop (these are monkeys famously seen bathing in hot springs during the depths of winter). Having worked up quite a sweat we decided to “chill” for a little while aboard a little hired rowing boat on the river nearby. It was only when we returned our boat that we came across a poster advertising boat trips to witness the ancient tradition of fishing with cormorants. We decided that we would return to do so the next evening.
Continue readingI spent last week with a group of school kids and a few colleagues in Doñana which, if you are not familiar with it, is an important National Park in Huelva Province on Spain´s southern Atlantic coast. Doñana is particularly famous for the population of Iberian Lynx which thrive there and a breeding centre located here has been instrumental in bringing these endangered felines back from the brink of extinction.
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