There were Birds in the Air

This morning while Janet checked out the Roman ruins of Merida,



Leo and I drove to the Cornalvo Reservoir, itself held back by a historic Roman dam.  As a retired dam inspector, I sincerely hope that it has been rehabilitated once or twice over the intervening centuries.

We had a lovely morning walking in the cork oak forest,

(Bark has been peeled off the trunk)

the birds singing around our heads.  While we did not see the bustards, pratincoles and black storks we were looking for, and actual waterfowl were very thin on the water, we did see a number of beautiful birds in the woods, including the serin, a bright yellow finch,

 and a colourful flock of seven bee-eaters, a life goal for us,

(as opposed to these 2 black-clad chip eaters spotted yesterday afternoon in downtown Merida).



The oak dehesa was full of flowering shrubs,

 the showiest and most numerous being Cistus ladinifer, the crimson-spot rockrose.

Right now it's pouring rain so we are holed up in the campsite bar/restaurant, surrounded by lively locals and there kids, playing Scrabble and waiting for the rain to let up so we can return to our tents.