Songbirds singing in the tree

A quiet knock on the front door signaled a neighbour who whispered to be quiet and come and look at something.

We walked to the pine tree at the front of our house and he pointed at a nest in a high branch. This is the first time that birds have nested in the tree and we are delighted.

The pine was planted about five years ago with a great deal of effort. The initial scheme to just dig a hole and pop a sapling in was frustrated by the fact that our old house is built on top of a big slab of solid granite. “Digging a hole” needed a road drill and hours of sweating work over a couple of days.

We wondered whether anything would grow in a hole in solid stone but the sapling is now about 15 feet high, strong, and reaching ever upwards with new bright green shoots. Worryingly, we now look at pine trees in the village that are 70 or 80 feet high but, never mind, it will be up to future generations to worry about that.

The little nest is full of baby greenfinches, according to our friend. These are “verderón” in Spanish and there are probably three to eight eggs in the nest. Of course, we haven´t disturbed it and are leaving mum and dad to feed the hungry brood. Apparently, greenfinches normally eat seeds but build up the babies with a nutritious supply of insects.

Our house is popular with birds. At the rear there is a hole in the outside of the wall of the kitchen. For years this has been full of the sound of happy babies chirruping throughout the spring and summer. Several broods are raised there annually and we haven´t the heart to fill in the hole.

Recently, lots of swallows have been darting around, particularly in the evenings, all fast movements, soaring and veering through the dusk.

Meanwhile, over at the salt pans of the regional park at San Pedro del Pinatar, on the shores of the Mar Menor, Europe´s largest inland sea, the birds of summer have arrived in great numbers. This is one of the most important points on the great migration routes of Europe and Africa and at this time of year there are tens of thousands of birds either passing through, or settling down for the summer.

Perhaps the most colourful are the flamingos, which arrive in the springtime and spatter pink across the salt pans. These move, as the summer gets hotter, even further north where they breed in places such as the Ebro River, but some hardier souls remain at San Pedro. They are best seen in the very early morning and, as visitors arrive to look at them they move further out into the salt pans to get away from the attention. At times there can be some 2,000 flamingos in the water.

Bird experts say that over the year more than 200 species of bird can be spotted in the 856 hectare reserve. In summer there are also terns, storks and avocets. During the winter other species appear, including kingfishers and birds that head south to avoid the cold winters of places such as Britain.

The San Pedro del Pinatar reserve is very important and ornithologists and environmentalists are working hard with the support of the regional government to make sure that this vital haven is protected and kept in an ideal state for the constant stream of feathered visitors throughout the year.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.