The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2434 by Angharad Copyright© 2014 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

The next day was dedicated to getting the bikes sorted for size and putting the pedals on my new Orbea. I did rise early and try to sneak a ride before the others woke, but Lizzie wasn’t playing by the rules and screamed the place down for some reason—outcome, fresh ride another day. I took them to the beach near Es Gau and they messed about in the sunshine while I watched the kite surfers trying to master their craft.

I had decided the stork I saw on day one was a black stork, a huge bird however you saw it, but after fiddling about on the beach, we dumped the stuff and walked over the ridge to the start of the nature reserve and views of the lagoon, plus one or two smaller bodies of water where we saw greenshank and a couple of species of duck.

We found more tortoises and I was pretty sure I saw a marsh harrier—they do occur here in summer. They’re the species of which it was suggested up to forty per cent of male birds have the plumage of females in order to prevent attacks by larger and more dominant males. I won’t argue with the statistics but the reason is I would suggest more speculative. I’m a biologist, but I’m on holiday so I’m not going to think about the motives of tranny marsh harriers, I’m too busy enjoying exploring the new territory and all the things to see.

It was about two hours later when we returned to the car. In this country you’d have had to pay a fortune to park near the beach, in Menorca it’s free, though you do have to pay in downtown Mao and some of the other towns. I couldn’t wait to do two things: one, to ride my new bike and two, spend some time wandering round the nature reserve. A great white egret was another new species. Goodness, much more and I’ll turn into a twitcher.

A Bonelli’s eagle soared in the distance and I imagined what it must be like to soar and the views from levels below. Eagles have purportedly wonderful acuity of sight but no colour vision, while the latter would be useful, the loss of colour wouldn’t be worth it because with it would go much of the beauty of nature and part of my enjoyment from life. So, I’m a romantic and unashamedly so.

Back home, I ditched all the kids but Danni who caught me escaping. I was going to ride for an hour to test the bike and myself. I haven’t ridden for so long my legs are going to find it a real test. She went and changed and promising Jacqui an hour or two to herself this evening, Danni and I rode north up the undulating coast road then up some narrow lanes to Sa Torreta, past some more talayots and back down a some rather neglected back roads towards Mao, before heading back towards Es Grau with its wooded road and then on to the villa which is in an area euphemistically listed as Shangri la. Apparently, the intention by a developer was to build a tourist complex as close to the lake as they could. It was stopped by conservationists, some of the walls of the block of flats were left. There are some very nice houses round here including our own. It’s in the back of beyond but even that isn’t too far away from shops if you have the use of a car. Everyone round here seems to.

A shower later and dressed again we had a barbecue for dinner, grilling some fish Mrs Winner had got us in Mao, together with jacket spuds and some odds and ends of salad we had a splendid meal. Jacquie went off to read one of her course set books while Danni and I coped with the demands of the younger children and Phoebe who’d got a trifle sunburnt falling asleep by the pool while the rest of us did things more energetic. I dealt with Cate and Lizzie and Danni spread after-sun cream on her elder, toasted sister’s back.

The next morning I was sneaking off early to walk to the hides overlooking the lagoon at S’Albufera, when I was apprehended by Trish who insisted she accompany me or would wake the whole house. Jacquie and Phoebe knew I was going so the others would get breakfast, so I told Trish to get her binns and a bottle of water and come with me. We walked about a mile to the first hide and set up my telescope on its tripod—it’s not a very powerful one, but it could focus on the far side of the lake and we watched great crested grebes and various ducks swimming and diving, cormorants looking like giant bats as they dried their wings and the great white egret was moving in a mixed group of waders and other herons. Gulls were there aplenty and as some were in eclipse plumage and I couldn’t see feet and legs, I wasn’t certain of all of them.

Overhead we had peregrine, Egyptian vultures and a solitary black kite, and in some fields beyond the lake, a pair of marsh harriers quartered the ground hunting for prey, which would include any unwary young birds. It was probably a few weeks too early for osprey, but they apparently turn up quite regularly on passage to and from Africa to their breeding territories in Europe. It astonishes me that people want to collect the eggs of these amazing creatures rather than conserve them so we can all see them in their natural habitat. However they do, though to me it’s tantamount to burglary, stealing from others for their own gratification—but I’m a well known conservationist who wants my grand children to be able to enjoy the wonders of nature before they disappear under the epidemic spread of that well known disease Homo sapiens.

We snacked on some biscuits I had in my ruckie and on the walk back a chocolate bar each which was named after some red planet in the solar system, though the wrapper is black.

“Sometimes I think I’d like to do biology because I quite like watching nature but it doesn’t have the same excitement for me that watching the sky does, Mummy. Does that make sense?”

“Perfectly, sweetheart. I can get excited watching the sky in the daytime, looking at clouds or just the blueness, which seems infinite.”

“It’s blue because the effect the atmosphere has in screening out all the other wavelengths, did you know that?”

I did but pretended not to. “Gosh, so that’s why the sky is blue, aren’t you a clever girl.”

“Yep,” she said and we walked on. “When does Daddy arrive?”

“On the weekend, hopefully, Saturday.”

“Can I come to meet him with you?”

“We’ll have to see, if any of the others come with him, there might not be room in the car.”

“You could always take the bus.”

“I could, but it might be nice to drive the car once in a while instead of that huge thing.”

“Sissy,” she said and ran off before I gave chase catching her just before the villa.

“Something doesn’t feel right, kiddo. Go and wait over there behind those bushes and if I don’t come back in five minutes to say it’s clear, call the police.”