Goodness, some of you missed me, I'm overwhelmed. I had a nice week away, and although the weather could have been better - one day was a wash out - I enjoyed myself. I walked miles bird watching, and was reasonably rewarded. I teamed up with a couple who hadn't hired a car, so we went off most days looking for spots to watch for new species of birds. Andy was better at it than I was - I haven't done much of it for years, so didn't get my eye in, until the end of the week.

Menorca is a designated nature reserve, unlike most of the Mediterranean where they slaughter anything they see, there is very little shooting and it's relatively controlled. So, we saw three different types of eagle(Bonelli's,booted, and golden), an osprey, red and black kites, kestrel, peregrine and Egyptian vultures. There were great white egrets, cattle egrets and little egrets, herons and grebes - great crested, black-necked and little. Myriad warblers, blue rock thrushes and thekla larks, plus lots of other species too numerous to mention.

There was also a bike race while I was there - well a massed ride, which ended in Mao, the capital the day I visited. To welcome the riders were some people in traditional dress playing traditional musical instruments.

Yes, the Brits were there, three times in all - but then, more than a third of the world was under British control at one point, the largest empire ever known, even compared to Genghis Khan.

For a bit of the history of the island, see Wiki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menorca

I attach a few photos, including part of the lake at Albufera des Gau, inside the restored cathedral at Ciutadella, and the harbour at Ciutadella.