The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2429 by Angharad Copyright© 2014 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

Just outside the villa was a grass verge and beyond that bushes and trees, including the occasional olive, some sort of aloe, juniper and bramble. There were pine trees and some eucalyptus. Not being very familiar with the flora and fauna, I was hoping I’d see as much as possible and in some cases might need photos to sort things out afterwards. All I had to do was encourage the rest of them to want to go nature watching all day, every day for the next three weeks—right.

Trish and Livvie were helping me unload the car when Mima came dashing up, “We’s seen a towtoise.”

“Where?” squealed Trish and before I knew it my two helpers had disappeared into some bushes.

“Don’t wander off,” I called after them.

“Can we keep it, Mummy.”

“No, it’s a wild animal.”

“Doesn’t seem very wild to me,” was called back as I continued to unload the car by myself. It took perhaps ten minutes to put all the food away, including the ice cream which they seemed to have forgotten about for the moment, so it might last long enough to have as a pudding after dinner. I wasn’t cooking for lunch, it was too warm, so they’d have to make do with a sandwich. I’d bought bread, two loaves, we’d just have to buy it every day as there wasn’t a bread machine and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get suitable flour and yeast. We’d have to see how we got on with buying it.

I asked Danni to call the girls in while I made ham salad sandwiches with the sliced wholemeal bread. They took a few minutes to appear and brought the poor tortoise with them. I sent them to put it back where they found it and then to wash their hands.

Drinking water is a bit of a problem in much of the Mediterranean and that includes Menorca, so some of the boot space had been taken up by large five litre bottles of drinking water. I preferred to pay for the H2O than risk tummy bugs, so apart from the large bottles, I bought a ten pack of five hundred ml bottles, so everyone had their own to which they affixed their own labels. They did that while Jacquie and I cleared up the lunch mess.

The villa had ceramic tiles throughout, and as we’d eaten in the dining room, I quickly swept it while Jacquie shoved the crocks into the dish washer. It was now very warm and the girls were heading back to the pool. I left Jacquie to supervise them, which meant she got a swim and some sun bathing time, while I set up my laptop and printed off lists of mammals and reptiles, birds and insects, and found my field guides to birds and wild flowers; checked my camera and binoculars, and put my telescope on to its tripod. I also checked the batteries in the image intensifier.

A few hundred yards away was the start of woodland, which I’d need to explore in daylight to get a feel for it, I might then be able to walk it at night in relative safety. Why would I be doing that? The mammals I’d like to see are more active at night, and there were some owls I’d never seen either—so this was a major opportunity for some nature watching.

When I saw pine marten amongst the list of mammals, I nearly swooned. I’ve only ever seen them on film or as skins in academic collections. To see one of those would be a major event. Then, the local dormouse Eliomys quercinus gymnesicus, is pretty rare, though it’s very different to the hazel dormouse of northern Europe, including being much larger. Even the tiggywinkles are different, it’s the North African hedgehog they have here, which is smaller and paler faced with no spines on its crown and also bigger ears.

Already I had so many goals to aim for, I could really have done with employing a full time child minder and gone off on my own—but being a mother doesn’t work like that, or not in my book it doesn’t.

I fed and played with Lizzie for half an hour and I wasn’t sure who needed the rest afterwards, her or me, we both seemed tired. Then I prepared a casserole and shoved it in the oven—I was going to miss my Aga and its slow oven.

It was cooler when I set off for a walk just to get the lie of the land, with Lizzie snoozing in a papoose carrier, and me carrying my camera, binoculars and water bottle on attachments around my belt. I also had a compass, pen and paper together with my mobile and a torch, sunglasses and hat. Lizzie had her own hat plus a sun shade which fitted to the harness of her carrier. She’s not that big but after a relatively short time she can feel quite heavy.

Just escaping from the squealing and shrieking of half a dozen girls was bliss in itself. It gave me a moment to clear my head and enjoy the moment. Sparrows darted here and there—Spanish ones of course, they look similar to our tree sparrows. Swallows and martins swished about the skies and in the distance I saw a Bonelli’s eagle. This was just wonderful. If ever Simon and split up, I must get this place in the settlement and he can keep his draughty old castle.

To my astonishment, right there in front of me a female mantis was chewing the head of its mate—and Simon thinks he has troubles—which was fascinating and obscene at the same time. I took about a dozen photos before moving on. A stork of some sort flew over like some avian jumbo jet and I just gasped, this place was like a treasure chest of natural wonders. I was almost in overload.

My phone peeped. I checked it and found it was showing which local provider I’d be with while on the island. That was it, so I continued walking while Lizzie alternated between chortling in my ear or snoozing.

In the distance across a field I spotted a bird I’d never seen before—it couldn’t be, could it? I tried to get closer but it flew off behind some trees. Was it a woodchat shrike? I sincerely hoped so, but couldn’t be sure.

Some familiar butterflies, then something which resembled a large pink and black one—a hoopoe—a strange bird which regularly ends up in the southern counties of England during the summer, and which resembles a woodpecker in flight with its undulating path. It has an erectile crest but I couldn’t see that from my viewpoint.

I’d been out about three quarters of an hour so thought I’d better get home and finish the dinner. I took a quick drink from my bottle and handed Lizzie her little bottle. She spat it out, not wanting pure water but all these fruit juice drinks are so acidic and full of sugar it damages their teeth. I picked up her fallen battle and spotted a tortoise scuttling into the undergrowth, it soon disappeared. Damn, I was later than I intended, but as I walked back I made notes of all the things I’d seen. I was on holiday and loving it.