Spectacle in Silhouette
Thick mist & morning freeze fail to dampen spirits
Phalacrocorax carbo, wings fully spread out, perches stoically atop a pole on a reedbed in the middle of Lake Sils to
await the morning sun. As it turned out, the wait wasa long one
IT’S the onset of winter and at L’Estany de Sils (Lake Sils), in the small town of Sils in the north of Catalonia, the once resplendent poplars are now mere skeletons. And the oaks, ashes and pines that played host to more than 200 bird species in spring and summer have fallen silent as the last of the autumn visitors retreat south in search of warmer climes.
Not everyone had gone though. Some wetland birds and -- here and there -- a few solitary woodlanders were still around to greet the dozen or so GOT birders braving the morning freeze to visit the lake on Sunday.
Not the ideal start to a birdwatching experience – but these GOT members refused to be put off by the
subzero temperature and dismal panorama as they cross into a poplar plantation and head for the lake nearby.
subzero temperature and dismal panorama as they cross into a poplar plantation and head for the lake nearby.
What took us by complete surprise was the mist that hung heavy for almost two hours and kept temperatures below zero for most of the morning. Far from dampening spirits, however, the mist added a touch of the uncommon to our birding experience – an avian ensemble in silhouette against a blanket of grey.
Picture above shows a number of Great Cormorants, Grey Herons, and what appeared to be Little Egrets, on one of the lake’s islets as the mist thickened. In the picture on the right a Grey Heron was spotted perching on a rock near a reedbed while a pair of Common Teals swim towards it.
Among the bare poplar trees surrounding the lake, avian activity was scarce and very silent. About a score of woodland birds were spotted flying individually. Easily identifiable were a Black Redstart, Yellow-legged gull, Chaffinch, Blackbird, three members of the Tit family, Sardinian Warbler, Blackcap and a Rock dove. During the latter part of the morning we spied a Magpie, Collared Dove, Woodpecker, Raven, Crow, Common starling, White wagtail, Woodpigeon and even a Sparrow. A couple of veteran birders not belonging to our group managed to see and capture on camera a Great Bitten, a rare sighting indeed for this part of the country. GOT members weren’t that lucky. Towards the end of the walk around the lake we heard but couldn’t see a Robin, Cetti’s Warbler and Chiffchaff hidden among the reedbeds.
Great Cormorants phalacrocorax carbo and Little Egrets egretta garceta bask in the sun on a reedbed in the middle of
Lake Sils, unperturbed by the Barcelona-bound train gliding past.
The panorama changed dramatically when the sun finally broke through and the mist lifted. Like hitting Play on a frozen movie frame, the whole scene jumped to life, to the delight of a motley crowd of waiting birdwatchers huddled for warmth within the lakeside hides. The wonder of it all was that the scene that unfolded before us didn’t exist a decade ago. Then there was no lake, no wetland flora, no habitat for birds.
AND ON A PERFECT
DAY IN EARLY AUTUMN...
Lake Sils, unperturbed by the Barcelona-bound train gliding past.
The panorama changed dramatically when the sun finally broke through and the mist lifted. Like hitting Play on a frozen movie frame, the whole scene jumped to life, to the delight of a motley crowd of waiting birdwatchers huddled for warmth within the lakeside hides. The wonder of it all was that the scene that unfolded before us didn’t exist a decade ago. Then there was no lake, no wetland flora, no habitat for birds.
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Yellow-legged gull Larus michachellis |
ONCE UPON A TIME...
A long time ago, over seven square kilometres of the Sils municipality was wetland supporting a great lagoon called Estany de Sils. Then, in the middle of the last century the lagoon was dried out and the wetlands desiccated and turned into farmland, grassland and meadows for grazing, and poplar plantations for timber, almost causing the total disappearance of the wildlife that existed.
Half a century later, plans to re-establish a natural environment and recover the lost biodiversity were set in motion by the Sils Town Hall with the assistance of the Catalonian Government and Natura2000, a European Community network designed to promote and protect natural open spaces where wildlife could thrive. The recovery work began in 2004 and is still going on, but the result so far has been impressive.
Apart from the new lake, which is continuously being topped up with treated wastewater from the region’s wastewater treatment plants, the Sils Natural Open Space includes an extensive area of grassland, swath meadows, and oak, ash, poplar and pine groves which are now home to scores of wetland and woodland birds. On our Sunday visit we spotted 10 waterbirds, including Mallards, Common Coots, Northern Shovelers, Little Grebes, Wood Sandpipers and Great White Egrets, and a total of 22 woodland species, including a Long-tailed Tit, Cetti’s Warbler, Woodpigeon and White wagtail -- not bad for an untypical, almost uninviting, freezing and mist-shrouded wintry morning.
Click here for the list of birds observed at Lake Sils on Sunday 2nd January 2011
Click here for the list of birds observed at Lake Sils on Sunday 2nd January 2011
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Closups of a Long-tailed Tit (left), Robin (above right) & Blackbird taken at a bird-ringing session – pictures by FERRAN PASCUAL Click on pictures to get a full-screen image |
DAY IN EARLY AUTUMN...
Birds in the video: [00:29] Little Egret feeding ; [00:33] Grey Heron & Mallards; [00:38] Litle Egret inflight;
[00:46] Grey Herons; [00:58]Mallards; [01:08] Grey Heron inflight; [01:15] Mallards again; [01:47] Grey Heron
This video was shot on an early October morning by Albert Blanch, producer of creative audiovisuals, who hosts his own artistic website at www.albertblanch.com. The video gives a magnificent sweep of Lake Sils, its wetland birds, and the richness of the surroundings of swath meadows, grassland, cattail and reed beds and poplar groves.
Words: ABUL FAZIL. Pictures: ALBERT BLAZQUEZ & ABUL FAZIL
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