NEWS FROM THE FINCA
On this page we hope to provide a flavour of life at Finca Bonelli's Eagles and a bit about the many people who visit us, throughout the year. If you would like to read some comments that our customers have made, click here
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February 2011
24th - Julian Sykes came to stay after a very successful trip to Andalucía to see Iberian Lynx. His guests stayed two nights and had great sightings of Eagle Owl and the Bonelli’s Eagles.
12th - Petra returned for another walk with different friends, lovely people. They all enjoyed a paella lunch and brought lovely gifts of scented candles and chocolates. Various birds were seen.
8th - Petra and five of her German friends joined us for lunch after their mountain walk. They watched the eagles who gave a good display.
January 2011
23rd - Jim came with the Dutch walking group for coffee and saw various birds, including hoopoe, Black Wheatear and Blue Rock Thrush.
December 2010
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Jane, Colin and Enrique (our Pyrenean mountain dog).
November 2010
30th - Following last year’s successful visit, Mary once again arranged for a small group of friends to come up for an early Xmas lunch. Dave and Linda, Bryan and Trish, Paul and Greta, and John and Mary all came along and we ate together inside as the weather was a bit chilly. We put up Xmas decorations and had little gifts for them all, and they brought crackers, chocolates and mince pies. A great time was had by all!
16th to 20th - A VISIT TO ENGLAND - Our daughter Jo graduated from Sheffield University and we had a lovely time celebrating at a seafood restaurant with her and boyfriend Dan. My sister in law Sharon gave us a fab time with all our meals and drinks, taxi services and great gifts! Thank you Sharon! xxx
October 2010
27th - Carol, Alan, Sandra and Leo came for a mountain walk. Had a lovely time and really enjoyed their company.
21st - Our friends Ted, Dorothy, Mike and Heidi came to see the eagles. We had a nice afternoon and received some lovely gifts. Thank you all. xx
20th - Our good friend, Eddie came with Dave from Rafel. They saw plenty of birds including the eagle and had and enjoyable afternoon.
15th - Jim and Yvonne paid us a visit. Their friend Max had a bad toe, hope it’s better Max. We saw the eagle twice and a house martin came to see
Enrique (the dog) in his ‘casita’. Hope to see you again soon.
14th - Janet and Graham came with their friends and we had a lovely afternoon with them. They had a ploughman’s lunch, lemon meringue and fresh figs. It was really nice to see them again and we also saw a variety of birds.
September 2010
30th - Jules came but it was a bad day for the birds.
21st - Marion and her friends joined us for lunch, the weather was good and we had a lovely afternoon.
14th - Mike Smith came for lunch and saw several birds and enjoyed a ploughman’s lunch and one of Colin’s sweets.
13th - Barry and Carol came for a visit with their friends, saw a few birds and enjoyed a lunch of mixed meats and salad leaves, paella and lemon meringue, had a lovely day.
August 2010
Weather is getting hot!
27th - My parents came for their summer holiday. The day they arrived the temperature went up to 45 degrees, boy it was hot! We had a lovely time with them. Love and miss you both xxxx
4th - Pearl and Lew came from Campo Verde. They stayed over and we had a steak meal with them and a great evening.
July 2010
18th - Jules came back but still no luck with the birds.
14th - Jules came from Oliva with four friends. Unfortunately we didn’t see the eagles as at this time of year as it’s too hot and they were probably sitting in a cave somewhere.
June 2010
28th - My sister in law, Sharon came for her summer holiday and we all had a good time, swimming, walking, reading and chatting.
15th - Our good friends Mary and John came for their usual salmon meal with cherry crumble to follow. I made Mary some tomato and basil soup to take away. See you both after the summer. xx
14th - Kathy and Robert came for a walk in the Sierra de Crevillente, had a lovely day.
13th - Mike and Sarah came for a steak meal with us. They purchased a scope from the UK for us, it’s our first ever. A big THANK YOU to you both!
10th - Jim and Dot came from Edinburgh. Lovely people, had a great time with them. Hope Jim brings his Dad back. They took in two walks and we really enjoyed their company. Lost their way in Gran Alacant and it took them two and a half hours to find us but we’re glad they did!
9th - Jeff and Joy visited for lunch and had a great day looking at the birds.
May 2010
26th - Joy and Rod and their La Mata group came and we all had a lovely day. Thanks for the photos Rod.
18th - Our English neighbour Eric and his family came, it was great to see them all again.
16th - Visitors came from Brighton. Gerald, Grethe, John and David. What a fab time we had with them all. They came to film the Bonelli’s Eagles and we ate, swam, walked and chatted with them. When they left we missed them all. Hope to see you again soon - Jane, Colin and Enrique.
13th - Sue and her party from Quesada, good friends of Jeff and Joan came and had a nice lunch and a walk.
12th - Lew returned with friends and we had a nice afternoon with them.
11th - Eddie came with friends and met Melvin. They saw Choughs, Black Wheatear, Kestrel, Serins and the eagles.
8th - Sarah and Mike came with a group and had good views of the eagles.
7th - Tom and his friends came to walk in the mountains and had a late lunch. Thanks for my map, Tom.
6th - Janet and Graham came with their friends and had a walk and some lunch.
5th - Our friends from Campo Verde came to see the eagles and had tapas, tortilla, garlic prawns, ploughman’s and Colin made a sweet. Lovely day.
April 2010
30th - Mike Smith came with a group to see the birds.
28th - Our good friend Eddie came to see the eagles.
21st - Mike and Sarah made a return visit to us, saw a variety of birds and had lunch.
15th - Albi and a group of his friends came to view the birds.
12th - Carol and Barry came from Rojales and had a lunch of entremeses paella and Colin’s now famous lemon meringue pie. A good day was had by all and the eagles performed well.
10th - Dot and John came from our campo with their Indian friends to see the birds. We made a vegetarian pizza for lunch followed by Colin’s strawberry crumble.
6th - Julian Sykes came from Oliva with two friends and it was lovely to see him again. They had great views of the eagles who always seem to know when Jules has arrived and put on a good display for him!
6th - Jeff and Joan came for lunch. Before that we all went for a nice walk and saw a variety of birds.
March 2010
29th - My sister in law Sharon came for her March visit and we all had a lovely time. We are looking forward to June when we see her again.
26th - David and Joy stayed with us for two nights and had a lovely time walking, watching the eagles and visiting El Hondo nature reserve.
26th - Mike and Sarah came with a group and all enjoyed their meal and said a special ’thank you’ to Colin for his wonderful sweet. They had a great time watching the birds.
18th - Our friend Alan came with a party of people and they all had a good day watching the eagles.
17th - John Jones, Mike and Heidi came and had good views of the birds. Lovely to see them again.
13th - Gordon came with five of his friends and had coffee and cake while they watched the birds.
11th - Had a lovely walk and lunch with Mary and John.
3rd - Peter came for lunch, met at Las Palmeras and they ate and enjoyed watching the birds.
FEBRUARY 2010
7th - Barry and Carol came, I can’t remember all their friends names but they were lovely people and so friendly. They stayed for lunch and enjoyed an afternoon walk viewing a selection of the local birds. A very enjoyable day.
10th - Our good friends Jim and Yvonne came to see the Bonelli’s Eagles. They enjoyed one of Colin’s lemon puddings served with lemon sorbet and fresh cream.
11th - Joan and Geoff came with friends. We always look forward to seeing them as they bring lots of new and interesting friends with them. We had a great afternoon and I think Geoff saw a few different birds.
16th - THE COSTA BLANCA BIRD CLUB came for their annual visit. Sadly the weather was not too good but at least it wasn’t too cold or windy. They enjoyed tomato and basil soup, a choice of seafood or meat paella, or in some cases both, followed by strawberries and cream. The eagle showed only it’s head as it was settled down on the nest. Some keen birders spotted a Thekla Lark and a Black Wheatear while having lunch. After nearly everyone had left Barry and I saw the Bonelli’s fly and land on the cliff face giving us a great view through Barry’s scope.
24th - We met a lovely couple from France who came to view the birds and had a beer with us.
25th - Marian and her friend came for morning coffee and the birds gave a good display for them.
26th - Joan and Geoff returned for another paella.
27th - Our French friends came back to see us again.
JANUARY 2010
12th - David and Margaret came to see the eagles and had an enjoyable lunch. Hopefully, they will be back to see the young birds once they are hatched. The female has now been on eggs for two weeks so we should see the young ones by the end of March.
16th - Ken Shaw from Kinross in Scotland came to stay with us for three nights. We had a great time with him, walking and watching the eagles, before he left for a visit to Andalucía with Julian Sykes. They went to look for Iberian Lynx and had a very successful trip. Ken is a very knowledgeable person. He is an ornithologist, ecologist, lecturer, facilitator, tour leader, bird surveyor, writer and natural history guide. He can be contacted by email at ken@shaw3.freeserve.co.uk if you want advice on any of the above.
17th - Jim and the walking group joined us for coffee.
30th - Alistair Kelly came with his friends to have lunch and view the Bonelli’s Eagles.
COLIN, JANE AND ENRIQUE WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OUR FRIENDS A HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN IN THE NEW YEAR!
DECEMBER 2009
8th - Mary and John brought their friends Dave and Linda and Bryan and Trisha for a pre Christmas dinner of tomato and basil soup, paella and warm mince pies with double cream. Our neighbour Visi came to join us for the meal and tried out her English while the rest of us practiced our Spanish on her! We had crackers and Santa hats and even Enrique joined in by wearing some antlers! We had glorious weather, so not like Christmas at all really!
NOVEMBER 2009
6th - Ted and Dorothy from San Luis came for lunch with a few of their friends. The eagles once again gave a good display for our visitors.
11th - Tony Kershaw visited again with friends and took them on a two hour mountain walk. They saw a good selection of our local birds and had a lovely day.
17th - Tony repeated his visit, they are a great group of people and we hope to see them again next year.
OCTOBER 2009
5th - Carol and Barry came again with family and had a nice mountain walk followed by lunch.
10th - Tony from La Marina came with his friends and stayed for a light lunch. The Bonelli’s gave a great display but the young ones have now left to find their own territory.
14th - Mary and John brought their niece, Emily for lunch and to see the birds. Both eagles could be seen sitting on a ledge high above the nest site.
20th - Mary McCormick from Lancaster came to stay for a week with her friend Barbara. We had a lovely week eating and drinking and I put on half a stone! We did mountain walks and they read and rested by the pool. Eddie our ‘birding’ friend also took them to the beautiful Sierra de Espuna. We hope we will see them again soon.
SEPTEMBER 2009
26th - Gordon from Villa Martin came and saw the eagles flying, along with Blue rock Thrush, Kestrel, Hoopoes and Wheatears and finished off with a light lunch.
28th - Mary and John came with Mary’s brother and sister in law, Bob and Glynis. Mary and John requested their favourite lunch of salmon followed by lemon meringue pie. They made it here despite the rain and enjoyed watching the quite spectacular rain and lightening from the safety of our covered terrace! Unfortunately, the eagles were not flying in this weather.
We had the GOTA FRIA this month so unfortunately, quite a few of our friends had to cancel due to the bad weather.
AUGUST 2009
It’s still very hot and the thermometer is showing almost 40 degrees! Kathryn and Will had to cancel their trip. They were planning a mountain walk taking in lots of views but the weather was just too hot. We hope to see them next year.
On 26th August my parents came for four weeks for their annual holiday so it was nice to relax and catch up with them for a while.
JULY 2009
3rd - our friends Barry and Carol came to visit with their family and we had a lovely afternoon with them. We cooked vegetarian leek and rockfort quiche, paella and Colin’s lemon meringue pie, which all seemed to go down well.
8th - Eddie came with friends for a light afternoon tea and to view the Bonelli’s eagles; he never fails to see them!
9th- Our new puppy Enrique finished his injections today so no excuse now; let the mountain walks begin!
10th - Roger and Marian came and had a lovely day.
July has been very hot so not so many birding friends this month.
April 2009
It's hard to keep up with this diary sometimes as we have had another busy month.
14th June and Richard came to see us with their friends from Liber in the Jalon valley. A great day was enjoyed by all.
16th Bryan, a friend from the Scilly Isles, came with his partner, Trisha and her parents for lunch and to see the eagles. He managed to take some fantastic photos of the Bonelli's Eagles flying, and on the nest. He gave us a DVD containing a selection of bird photos taken during his latest stay on the Costa Blanca. Thank you Bryan.
Visit www.costablancabirdclub.com to see Bryan's photos in the photo gallery section.
17th Linda from Catral paid us a visit with a few of her lovely friends from Cabo Roig on the coast. Good news, we saw bee-eaters today!
21st Barry and Carol joined us for lunch. They decided to take a walk up the mountain so we looked after Carol's lovely Mum. Muchas besos Mum! xxxxxxx
22nd Geoff and his good wife joined us once again to see the eagles. They had a lovely walk and dined afterwards with some of their friends.
23rd Carol, from Playa Flamenco, came to see the two 'baby' eagles. The parents seem to be bringing them lots of food now and the young birds are growing rapidly.
26th Julian Sykes came with a party of' birders' to see the eagles. They also spotted many other birds around the area of the Finca, such as, Blue Rock Thrush, Black Wheatear, Serins and Common and Alpine Swifts.
27th Our friend Eddie, from Rafal, came on one of his regular visits to check on the progress of the bonelli's eagles and their young.
28th Richard and Liesl, from BlueMoon Solutions - www.bluemoonsolutions.es came with friends Bob and Jackie. They watched the birds and had a lovely afternoon. If you are living in the Costa Blanca area, we recommend you contact Richard with any computer problems or queries, as he is very knowledgable; he is also a great guy!
News of the Month - The Bee-eaters are back
March 2009
A very busy time this month with lots of visitors and plenty of activity from the eagles and a host of other mountain bird species.
5th Malcolm Palmer paid us a visit, along with two of his friends. The Bonelli's gave a good display and Malcolm also observed two Spotted Eagles flying over the canyon. These are rare visitors, which should really be in Eastern Europe, but they have been seen around the El hondo area over the last few months.
13th John and Dorothy came to visit with their relatives, thanks to Dot I am almost recovered from my accident on the moped!
19th Geoff and Jean came with two friends, to see the eagles.
20th Our friend Eddie paid us a visit with Pam, Deb and Steve, and better not forget their lovely little dog Fizz!
21st Jim's walking club joined us for coffee.
23rd Our good friend Brian Conduit came to stay with us while he was waiting for his treatment to start at Elche Hospital. We all had a lovely week and spent some time watching some of our regular bird visitors, including Blue Rock Thrush, Black Wheatear and Crag Martins as well as the Bonelli's Eagles of course.
24th Bob and Ross, lovely people, joined us for a night with thier friends and a great time was had by all.
26th Geoff and Joan returned to try out our paella.
27th Maureen and her friends came for paella too!
29th Mandy and Gordon, from Villa Martin, came to see the eagles. Gordon proved to be a very knowledgable bird guide.
30th It was time to pick up my sister in law from the airport as she was here for a week. It made a lovely change for me to have her here, as I really enjoy her company.
News of the Month - The saddest news this month is that our lovely dog 'Gently' Bentley has been diagnosed with a tumour on his leg.
FEBRUARY 2009
On 12 th February, 27 members of the Costa Blanca Bird Club www.costablancabirdclub.com came to view the Bonelli's Eagles and to have lunch. We served Ensalada Russia with mixed leaves and tomato, followed by Fabada Asturiana (a rich Spanish bean stew with pork and chorizo sausage) with home made Lemon Meringue Tart to finish.
The eagles gave a fabulous display and someone was heard to say “ where else could you enjoy an excellent three course meal and be able to jump up between courses to see Bonelli's Eagles flying?“
Also this month Graham and Janet came with friends to view the eagles and stayed for lunch.
Jim and Yvonne (from Northern Ireland and Guernsey respectively) called for a light lunch of mixed sandwiches, homemade coleslaw and banana split. Later they took a walk up the mountain where they saw various warblers, blue rock thrush and the Bonelli's Eagles.
Bob and Ross, a lovely couple from Torremolinos, came to stay for two nights. They were moving southwards having previously been to stay with Julian Sykes in Oliva.
Our friends Jeremy and Maureen from Crevillente came for a look at the eagles and enjoyed tomato and basil soup, traditional paella cooked outside on olive wood, and Colin's home made apple crumble.
John and Mary called on 20 th to collect some ‘takeaway' tomato and basil soup as it is a particular favourite of their's. The female Bonelli's Eagle was on the nest and the male was briefly seen flying above the cliff top.
This month we have acquired a new pet, an African Grey Parrot called ‘BONNY', who has stolen some of the limelight away from ‘BENTLEY', our attention seeking Pyrenean Mountain Dog.