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.
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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.