So ... since our new site went live I don't think I've had a day "at home" when I wasn't taking guests birding and, what with one thing and another, I simply haven't had a second to sit down and just write a few lines here - and it hasn't just been me either as Tony's been hard at it too .... but today, yes, we've a free day so I've had a beautiful lie-in, took the dogs around the block, cleaned out Uncle Harry's quarters, rescued him from a tree - twice! - and am generally soaking up the sunshine and relishing the warmth. It makes a change from the freezing 4º at the top of Foia as the sun rose yesterday ...

It's been a very late Spring and we've had our fair share of damp days to end the drought.

The mist creeping every morning through the valleys surrounding the Quinta make it all worthwhile though and everything's green with the wildflowers putting on as gorgeous a display as ever.

The unsettled weather has kept the birds down a good deal. However, we've had our successes too, like the Booted Eagle with its Stone Curlew prey, below.

A couple of other birds spring to mind too, smaller ones this time ... like this Firecrest,

or this Dartford Warbler,

or this Spectacled Warbler singing in the rain,

or this Eurasian Wryneck.

Out on the Plains the Little Bustards have been displaying well.

The same area has also produced great views of Great Spotted Cuckoos, like this mating pair,

while some species are well advanced like this Eurasian Hoopoe bringing food in to its hungry offspring waiting, beak open, in the nest-hole below.