viernes, 22 de marzo de 2013

Excursion to Sils Nature Park

L´estany de Sils Now the Spring days are calling for us to be outside to enjoy nature and the precious cool sunny perfect days that always seem to go by too fast. Yesterday, Lara, Leia and I took an excursion to the Sils wetlands, a great little known birding spot and an easy few stops away on the train. Luckily the abundant rain we´ve been receiving has filled in the area and we saw lots of birdies and I had actually remembered to bring my monocular.

L´estany de Sils              Thanks to Sally (thank you Sally! and thank you for getting me interested in birds in the first place), I have this incredibly easy to carry around monocular which is perfect for me. We saw falcons, green woodpeckers, black-winged stilts, egrets and grey herons.                                                       L´estany de Sils                               
Going to a nature park with a small child, Leia is my amazing 21 month old niece, is a wonderful experience because you slow down even more and that is why you come here, just to be in nature. She definitely goes for the more up close things, like she loved seeing lizards on a bridge and just walking up and down little hills.   

L´estany de Sils
The Sils Lake, L´estany de Sils, is a natural area protected by the Catalan government said to have once been the largest lake in Catalunya at about 7 square kilometers. But it was drained out to create more farmland and now there is a year-round small lake and floodable wetlands. There is a nice flat path and it is just a little loop to walk around and you can make stops at the bird viewing platform and also the three bird viewing houses located near the best birding spots. A lovely morning excursion! Thanks Lara and Leia!