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Untitled... (2 Viewers)

I've been back a few days!

We spent a week at Cala 'N Forcat. In the North West. West and North of Ciutadella.
But slept here and ranged, via hire car, far and wide.

A trip report is fomenting...

Until then...

..."Schindler's Lift"...:eek!:

(Mao/Mahon Airport...)

nice to see you back old bean- exciting thekla

as for them lifts, if its not Schindler its usually "Otis", the latter of which always sends me off on a great bustard reverie..
 

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Thanks all for the welcomes "home...":t:

Our main goal was to find the Menorcan sub-species of Pine Marten.

No success, I'm afraid, but here's a "grab" of "stringy-looking" semi-desert plants (and road "stuff", taken by Mme. U.)

We still don't know what these botanicals are! Ah well! :-C

:cat:
 

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PUNTA NATI PINE MARTIN (Late Postcard From Menorca)

Yes, we did see the elusive beast, and found many prominent scats.
At Punta Nati, in the North, there are no trees. Just semi desert and dry stone walls. Lots of Thekla, Short-Toed Larks and Tawny Pipits....so lots of nests to seek out! :eek!:
This individual was hunting along the base of the wall that leads to the lighthouse at the end...down to a few feet. It seemed almost unconcerned by our prescence. The painting is from a grab completed today. It was too quick and unpredictable to sketch!
Pine Marten is the only Mustelid on Menorca. This one had a short coat (Summer's are HOT here!) and an un-bushy tail. It also appeared much lighter than you'd expect for a Pine Marten in Europe. But it is an island sub-species, isolated for 100s, if not 1000s of years!:cat:

(Gouache and water-colour pencil on Bristol Board.)
 

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Thanks Tim. It's actually on red tarmac. But that works fine in the composition! You can see it approaching the red ground in the photo above. Sorry about my little joke earlier...;)
Hope the book's doing well? Am trying to get off this page, as it has January at the top! :-C (Shameful!)
Guess it's more painting for me again tomorrow...;)
Thanks Ed for the link! B :) Loving your stuff btw...fantastic! Thanks Colleen. Will be back on your esteemed and wonderful thread shortly!:t:

Just to set the scene for the Pine Marten (PM):

(Afternoon list here? Singing Short-Toed, Thekla Larks, Tawny Pipits and Corn Bunting. Pair of Spectacled Warblers carrying food for young. Egyptian Vulture, Booted Eagle, Red Kite and a male Red-Footed Falcon. Blue Rock Thrush, YLGulls, Cory's and Balearic Shearwater offshore. Rock Dove, Pallid Swift and 2 Audouin's Gulls. Couple of bonus migrants? Ringtail Montagu's, and a Melodious Warbler on a dry stone wall!)
B :)B :)B :) (Needed a drink that afternoon...never been so hot!)

1 PM filmed along left-hand wall near post left of hire-car.
2 Thekla Lark with hire-car.
3 Thekla a bit closer.
4 Typical PM habitat. Oh yes. They can adapt to anything on Menorca!
5 PM training for London 2012 Hurdles...:cat:
:t:
 

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Cory's Shearwater SeaWatching Hides...

what are the rock walls along the road for?

The whole of Menorca has these wonderful drystone walls. I guess it's the same all over the World. Marking land ownership and containment of livestock. (And getting these rocks out of the ground, so it can be used!) Here: sheep and goats. They even build sheep shelters from stones in a similar way. Magnify pic 4 and you can see some of these shelters in the distance...
It gets hot here and in the Winter the cold Tramuntana wind blows from the North.
(Or it could be they are there to provide hunting crevices for PMs!;))
 

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still they are right on the road, so how long have they been there, or maybe the road was a cart track at one time and just got paved over
 
It's a single track road to the Far, or lighthouse. Was only built for that purpose.
I know you have Pine Marten in the States. But these have been isolated for centuries on an island. And they are very different to the "norm."
On Menorca, they have adapted to all niches. They are the top Mammalian predator...
 
Well captured, both mammal and vegetation, as Tim and Colleen say. And a photographic travelogue as well. It sets the scene very well Phil. Like a mini-vacation for the rest of us.
 
Hi Phil, good to see you back posting!
Lark and mustelid are lovely shots of colour in the monochrome world in which I inhabit. Don't stay away so long next time!

Russ
 
Others have already commented but that vegetation is exquisitely handled. Never seen a marten in the wild, just thier smaller brethren.

Mike
 

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