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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Peewit" data-source="post: 1505896" data-attributes="member: 57492">South Bay of Ses Salines, FornellsSouth Bay of Ses Salines, Fornells - Part 1 of 2We got up this sunny morning, and took our time getting ready for our sailing for 10am.  It was a beautiful day, and the wind was force 2-3.  It was ideal weather for a day out on the water.   The mornings sailing went without any incident.  The weather was now very hot and sticky.  We where feeling the heat even at this early hour in the morning.  We had to drink lots of cold bottled water as dehydration would set in very quickly otherwise.  So common sense prevails for health reasons as we where told.We came back to the chalet for our 2 hour lunch.  While sitting at the table in the porch area, having our lunch, a local Yellow Legged Gull decided to fly across, and sit on the balcony right in front of us.  He balanced himself, and watched us eating intently for 5 minutes or so.   We ate our homemade sandwiches, with a cup of tea. We watched any food left sitting on the outside table. The gull flew off once more.  It was interesting to see the gull really close up.  He/she was quite an intimidating bird to encounter even from where we where sitting.   It was not a good idea to feed any Yellow Legged Gulls as they where becoming disliked by the locals for some of their bad ‘local’ habits.  They are opportunists as all gulls are and that is their character as we all know already.  It is their bad habits that are not liked by island people.  Hope that it does not get any worse.One of our sailing group said she placed a lot of food for a cold salad on the outside table within her porch area.   She put out a load of ham on a plate.  She said she turned her back for two minutes, and a Yellow Legged Gull came down, and went of with all of ham from her plate – cheeky!!After our lunch we relaxed, and took in the views across the bay.  A movement from a nearby building, and we looked to our right.  We could see a Kestrel sitting on the restaurant signpost.- Ses Salines.  Must be so nice to be famous in a special way.The Kestrel continued sitting on the blue Ses Salines signpost, the whitewash on the building shimmering in the heat. Then the Kestrel disappears to the enclosed area behind the circular sign.  Then he re-appeared.  He did this a few times. Maybe he was hunting for some food like small insects or Gecko’s.  He was around for a short time.  It was really nice to see him so close to our chalet.  The binoculars where always in use even while we where at the chalet.  Great for local bird watching while relaxing in the sun.We had a regatta boat race in the afternoon with other boats, and it was great fun.  We beat some of the faster boats and that made our day.  Great fun!!  Think we where high up in the race stakes.At the end of the afternoon we went for a couple of well earned beers. The people who ran the sailing club had laid on a two walk for anyone who wished to have a wander in the evening.   We had booked in advance earlier in the day.  So at 6.30pm, we where taken for an evenings walk around one of the areas at the south end of the bay.  This area is designated as an open ‘bridal’ walk to the public.  So that sounded really good to us to do a bit more bird watching. The area was at the south end of the bay at Ses Salines, close to Ses Salines Salt Pans.  We got out of the car, and we scammed the unexplored area.   It was heavily wooded with some types of Evergreen trees, Olive trees, and pine trees.  The area was full of bird life.  Lots of Nightingales sang from nearby trees.  The place was rich with wild flowers, and there where many I had never seen before elsewhere on the island.  We walked along a track.  I was told the track was used for horses, and carriages many years ago, that was its function. The open tracks had not been upgraded, or changed over the years.  This made the track surface very uneven underfoot.  So a good sturdy pair of walking boots was a must for walking in this area.  There was a lot of scrubby wooded areas, and the trees divided the area of grass into small plots of land.  There where a lot of Corn Buntings around this area, flitting about as they always liked to do. There was good population of Golden Orioles living in the scrubby trees.  I have never seen do many birds of one species in one place.  We where honoured to see Golden Orioles throughout our holiday.Picture 1 - Ses Salines sign where Kestel satPicture 2 - Rock dividing South Bay, Nature Reserve (Trees), and Salt Pans.Picture 3 - A picture of the South Bay, and Salt PansPicture 4 - Another picture of the South Bay facing over to Fornells</blockquote>

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