Hornborga Lake 130407 day three

Translate? See Google translation in the sidebar!

 

Waking up at 5.15 to fix breakfast and get ready to leave at 6.00h. This morning we are going to Skövde skjutfält, a military, shooting range,  location, where we were guided to a field were there, hopefully, would be Black Grouse. It was chilly and the grass covered with frost as the sun rose. Quite a beautiful morning. We were lucky, there was 4 Black Grouse as I could see even if they were rather far away. You needed the spotting scope to see them. After an hour or so people started to have their breakfast. We sat down in the grass on the sunny side of the slope we used as birding site.  

 

After finishing breakfast we leave as the birds also left due to a bus stopping to close to them. We made a stop to listen for a lark but did not hear or see it. But we did hear a woodpecker. Later on we made a stop to look as some Bean goose.

 

We made a stop at a small village called Odensåker. It is a nice old culture area. A place with old buildings and fences and gorgeous nature with lots of Juniper bushes. I loved the roofs of the buildings with grass growing on it. :)  There was also a jewellery store where you could buy silver jewellery. And we also finished the coffee we might still have left.

 

Now we took the road around Hornborga lake and stoped at Varnhem for lunch. That´s the place where the movie of Arn was shot. This restaurant had a very nice bread baked of maize.

We finished the day with going back to Utloppet. There was a little more open water and birds then it was yesterday. Lots of swans, some ducks and gulls. And a few raptors as well. We stayed about 2h and then we headed back to the Hostel to finish the trip and get our belongings. At half past 4 I started my way back home. 3h in the car. Did take a look at Kvismaren but all geese were gone so I did not stay.

Thanks to the women who made this possible. You did a great job. And thanks to Lotta and Hanna who guided us. It was a great experience even if the lake was frozen.

Frosty Morning at Black Grouse location

Himmelsk    Sky Watch Friday

NOTE! Comment form for visitors outside GOOGLE 

Labels: Resor, travel, trip, journey, Sverige, Sweden, airplane, flygplan, sky, photo, photography, Monica Johansson, NatureFootstep, nfphoto, NF_photo, nature, natur, fågelskådning, birding, fågelblog, birdblog,  Rapphönan, Hornborga Lake, Hornborgasjön, Varnhem, Odensåker, Black Grouse, Orre,

121124 Morocco Day 15 Saturday, Djemma El Fna to Arn

Translate? See Google translation in the sidebar!
Sky Watch Friday   Himmelsk    Ein stuck himmel

121110-121124 South Morocco and WestSahara

Click to enlarge All photos  NF Photo 121124

121124 Morocco Day 15 Saturday, Djemma El Fna
going back home

Woke up the first time rather early but then I slept till 8. Went up and headed for breakfast. I met some of the others at the dining room so I joined them. The 3 of us that was from Denmark has already left the group for an early flight to Denmark.

At 9.30 we left for the Marrakech market, Djemma El Fna. Quite interesting place really. It was not only the square outside but also a lot of shops under roof or tentlike rooms. And I mean a lot. I´m not too fond of places like that but I had company at all times so it was ok. It is easy to get lost when you don´t know the place. I compared it with the Kairo market I visited a lot of yeas ago and this was really different. This was very clean and well maintained. http://www.ilovemarrakech.com/marrakesh/el_fna.htm

First thing when we jumped of the bus was an entire street with horse wagons one could rent. We did not as we were supposed to take a look at the market. Then I notices something that made me a bit uneasy. On three buildings were gallows. I really hope they were not in use. But was still there only as a warning. I took the shot from the bus. That is why it is a reflection.

 

 

 

There were snakes, monkeys and people trying their best to get our attention. Some were earning their living by being “clowns”. What a life! A few women was painting with henna. I would have loved it but there was not enough time.  A lot of noice all over that almost made my ears cry. We walked around for about 2h then we went to a restaurant to get some food as the plane don´t offer it. It was a nearby restaurant with a gret view over the market place from the balcony. We were even able to get some new birdspecies from there.

 

 

Back to the bus at 13.00h to go to the hotel. I took a quick shower before finish packing and leaving the room.

Writing a bit in the lobby. The image shows the pathway to the second floor. It had a very nice fence. Enlarge for a better view.

The airport was a disaster. Talk about waiting in lines. When the incheck was supposed to start the info boards said point 8 and 9. But there stood Manchester, not Arlanda. After a while a person came and chooed us over to point 20 and 22. But point 22 was out of order. So, again after 20 min a person came and told us to go to line 5 and 6. LOTS of people there and a very slow process. Then some person, again, told us to change point. This time we actually got through our luggage and got our boarding card.

Passing through security was both easier and worse. First point was fast, did not even have to remove the computer from the backpack. But next one I had to go in a female line. For body visits. But after a while the males checkpoint failed and they came over to the female line. Chaos! 5 min later their point worked again and they had to go back to the male line. :) At passport control we were actually checked out from Morocco. This is the first time ever I have been checked out of a country. I have immigrated a lot never exited. :)

All of this took so long that the plane started boarding long before we came out of passport control. So no time for shopping. :( I was happy to buy a bottle of orange juice.

We had to go to the plane with a bus shuttle as the plane was not connected ith the building.

Then the plane was late ofcourse. We were airborn about 45 min late at 18.55.

Stockholm by night

Flight time about 4.5h and landing at Arlanda probably 10 min late at 00,20 local time.

I could not take shots during the takeoff as they had some rules of keeping digitals off during takeoff. To bad as it was dark and really a beautiful sight with all lights below.

But later on we were allowed to turn on everything. They even had internet connection. So, I was online while I was connected as well as upplifted in cyber/space.  Sounded much funnier in swedish. :) "Uppkopplad and upplyft"

The weather was good so we landed on time at midnight. Now I spend a few hours on a bench before my connection home by train.  

 

Djemma El Fna, indoors. It shows quite well my mixed feelings about having to go home to winter and cold and darkness. Would have loved a few days in Agadir.

 

Mer om Södra Marocko  och Västsahara på NF Photo Marockos fåglar

More about South Morocco and Westsahara on NF Photo    Moroccan Bird species ** Labels: Resor, travel, trip, journey, Sverige, Sweden, airplane, flygplan, sky, photo, photography, Monica Johansson, NatureFootstep, nfphoto, NF_photo, nature, natur, fågelskådning, birding, fågelblog, birdblog, Marocko, Morocco, Västsahara, West Sahara, Sahara,  airplane, arlanda, Djemma El Fna, flight, flyg, Marocko, Marrakech, Morocco, galgge, gallow, market, marknad, ormtjusare, snake,
** Links: Gueliz Hotel Tamri, Cap Rhir images Agadir Oasis Hotel Oued Massa (on Panorimo), Barrage Youssef-ben-Tachfine, (dammen foton) Guelmim Tan-Tan Plage  Hagounia Hotel Laayoune   Sahara Line Hotel Dakhla  Bab El Bahr Hotel   Dakhla Bay Oued Jenna   Dakhla on Panorimo Djemma El Fna

121122 Morocco Day 13 Thursday, Guelmim - Agadir

Translate? See Google translation in the sidebar!
Travel Photo    Sky Watch Friday   Himmelsk  Ein Stuck Himmel
Weekly Top Shot and  Weekend Reflection, last shot

121110-121124 South Morocco and WestSahara

Click to enlarge All photos  NF Photo 121122

121122 Morocco Day 13 Thursday, Guelmim - Agadir

Woke up at 5.30 and waited a while before going up. I was a bit shocked about sleeping with the computer in my knee yesterday evening. Guess I´m really tired right now.

Well, Anders had asked for breakfast at 6 but the staff did not arrive before 6 so it took a long while before we got our breakfast. I think hotel staff promise things they really shouldn´t and the kitchen staff work as usual not knowing there was a promise to fulfil. Todays departure was at 7.05 instead of 6.30. Not much of a breakfast at that hotel, coffee and croisants that was all. No bread and no juice or anything. Hard to get filled on that menue. But we managed. At least the breakfast room was great. I loved the tables.

We headed north again with Agadir as end location. We passed the mountains where the truck had overturned on our way south. It is quite a scary road. Really alpine way. One has to be glad it is not a slippery winter road. :)

We went to Oued Massa again. It is quite a nice place. This time we had clear orders not to shoot people. To bad as I spotted a young woman on a donkey and she was gorgeous. But I´d let her be. Not too many birds this time but a night heron was one of them and a 1k Bonelli´s Eagle (hökörn). A great one indeed.
 The image Bonelli´s Eagle and Common Kestrel (tornfalk)




Dadel palm I think.

After Massa we went to the north side of Agadir. There was a Nature reserve where the Royal Palace is located but we was not allowed to enter it so we stayed at the coastal line. It was tricky to bird as we had backlight. The entire bay was shining in silver. With black birds in it. Mostly flamingos and ducks. At this location we also spotted the blue eyed magpie. It was such a beauty I really was regretting we did not see it up close.



We arrived at Oasis Hotel around 16.10 so there was lots of time before we met again for the species list and dinner. I went down to the beach and had a lot of fun. It is a large beach. Some waves came further in to the beach then expected so I got my pants wet. And very sandy feet. But so what. It was fun. But I never saw the .....
 The arial image is linked from the beach website.

I was back at the hotel in time for a shower before our artlist meeting. At dinner I sat with Ewa and Bo and shared a bottle of Moroccan wine with them. It was really good. The dinner at this hotel is special. So many great stuff in the buffé to choose from and so nicely served.

Now I will soon go back to the room and upload my shots for today and to see what my balcony view can offer me.

 Tomorrow is a sleeping morning. The breakfast is served at 6.00 and forward and the boat company will pick us up at 9.00 h. Our bags will stay in a locked room at the hotel during the day.

A late evening stroll on the  Beach of Agadir

Mer om Södra Marocko  och Västsahara på NF Photo Marockos fåglar

More about South Morocco and Westsahara on NF Photo    Moroccan Bird species
************************************************************
day 13, 121122 Thursday, åter mot Agadir, Oued Massa, Oued Sous
day 13, 121122 Thursday, night in Agadir

Oasis Hotel, Boulevard Mohamed V, Agadir Tel 05 28 84 33 13

see day 2

Labels: Resor, travel, trip, journey, Sverige, Sweden, airplane, flygplan, sky, photo, photography, Monica Johansson, NatureFootstep, nfphoto, NF_photo, nature, natur, fågelskådning, birding, fågelblog, birdblog, Marocko, Morocco, Västsahara, West Sahara, Sahara, desert, öken,  Agadir, beach, Bonelli´s Eagle, Common Kestrel, Guelmim, hökörn, Oasis hotel, Oued Massa, Oued Sous, tornfalk,
** Links: Gueliz Hotel Tamri, Cap Rhir images Agadir Oasis Hotel Oued MassaPanorimo), Barrage Youssef-ben-Tachfine, (dammen foton) Guelmim Tan-Tan Plage  Hagounia Hotel Laayoune   Sahara Line Hotel Dakhla  Bab El Bahr Hotel   Dakhla Bay Oued Jenna   Dakhla on Panorimo

121116 Morocco Day 7 Friday, Dakhla area

Translate? See Google translation in the sidebar!

Sky Watch Friday  Himmelsk  Our World Tuesday

121110-121124 South Morocco and WestSahara

Click to enlarge All photos  NF Photo 121116

121116 Morocco Day 7 Friday,

Woke up at 6.10. I had been up once during the night but slept again. Now we had breakfast at 6.30 for departure at 7. We had mostly the normal breakfast but the bread was "hamburger bread" and we had to get the coffee from the bar. But that is just details, it was tasty and nice.

Today we spent the time on Dakhla peninsula and Dakhla Bay. We left at 7 and the driver had some trouble finding the way out of town. We wanted to go south along the coast. I don´t think those guys had any map to consult. :)

We found the road and headed south along the coast. Stoped here and there to look for sea birds. At first it was hard as it was still dark and a bit foggy. Most of the birds seen was gulls, terns, gannets and a few vaders like a Sandpiper (Drillsnäppa).

At the south point of the peninsula was a fishermens village of sort. We only turned the bus there. Nobody went out. It did not look nice. I did not see any woman so my guess is only men lived and worked there. Living in simple sheds.

We saw a lot of small boats on the water during the day.

On the road back there was a low area with tides and a lot of birds. Mostly gulls of course but also vaders and two Eurasian or African Spoonbills (skedstork). A nice sight.  

 

After "lunch" we headed north. Passed by Dakhla city, still birding here and there. Lots of terns and gulls. At the north end of the bay was a camping site. When it was high tide they used to do different sort of water sports in that area. There was also flamingos. :)

Back in town there were the, now usual, routine. And there are also some birding opportunities in town too.  Finding somewhere to buy next days lunch and then back to the hotel for a quick shower before meeting the others. Going through the days birds and then dinner. Tomorrow we will be early birds. Up at 04.00 to go deep into the desert. The hotel will provide us with breakfast.

Dakhla on Panorimo
Mer om Södra Marocko  och Västsahara på NF Photo Marockos fåglar

More about South Morocco and Westsahara on NF Photo    Moroccan Bird species
*******************************************

day 7, 121116 Friday, Dakhla Bay,

day 7, 121116 Friday, night in Dakhla

Bab El Bahr Hotel, Ave Al Moukaouama, Dakhla. Tel 05 28 93 14 40

** Labels: Resor, travel, trip, journey, Sverige, Sweden, airplane, flygplan, sky, photo, photography, Monica Johansson, NatureFootstep, nfphoto, NF_photo, nature, natur, fågelskådning, birding, fågelblog, birdblog, Marocko, Morocco, Västsahara, West Sahara, Sahara, desert, öken, Marrakech  Bab El Bahr Hotel, Common Sandpiper, Dakhla, drillsnäppa, Dakhla Bay, fishermen, fiskare, by, village,

120706 Skottland-Scotland , day 13 Friday Isle of Seil

Translate? See Google translation in the sidebar!

Weekend Reflection    Himmelsk 103     Sky Watch Friday

 

Click to enlarge All photos NF Photo 120706

120706 Friday, day 13  Isle of Seil

Woke up at 7.00 for breakfast at 7.30. In this area they say half seven when they mean half past seven, Very confusing. Could make a person come an h late. :(

The computer did not want to cooperate this morning. Could not log in it said. Then it refused to do anything. I could not even shut it off. And I had no screwdriver to be able to remove the battery. Had to leave it as it was, hoping the battery would drain and shut down the computer.

The room is lousy and at breakfast everyone got two of everything instead of what one ordered. If you order one egg you get two. Gosh, Im annoyed.

We left at 8.30 for todays drive around some lakes. Mostly a scenic day following the east side of Loch Awes. Spending most of the day in the car stopping here and there. A little sunshine but mostly dull.

 

First stop was at a small stream hoping to see some Grey Wagtail (fors ärla) or dipper. But we did not see any. We met some people that had seen a family of Ospreys. We turned back a bit to try to see if we could find it. Well, we didn´t but we got a good view of the lake. And we  heard a Common Grasshopper Warbler (gräshoppssångare) singing in some bushes. Impossible to see but we heard it for a long period of time.

 

Then we went back to follow the lake south. And, we met with a truck. On that road. Guess what we did? We had to reverse our car for a long bit before finding a place where we could let the truck pass by. We made another stop at a place that was very nice. Leacainn Muir Forest Drive according to an Information Sign. There was some bluberries too that one could taste.

An other stop at a medow because Ola saw a Grey Wagtail (fors ärla). There we also found Common Redpoll (gråsiska), Spotted flycatcher (grå flugsnappare) and Common Whitethroat (törnsångare). Think I got shots of the flycatcher and the warbler.

 


We had lunch at a place called Cuilfail hotel. Quite nice. Lunch was done at 14.25. Then we had a stop at a bridge, Clachan Bridge. Crossing over to Isle of Seil I think. Nice place showing the low tide and then a double decker bus came on the bridge. Some nice shots of a grey heron too.
 

 




Isle of Seil

 

 At 15.00h we headed for a small village called Isle of Seil. Beautiful rocks and cliffs and a fair for local art. I liked it a lot. Now the weather turned really hot. Nice for a change.  This afternoon I kind of felt like a tourist instead of a birder. :)

 

Oban



 

We also had time to visit Oban for 45 min (left Oban at 17.15), before heading back to Inveraray and dinner at the hotel. I had chicken again. And then the birds list was rather short today. We did it sitting at the dinnertable as there was no other suitable place for it.

Sitting in the Pub again. Accessing Internet as the computer was OK again when I started it up. This time I had choosen a place in a corner as there was somebody entertaining. And it is really loud. I was talking to my daughter on Skype but it was almost impossible to hear anything. Now the guy is starting to sing and play again so I will go back to the room. Auch, my ears is in pain. :(

Morning birding at 7 tomorrow. Last day before going home.

120705-06 The George Hotel, Inveraray http://www.thegeorgehotel.co.uk/

 

Mer om Skottland på NF Photo och Fågelarter

More about Scotland on NF Photo and Bird species

Labels: Resor, travel, trip, journey,  Sverige, Sweden,  sky, photo, photography, Monica Johansson, NatureFootstep, nfphoto, NF_photo, nature, natur, fågelskådning, birding, Skottland, Scotland Inveraray, Scotland, Skottland, The George Hotel, Loch Awes, Oban, Clachan Bridge, Cuilfail hotel, Cuilfail hotel, Leacainn Muir Forest Drive, Isle of Seil,