Madness in December: El Hondo

 El Hondo in Spain's Costa Blanca I regarded as off-limits to me for a very long time, because of its distance from where I lived. No public transport stopped nearby, and certainly none which could get me there for the 8:30am opening. Then I looked at my bike, and thought, why not. It would be much longer than any ride I had ever done, but was worth a try. 

I had a very good incentive to do so in the winter. First of all, it wasn't like being in an oven. Second, I knew that an extremely rare eagle visits the reserve to spend the winter: the greater spotted eagle, and I wasn't about to let something like this slide. 

The first time I visited, I was very disappointed by the foggy conditions. However, that didn't stop me from getting truly great images of a booted eagle, and I believe I also saw a golden eagle when returning after the trip. the booted eagle flew really close and perched in full view of a hide, which greatly helped. 

But the real star was the greater spotted eagle, which surprised both me and itself and forcing me to stop my bike as I rode in between the hides of the Red Route. It stayed put for only a few seconds after I stopped, then flew off, a giant jet-black bird which circled over the area once and then flew out of sight

After that experience, I wanted more, so visited the next time I could. This time, it did take a little convincing to let me use my bike on the reserve, unlike last time, but I managed. There were much less birds of prey as well. A big one in the distance, but that was about it. 

After trying and failing to wait for some in the main hide, I gave up and returned, growing more and more suspicious of the distant bird of prey by the minute. I had seen it in the exact place last time, and was told last time that a young greater spotted eagle used a dead tree in that region all the time. I got as close as I could to it, and took a look. Yes, it was the greater spotted eagle. More distant than last time, but nevertheless not a dot in the distance. 

I spent the rest of my time watching it, before it flew off.