Thursday, November 06, 2014

Flamingoes at the Cyprus Salt Lakes, as winter approaches

We've lived in Cyprus for seventeen years, now. It should no longer come as a surprise that Summer gives way to Winter in a remarkably short space of time. But, somehow, I never expect it.

We had some rain during September, but it wasn't until about a week ago that a very heavy downpour, lasting at least half an hour, left some significant water in the Salt Lake:


A couple of days later, my friend Sheila commented that she had seen flamingoes. They are migratory birds, either from somewhere in the Middle East or Africa... and they always appear (as I mention every year) almost as soon as the Salt Lake has enough water to support them.

But... how on earth do they know when it's time to come to Cyprus? It's not as if it's the same date each year.

If anyone knows, please do leave a comment!

On Tuesday we walked towards the Airport Road rather than the aqueduct, so as to get a better view of these amazing pink birds - and sure enough, there was a row of them in the distance, which can just about be seen as pink dots (possibly better if you click the image to enlarge it)


The sky was a bit hazy in the early morning, but the reflections of the hills in the water were quite stunning. Alas, my camera doesn't capture them well, but this gives a general idea:


Is it really getting cold? It seems that way to me,  although the daytime temperatures are still hovering at about 20C. In the house it's cooler; I switched from shorts to jeans about three weeks ago, and today am wearing a sweatshirt too.

I put the 'thin' duvet on our bed about two weeks ago, when the night temperatures dropped from mid-twenties (Celcius) to about 17-18. That might not sound cold, but we definitely needed some kind of cover, more than just a sheet or duvet cover.

A couple of days ago, I switched to the 'warm' duvet cover.  The kittens like the duvet very much...and so do we! 

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