The Rio Miño, or Minho if you are in Portugal (it is pronounced the same), forms part of the northern border between the two countries. As we drive through A Guarda on the Spanish side, Jim notices a sign indicating 'observatorio ornitologia', so we take a look.
At the end of a stony track we find an area of saltmarsh and fresh-water marsh with some scrub and phragmites, and a hide on stilts overlooking the estuary. After three days of hot sun, today is quite cold and the easterly wind funnelling through the hide turns it into a refrigerator, we do not stay there for long. The sun and its reflection are shining into the hide and making it difficult to see anything.
A kingfisher flies along the water's edge, stopping every few metres to hover and look into the water for prey. There are no branches or posts for it to use as hunting look‑outs, and we are impressed by the length of time it spends in each hover. Hovering may be a more energetic way of hunting, but it is considerably more successful, presumably because the bird can choose where to hover instead of making do with wherever a perch happens to be.
There is a pair of yellow‑legged herring gulls doing a parallel walk along the shore. They mostly walk side by side, but if one bird runs a short distance, the other runs to catch up. Then they start to peck at the ground, pulling hard at short vegetation ‑ when one bird pulls a stalk free, it loses its balance and almost falls over. One of the birds then gathers up a large beakful of vegetation, carries it a metre or so, and arranges it on the ground before sitting on it. Then it rearranges other nearby material, pulling some closer. Meanwhile the other bird walks over to the water and appears to drink, the bird from the 'nest' does the same. Then both birds swim off without further ceremony.
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