Published on 12, July, 2020
Iv decided to do a forum on my wildlife holidays where I can tell you about my holiday rather than just sending pictures
cause iv been on lots of them this year rather than only sending photos. also proper trips il tell you about and add photos to go with it on this post aswell. cause it will be easyer and better for me but is also for holidays cause im going on lots of holidays this year and it deserves its own thread in this sense.
my first holiday I went on this year was Wales. I went to Snowdonia near the national park
we saw a lamma and a pony
with the view we got from the cottage we stayed in was of the sea
Jackdaws perched on the buildings when we watched tv we went for a walk and I got great pictures of the moutains
you could see them on the beach outline at the beach the waves I saw a literally called gray heron fly past
the waves crashed against the rocks and became fully submerged until they broke and forced its way over. my long lens saved my life by getting me up close enough to photograph the waders and I saw Great crested grebes.
back at the cottage herring gulls at Jackdaws
the next day we went to the waterfalls I saw yellow gorse.
the water level was high but not flooded. it was a adventure and the gorse made it look colourful
it was massive then we went down the mountain the next day we went to the sea again and I saw a cormerent. there was lots of bladder wrack which is a type of seaweed.
seaweed are actualy a type of algae. some can surve out the water for a certain period of time. others dont survive as well it depends on the type cause theres different types of seaweed.
this one is normaly mistake for seaweed but is actualy a type of animal instead
in July
im very used to wildlife watching in the uk and while I have been to menorca I havnt wildlife watched there cause I didnt have an interest in Wildlife then so this was my first time wildlife watching in a different country.
I allways have to wear ear defenders when i go to the air port but they had disability asistance. I had to improvise cause the person that supports me that went with me hasnt gone on holiday with me before and didnt know what to say or do with my sensory challanges at the airport. the person that was with me said she thinks il be fine but I knew cause of my autism cant deal with crowds so I said I have autism and I dont like crowds so would it be ok to go where its less busy or quiter and so she took me through. there was a point where we wernt sure if I had to take my ear defenders off at the part where you have to walk through and them see if you got metal on you so I asked the lady there if I could keep them on and she went off to ask the person behind the thing you have to walk through. I was very anxious at this point. it was time to put our items on the coveyerbelt and walk through the metal thing. The person with me for the holiday and me still didnt know so I was panicing inside and i was told to take them off by the person taking me which i was reluctant to do but the plaine lady came over and thumbed up us saying not to take them off and that i can keep them on and we went through. the flight was delayed by an hour. but it was no ones fault cause they had to help somone who couldnt walk onto the plane. so we walked and stopped every 5 minutes so people were joking about that and inpatient at the same time. eventually we got on though at last. I filmed the take off and we went over the bay of biscay on the way to Tenerife
when landing I saw mount tede from above the clouds.
the next day I saw a canarian chiffchaff
and I saw a Spanish sparrow for the first time. they were breeding at the hotel.
but one of my biggest highlights was snorkeling for the very first time
and the dolphins which i got to see for the very first time
and mount tede a active volcano with many species only found on that mountain I saw crystal on a rock
that was the last day. the next day we went on a trip but when it came to packing bags for the trip. I put my bag with the plastic bag on it ontop of my suitcase then gave it to her with the plastic bag on it but took it off and thought that she was going to put the bag in cause it didnt only have my stuff in the bag and as far as I knew the plastic bag was in the boot but at some point in the journey I wondered where the bag was and thought it might be in the boot cause i couldnt see it in the back. we checked the boot and it wasnt there.
my ear defenders got left behind which was problomatic cause the person with me wasnt willing to go back and get the ear defenders and soon we had to go to the air port. I was highly anxious and I found it diffucult getting her to understand the why it is important enough that we do have to go back anf get them we bought some silenceing headphones as an emergancy cause otherwise I wouldnt of been able to get on the plane. we went through disability asisstance. the plane was delayed by a couple of hours and we wernt able to get on until midnight. a teenager had a go in a wheelchair and a little boy was going up and down a slope behind me which i found acted as visual stimulation and made my anxiety worse. it isnt thetre fault its just cause im autistic but thanfuly things did cam down and at 12 o'clock we lined up and got on the plane and came back to the uk by 4 or 5 oclock in the morning.
im back. I went home and stayed until the evening after tea then got dropped off back.
twe carried on. I saw all the pine trees in the bracken and thought it would make a good picture.
tthen he showed us some badger sets and told us about badgers
afterwards he told us about a project there doing in the field
he also told us how to identify certain plants and trees and did do you know this or that quizes for me
I of course asked lots of questions and told him about things i know but Dad was also chatty and asking lots of questions which meant allot. of time was used up talking and we saw less than we would of but I wasnt aware of this and thought he was going to show us everything he planned to show us. but he showed us how to identify badger and squirrel tracka and signs and we went to a place near where we stayed that we have been before to show us. he told us that the gray squirrels there in this county bite nuts in a half entirely and that they unique to the county rarely stand up and eat and usualy have a stump or bowl to eat at often instead
he showed us what the stumps look like. they usualy look like this and have bits of nuts on it from where its been eating
I did tell him that actualy they do also stand and eat aswell and that I got lots of pictures of it standing and eating.
like here
but he said they do but most often eat on a stump instead there could be many reasons why I observed over a 5 day period
gray squirrels standing and eating every few hours at the cabin and that the forestry comssion have observed the oposite being true - most often on a tree stump but either way the habit is unique to the county and it was very interesting.
he did show me that there is a tawny owl box there monitering and said its ok to take a picture of it when i asked but I dont know where I stand with sending a photo to be on the safe side im not going to send it on the post this is just in case people may visit the part and as a result go looking for it and cause disturbance when the animals welfare comes first. it can happen. not allways but since i dont know where i stand with that im not going to send it.
he told us interestingly on Wednesday night was a real boom for bats and they were everywhere and asked if i saw them but unfortuantly cause i was with wilber i didnt that night so answered no he told me to keep an eye out cause they get them.
before the forest ranger activaty thing started i did tell him im born with autism so that hes aware. so he alreeady knows this so i didnt have to say i have autism so that he undertsands anything or why i may act differently. he told me how he moniters the bat population and I had a question for him. I said you know people say bats use echo location right and that it is beyond average human hearing? well I dont think its acurate cause I when bats fly around I can hear them making there noises that they make when useing echo location they fly about so its not entirely true. he found this very interesting that I can hear them and said that i make a good point and that it is valid I told him i have hypersensitive hearing which is part of my autism but that doesnt mean other people cant hear it aswell so he said well thanks for telling me that that was very helpful.
he was going show us snakes but didnt have time. we mainly talked and answered questions at the end but showed us a river with coots. I had alot of compliments about my camara and how he thinks its very good on the trip when i took pictures.
so at the end he said of course its time to go now but as we left said oh year and nice camara by the way so I said thanks again and we said bye as we went off we chanced on a squirrel at its stump eating nuts which i filmed then after it left i took pictures
after we came back dad was wiped out but i wasnt and in spite of the pulled muscle i had to be careful of throughout the activaty and battery on my camara everything went well and I ended up glad that i went and even though i was disapointed about not seeing the sankes due to lots of talking we learned alot alot i already knew but simultaneously also things i didnt know and i could well of missed out on this exsperiance with me and Dad if i stayed behind cause of my pulled muscle.
Dad was wiped out and had aparantly over done walking due to the trip while even though i sat down I still had energy left and said im not exhausted Mum am I can you tell. my pulled muscle eventualy got better as the day went on and that night was the last night at the cabin with wilber. I was no longer scared on my own in the cabin but felt less lonely from being away from Mum and Dad and more comfortable with wilber in the room with me
tthat evening i saw a moth
the day after it was time to go so I took pictures of the tree house
tthis was my room i stayed in with wilber
That was fascinating about the squirrels eating habits!
I liked seeing Wilbur particularly because I love dogs - he looks lovely.
I think you were wise about the owl and not posting.
It is a shame that you ran out of time without being able to see everything. When an event like this is of a fixed duration (a fixed amount of time) sometimes you need to make tough choices to make the most of it. Like talk more, or listen more? I think you got a good balance because you still saw lots of stuff but were able to ask lots of questions.
Was this the final part of your previous holiday?