Ibiza - 26 Sep 26 - Day 3

Santa Eulalia del Río by train and snorkelling

Early morning at Cala Llonga and another fantastic start to the day.

Early morning and....................

............the mist is hanging over the town.

Today we took a train to the neighbouring seaside town of Santa Eulalia del Río, which in English translates to Saint Eulalia of the River. And when I say train, it is actually a "land train", called the Santa Eulalia Express. This tourist train covers four trips and the one we chose was a 4 hour excursion.

We set off from Cala Llonga at 10:00am and en route to Santa Eulalia, we drove along country lanes and were shown a few watermills and Carob Trees Ceratonia siliqua, locally known in Spanish as El algarroboo. More on this tree here and here.

At one small village, called Sant Carles de Peralta, we stopped off for a 20 minute break, which gave me and Dawn an opportunity to visit one...................

..............of the oldest and historic taverns on the island. The Bar Anita (locally known as Ca n’Anneta)

On another stop, where we were being shown the Carob trees, Dawn spotted what she could only describe as being a "Marten-type" mammal. Only problem with this, is that the only Marten to live on Ibiza was the Beech Marten, which sadly became extinct on the island in the mid-seventies.

However, Dawn is incredibly good at describing things that she has seen. In this case she described perfectly a small marten-type mammal without a white bib. That didn't sound right to me, as martens do have a white bib. But guess what, the Ibiza species doesn't!!

According to the Animal Diversity Web:

'Beech Martens range in coloration from dark brown to pale greyish brown. A white or buffy streak can be seen just below the chin running down the neck to the chest. In some southern and eastern regions this white streak is absent.'

We shall never know what she saw!!

After our trip we returned to Cala Llonga and I decided to have another snorkelling session. This time in the sea just off the hotel steps. With camera in hand and a couple of bread rolls in my pocket I set off to see what I could find.

My snorkelling launch pad.

It's amazing what a bit of bread can draw in. The fish I recorded are listed below!!

Well in total in I recorded at least 5 fish species:

White Seabream Diplodus sargus. AKA Sargo.

Painted Comber Serranus scriba.

Brown Comber Serranus hepatus.

Salema Porgy Sarpa salpa. AKA Dreamfish, Salema and Cow Bream

Brown Meagre Sciaena umbra. AKA Corb

Saddled Seabream Oblada melanura AKA Saddle Bream and Oblade

New birds were:

Woodpigeon

Goldfinch

Blackbird 

Grey Wagtail

Flowers recorded:

Chinese hibiscus Hibiscus × rosa-sinensis

Chinese hibiscus Hibiscus × rosa-sinensis

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