"People moaning about the weather and the price of a loaf of bread" sounds like Dogsey!!

What a great life she has! Lovely photos!

flamingoes
Whenever the first rains occur greater flamingoes land on the salt lake. The rains bring the brine shrimp larvae to the surface and the flamingos like to eat the shrimp larvae. They also feel safer surrounded by water. The brine shrimp lays fertlised eggs in the sand which will hatch only when conditions are right, that is when lake is full of water, and the salinity of the water does not exceed 25%. Flamingoes arrive at the earliest in November, depending on rainfall, and leave at the latest in June. They make an autumnal migration south to overwinter in Africa, and a Spring migration north to breeding grounds on the Bosphorus in Turkey, the Carmargue in France and to southern Spain. The birds leaving early, in November, are probably heading south and those leaving in April, May are heading north. The flamingoes on the Larnaca saltlake are probably headed to Turkey. Our flamingoes may well be spending the winter here in Cyprus, although birds are arriving and leaving all the time so it is difficult to be certain. While here they feed and rest. They sometimes make a lot of noise, usually just before they are about to take off. When they leave they head off south east, either following the coast or follow the Trodos mountains, heading towards Turkey. Are the flamingoes travelling in family groups or are their groups random. As groups take off individuals some way away will join in and, once in the air, groups split off from the main group and circle back as if to pick up straglers.This may indicate that they stay in fixed groups during migration. Does anyone know? Young birds, those with black wing feathers travel inside the larger groups, but seem to stick together in juvenile flocks, and also seem to be the last to leave. In Spring the birds are more like to display, opening and closing their wings, dipping their heads with their wings pushed upwards, raising their heads up and down, moving their heads from side to side, and walking purposefully in circles.