Wryneck

 Not a common bird in Menorca, but some of them can be seen every year in the migratory pass in September.

 

 

The Eurasian wryneck or northern wryneck (Jynx torquilla) is a species of wryneck in the woodpecker family. These birds get their English name from their ability to turn their heads through almost 180 degrees.

Restoration of paintings in the vaults of Santa Maria

It has been hard work but the restoration of the paintings of the largest church in Mahón is already finished.

The Church of Santa Maria Mahon, was built between 1748 and 1772 on the site of a thirteenth-century Gothic church. The interior is neo-Gothic style, with a single vaulted nave, has many side chapels dedicated to different saints. Outside we find a very simple decor, with a bell tower and the door that opens onto a small enclosed space.

It has an impressive organ built in 1810 by masters Francisco Otter and Joan Kiburz from Barcelona. It´s 15 meters high and 9 meters wide. It has four keyboards and 3006 pipes sound (197 are made of wood and the remaining of metal).

All pictures by Andreu Murillo.

Lathyrus ochrus. Muntanya Mala.

Lathyrus ochrus is a annual growing to 0.6 m (2ft). It is in flower from March to June, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Insects. 

Although no records of toxicity have been found for this plant, the seed of some species in this genus contain a toxic amino acid that can cause a severe disease of the nervous system known as 'lathyrism' if they are eaten in large amounts (although small quantities are said to be nutritious)

The Shipwreck of "General Chanzy" 110 years ago.

One of the worst disasters ever to occur in Menorca, took place at 5 in the morning of February 9th 1910, during a tremendous storm with hurricane force winds and giant waves, when the luxury 2300 tonne French passenger/cargo steamship 'General Chanzy', en route from Marseille to Algiers, crashed into the cliffs close to Punta Nati on the northwest coast of Menorca. As she immediately began to sink her boilers exploded.

 The General Chanzy in the Harbour of Marseille

The scale of the disaster was only revealed at 8 in the morning on the Saturday 11th, some 48 hours after the accident, when the sole survivor 23 year old Marcel Baudez, presented himself to the farmhouse of Son Escudero asking for help. Within days the terrible truth would be known; 159 persons had lost their lives in this accident.

 The Cliffs at Punta Nati with rough sea.

The funerary monument in the Ciutadella Cemetery

 

 Load recovery works.

 The saddest job. Collecting of the copses that could be recovered.