Thanks, Suzanne. I wish you could be here too. Have you ever visited this region? And in spite of the passing thunderstorms the weather is quite promising now. It feels like we’re here at a very good time.

I should have included a photo of it ‘in port’. It is flush with the pavement and looks like driving onto a small ferry.

Huh, there’s an idea. Why would I want one in my wallet?

Hmm. Since you’re carrying the Tile, perhaps it should go in your wallet or be attached to your glasses?

Seriously, I hope it’s a wonderful tour and am looking forward to following along.

Yes, it does. They’re very close cousins, and I’m not certain of the identification - conceivably it could be a great cormorant, the only other possibility here. Shags are a bit smaller, a bit blacker, and have more slender bills. So maybe.

I echo what Suzanne said - a most encouraging start and a wish that I could be cycling there as well. And though this may not be the tour that you originally envisioned, I trust that you will both find a way to maximize your enjoyment while taking it a little easier.

That can also carry automobiles?! Amazing.

Looks like a cormorant

De Gaulle is the worst in our admittedly limited experience. Thanks for the Bilbao preview, we're excited to wander around the Guggenheim in a few weeks.

An encouraging start. I hope the weather improves. Wish I could be cycling there, too.

I didn’t my use an app per se, but in the states I browse the Cornell Labs site, All About Birds. It’s really an excellent resource. Overseas I use eBird, also a Cornell site. I think both are associated with the Merlin app.

Cornell is really the center of the bird universe, I think. It goes back to Tom Cade, a professor there who died not long back. I remember reading his book bout perigrine falcons back when o was an adolescent.

Thanks for prompting me to look at this again. You’re right that it’s a tourism office now, but it was originally a train station. I discovered this by reading review comments on the place.

I was really delighted when I looked up and saw this.

Other than it houses the tourism office for Portugalete, I can't find anything about the building. It's certainly attractive.

Hi, I am enjoying your journal, as usual. May I ask, what birding app do you use?