Flamingoes at the Salt Lake... in the far distance

It's slightly surprising to me to realise that it's only five weeks since my first early-morning walk around the Salt Lake.  Since then, with increasing enthusiasm and energy, I've gone out with my friend Sheila three times per week, walking at least 5km (including getting to and from the trail) and occasionally 9k, if I do the whole thing. 

Today we set out just before 6.00am, pleased to see clear skies and sunshine. We didn't plan on doing the whole 8k walk, but at the 4k mid-point decided to walk just a little way on, to see if we could see the flamingoes. Sheila has spotted them a few times already, although they don't usually come to Cyprus until a bit later in the year. But with the very wet spring, the Salt Lake did not dry out at all (although we're not entirely sure how the flamingoes could have known that...)

As we reached the place where there's an official bird-watching spot, we walked a little closer to the lake, and Sheila pointed at some dots which, she assured me, were the flamingoes. So I dutifully took a couple of photos.  Here's one of them... 

... and here's another, zoomed as far as possible without going totally grainy (although the colours seem to have gone slightly grey)... and I think those pinkish things, right in the middle of the section I cropped, must be the flamingoes:

I would need a far more powerful camera to be able to count them or even to see for sure that they are flamingoes, and if I had such a camera I wouldn't take it on a brisk early morning walk. So, I hope that later in the season we'll see more of them, rather nearer to this side of the lake.

Or maybe I'll agree to walk right around one morning - it's only about 12k, so quite feasible, but by about 8.00 it's already getting a bit too warm and sunny for me to keep walking.  And that despite it beginning to feel decidedly autumnal in the evenings.