birding the costa: 25 August, Almería birding (Dave E-B)

26/8/08

25 August, Almería birding (Dave E-B)

Dave Elliott-Binns was thrown out of the house yesterday, as you will read, and took off birding. I reproduce his e-mail in its entirety, along with three of his photos (Montagu's Harrier, Crested Coot and Spotted Redshank).

Hi Andy (& Arboleas Group),
With the imminent arrival of kids and grandkids, I was told by Gilly to get out from under her feet as she wanted to clean the house from top to bottom. Not wishing to incur the Wrath of Khan, a day's birdwatching was in order.

Left the house at 0645 and got down to the far end of Roquetas, Salinas de Cerrillos, by 0830. I was greeted by a Kingfisher. The Marsh Sandpiper was still there, together with the usual selection of waders, which included Ruff and Curlew Sandpiper. Heading back towards the hotels, I managed to get decent photos of Spotted Redshank

and Crested Coot.
With 39 species under my belt, I headed off to Las Norias. Numerous Black Terns were joined by Sandwich, Little and Gull-billed. A pair of Marbled Teal were in the pool near the plastic recycling centre. Also there were Little Bittern & Squacco Heron. Only saw one juvenile Night Heron near the breeding area. The wintering Shoveler and Gadwall have begun to arrive. Had a chat with a birdwatching Junta ranger. Said about the viewing problems regarding the fence and vegetation. He said he didn't have a problem. He wouldn't .... he's got a key to get through the gates and the use of a company 4x4, which he stood on the roof of to see over any obstruction! I don't think so!! After a hearty lunch I headed for Cabo de Gata. 100's of cars along the beach road, but it was deserted on the salinas. Hoping to see the Elegant Tern reported previously, my heart skipped a beat when I glimpsed a

red bill in a group of distant terns. Unfortunately it was a Common variety! As I was on my own I drove round the rear of the reserve. Normally we turn round at the hide and head back, but this time I carried on to see where the track came out.
Suddenly all the waders and gulls took to flight. I stopped and scanned and found a pair of Montagu's Harriers quartering the scrubland. The first time I'd seen that species there. They took my day's total to 59 species.
Very satisfying but wasn't it hot!!

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THE BLOG AND ME

THE BLOG

'Birding the Costa' is a blog spot for English speaking birders anywhere in Andalucía whose Spanish is not up to scratch. It is not just about rarities, although details will be posted of these. You are welcome to send in reports to me for publication for the benefit of others, but please be brief, select the essential and most interesting, and give site, name of nearest town or village and province and date(s) of observation. All published reports will be attributed, so please give your name also. Photos may be sent for publication and will be acknowledged. Attributed reports (translated) from Spanish webs will also be given.

Information about the sites of rare breeding species will not be published.

ME
I'm a sort of Brit., although I've lived about half my life out of the UK, and have lived here on the coast for over 30 years and been birding for over 60.

The vast majority of my birding revolves around my garden area in Torremolinos (c.112 spp. last time I counted), my local spot at the ponds at the mouth of the Río Guadalhorce and less frequently the areas of the lake at Fuente de Piedra and the Tarifa-La Janda area.

I am NOT a twitcher and my main interest lies with seabirds, followed by waders. Little brown jobs, known by the French as les petites merdes, a sentiment with which I fully agree, do not rank high amongst my birding interests.

And in response to a request for more information, I have been a member of the Seabird Group since its inception in 1965, a founder member of the Filey Brigg Bird Group (UK), helped form and served on the Spanish Rarities Committee (Comité de Rarezas), helped found the Iberian Seabird Group (Grupo Ibérico de Aves Marinas) and am an insignificant member of the IUCN Flamingo Specialist Group.

Virtually all sites mentioned in this blog will be found in the 3rd edition of Where to watch birds in southern and western Spain by Ernest García and myself and published by Helm (London).

Sites in the Doñana area can be found in the excellent Where to watch birds in Doñana by Paco Chiclana and Jorge Garzón, published by Lynx.

PUBLISHED 1 AUGUST 2012
.

.... for the real seabirder who isn't afraid of doing his/her own active chumming! And it's on waterproof paper!

The BIRDBOOKER REPORT of Ian Paulsen says (12/08) 'In short, this is a must-have guide for serious birders on both sides of the Atlantic. RECOMMENDATION: Pelagic birders should find this waterproof guide useful.

PUBLICATIONS
Varias notas en la revista British Birds entre 1965-presente; 1968-72 en el Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club; desde 1983 en La Garcilla y desde 1995 en Birdwatch.

1985. Interrupted migration and misorientation of Black Terns Chlidonias nigra during spring migration in Andalucía. Seabird 8: 69-73.

1986. Kleptoparasitic feeding by migrating skuas in Málaga Bay, Spain. Ringing & Migration 7: 51-55.

1986. (with E. de Juana) The status of the seabirds in the extreme western Mediterranean. In Medmaravis & Monbilliu, X.. Mediterranean Marine Avifauna; population studies and connservation, pp. 39-106. NATO ASI series G, vol. 12. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.

1987. Fenología de las aves marinas en la bahía de Málaga. Ardeola 34(2): 167-192.

1987. Birdwatching in southern Spain. Golf Area, S.A., Málaga.

1988. (with Bourne, W.R.P., Mackrill, E.J. & Yésou, P.) The Yelkouan Shearwater Puffinus (puffinus?) yelkouan. British Birds 81: 306-319).

1990. (with Yésou, P., Mackrill, E.J. & Bourne, W.R.P.) Plumage variation and identification of the 'Yelkouan Shearwater'. British Birds 83: 299-319.

1990. (with N.J. Riddiford) Does the Cape Gannet enter European waters? British Birds 83: 519-525.

1990. Aves marinas de Málaga y Mar de Alborán. (Seabirds of Málaga and Sea of Alborán.) Junta de Andalucía, Sevilla.

1990. Seasonal evolution of the gull populations in Málaga, Spain. Ardeola 37: 19-28.

1993. Development of head moult of Black-headed Gulls Larus ridibundus in southern Spain. Seabird 15:68-71.

1993. The status of the Northern Gannet (Sula bassana) in the Mediterranean. In Ahuilar, J.S., Monbailliu, X. & Paterson, A.M. (eds.) Status and conservation of seabirds, (Proc. 2nd Medmaravis Symp, 1989), pp. 161-171. SEO/Birdlife, Madrid.

1994. (with Dr. E.F.J. García) Where to watch birds in Southern Spain. Christopher Helm, Londres. (También publicado en España por Omega, Barcelona, 1995, Dónde observar aves en la España meridional.)

1995. Distribuzione degli uccelli marini nidificanti nel Mediterraneo, Mar Nero e Mar d'Azov. (Distribution of nesting seabirds in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Sea of Azov.) In Monbailliu, X. & Torre, A. La gestione degli ambienti costieri e insulari del Mediterraneo, pp. 23-42. Collana Mediterranea, vol. 2. Edizione del Sole, Italia.

1997. Aves marinas de España y Portugal. Seabirds of Spain and Portugal.) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

1999. (with Pierre Yésou) Puffin yelkouan et Puffin des Baléares: une ou deux espèces? (Mediterranean Shearwater and Balearic Shearwater: one or two species?) Ornithos 6.

2001. (with Dr. E.F.J. García) Where to watch birds in southern and western Spain. (revised and enlarged 2nd edition of 1994 publication) (Christopher Helm, London).

2002. Guía a las aves marinas de Iberia. Ediciones Leonesas, León.

2003. Birdwatch, article on 'Prestige' oil spill disaster.

2008. (with Dr. E.F.J. García) Where to watch birds in southern and western Spain. (revised and enlarged 3rd edition of 1994 and 2001 publications) (Christopher Helm, London).

birding the costa

26/8/08

25 August, Almería birding (Dave E-B)

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