.... and autumn has come!

I see that the last blog was on 2 October and that I had detailed the first day's fruitless search for the Long-tailed Shrike -an exceedingly rare Asiatic species which the twitching fraternity would classify as a mega. The following morning some few of us managed to get to try and find it, but to no avail. The same on the morning of the 2 October, with all of eight of us looking, but again no joy. There were some super Whinchats, the males are so smart, 2 Southern Grey Shrikes and 2 late juv. Woodchat Shrikes, a Spotted Flycatcher and in the wader line a couple of Little Stints and a Ruff that didn't look too happy with life. But no L-t. Shrike. So that was it, we had tried but nothing, something to which all birders are well accustomed.

That same morning, I had scarcely had time to get myself a coffee and wander out to the terrace that same morning, lamenting the fact of no shrike of the desired sp., when I heard one of our resident kestrels raising cain very close by. Shortly a Honey Buzzard flew very nonchalantly by the front of the terrace at a range of not more than 20m, with the kestrel chasing it and making a dickens of noise, so much so it woke the dog from her slumbers in the sun, to which she also loudly objected and got her rump smacked for her pains.

A walk by the river the afternoon of 7 October did turn up 2 smashing adult Caspian Terns, my first ones this year and which will probably be the bird of the month (photo by Peter Jones).

Meanwhile, my garden has turned up quite a lot in the period 2-8 October, with some birds obviously staying several while they fed up and increased body fat supplies. Such was the case of the juv. Spotted Flycatcher which stayed from 4-7 October, a Redstart that stayed three days and a Pied Flycatcher which stayed a couple of days, while the juv. Willow Warblers (max. 2 birds per day and a single juv. Whitethroat and a single Garden Warbler (an unusual sp.) both only stayed a couple of hours.

Last weekend (3-5 October) was International Bird Day of BirdLife International. Here in Málaga the local group SEO-Málaga gets in speakers and sets up various outdoor events. This year I didn't manage to get to hear any of the speakers and the only event that I managed to get to was the open morning at the Guadalhorce ponds last Sunday morning. The public at large (sounds like a wild animal let loose, doesn't it?) loves watching the ringing of passerines and usually several hundred turn up with hordes of children, many of whom are far too noisey for my liking, as are some parents who couldn't control a somnolent hamster. However, if that's the way the future is bought, then I suppose it has to be so.

On the plus side, I see many friends, some of whom come into the 'once-a-year' category, but no less friends for that. During the time that I was there I had the very pleasant company of co-blogger Bob Wright who came down out of the hills to see how the other half live. There wasn't too much in the bird line, even though on the Saturday a Marbled Duck (or Teal if you're old-fashioned) had been seen. The unhappy Ruff had been so unhappy that it had popped it and there were a couple of Little Stints, at least one a different bird to the previously seen ones.

Today, Friday 10 October, the weather is not nice. After a sharp and very heavy rainstorm yesterday, the weathermen / women / persons got it right and we have gale force easterly winds, with rain in the wind and very heavy seas. I took the dog down to the river mouth to walk her a bit and to see if there were any birds but the weather won. The rather poor photo shows the seas sweeping over the sand bar! It was impossible to hold the binoculars steady and there were lots of gulls and a solitary adult Common Tern which had amazingly managed to catch a fish.

We shall see what the weekend brings as my knee is still giving me merry hell and I don't want to push my luck.