Tempus fugit* and winter comes

I see that the last entry of these meanderings was on 19 October, it really is really is amazing how the time flies (hence tempus fugit, or time flies for those with a non classical education). And in that time I have done not a lot birdwise and shall proceed to recount what little I have seen and what others have seen (with a lot more luck!).

There have been several days with a few Chiffchaffs moving through the garden and a female/juv. Black Redstart has arrived and is apparently interested in taking up residence, although there has been some opposition from a Robin with the same idea and the Blackcaps - the males are really smart little chaps - don't like the presence of the Robin, so nobody wins! The first Black Redstart appeared on 20/10. while there was a late Common Redstart on 22/10 along with a female/juv. Whitethroat. At the mouth of the Guadalhorce, seen when I was staggering with Luna, there was at least one Northern Wheatear on 21/10 and another or the same on 23/10.


Last week down at the ponds Antonio Miguel watched an Otter for a few minutes on the Tuesday afternoon and he rang me to tell me, he was so excited. There have been more and more sightings of footprints in the damp earth recently and some spraint (look it up) has been found, so the sighting was not wholly unexpected but extremely welcome nevertheless. On Saturday afternoon (25 October), the sighting was bettered as Antonio watched it again, this time on and off for about 40 minutes. Also on the Saturday he saw the first of the passage wildfowl, with a couple of Wigeon and no less than 12 Pintails. Federico didn't see it as he was there in the morning, but he did manage to see and get a photo (left) of a Wryneck, which is a jolly good sighting.

Needless to say, it wasn't there on Sunday morning when I staggered down - I was suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms by then - and the domingueros had a reasonably pleasant morning. Pat and I compared my little 50mm Minox with her little Nikon 50mm with ED glass, there being a two-fold difference in price and image quality, which makes the Nikon a good option for those who don't want to lug around too many kilos.

There wasn't a lot in the bird line and there certainly aren't many waders, the ponds having gone from too little too much. There were, on the other hand, 4 Wigeon, my first ones of the autumn. There were plenty of Chiffs around, something which I'd been seeing around the garden all week. A few Skylarks were moving through and Antonio claimed that he'd heard a Siskin.
The photo on the right (mine) is of a little Ladder Snake which seemed intent on trying to swallow Antonio Miguel, the white bit below the head is its lower mandible! Little did it know what it had taken on!

This Tuesday morning (28 October) the weather is grey, it has rained (Luna does not like rain and is currently sitting looking out at it) and the temperature is falling. The daughter, a teacher, rang from Madrid to wish her mother happy birthday and it was raining, cold and she was on playground duty! Ha-ha! On the bird front this morning, an unusual fly-by was a Grey Heron which enjoyed (?) the close escort of a very voluble squadron of those damned Monk Parakeets. A couple of Chiffchaffs moved through when the rain started, a not unusual occurrence at this time of year (the Chiffs, that is).

I had a message from Teo to say that yesterday he'd seen good movements of Griffon Vultures, with 830-870 flying W over Coín and later another 350-400 over the Sierra de Mijas. Many forget that these do migrate down to the Strait before crossing over to Morocco and points south. It is quite common for young, exhausted birds to be picked up anywhere along the coastal strip, often sitting in the middle of cities or on someone's roof. Some years since down at Tarifa I saw a flock, stream is a better word perhaps, which I estimated at about 800-850 strong and going through them with the scope I found a 1st year Lammergeir / Bearded Vulture, known in Spanish as the Quebrantahuesos - the bone breaker.

Coincidence! I wrote the above on the vultures just before lunch, and about 20 minutes since (1720L) coming loaded out of the supermarket I saw my first ever lost Griffon Vulture, a juvenile (they often are) flapping low over the outskirts of Torremolinos ecorted by a couple of flocks of starlings until it the lower skirts of the sierra when it gained some lift.