eight days ... and no nights! (22-28 February)

Thought you may like the title for this blog, sounds a bit film-like, doesn't it? Starring myself as the overworked birder. It is a brief blog, this, as I really have been very busy, a large translation which took about 12 hours in bits and pieces, escorting visitors to the Guadalhorce ponds, a couple of visits to the doctors to see if first myself and then the wife were still alive (more or less, is the verdict), and trying to get on with the illustrations for the seabird book - they really do progress apace but as a sheet can take anything between a minimum of 5 and up to 10 hours, progress is not speedy!

So, starting last Sunday, 22 February, at the ponds for a couple of hours with the usual assortment of domingueros, we had the first 2 Red-rumped Swallows of the spring and plenty of Barn Swallows and House Martins, but still no Sand Martins. A single Water Rail showed briefly - when do they ever show for long? There were a few Little Ringed Plovers making a huge amount of noise and that was about it, as I wanted to get back and get some painting done, plus the fact that I was going to be there the following day.

Monday, 23 February, to the ponds again as an escort for Clara Coen from Chicago and Luis Robles who came along, having brought her in from Málaga. It was a grey morning but we saw the first Sand Martin (at last!) and she got good views of a Red-rumped Swallow sitting resting on the tamarisks along with the a bundle of other hirundines. On the way to the eastern arm of the river a Great White Heron/Egret (or whatever they are currently calling the damned things) gave brief views while on the pond a female Mallard appeared with her flotilla of early ducklings, these about 5 days old, I reckoned, and they kept coming and coming until 11 had paddled across in front of us. She must have started sitting right at the end of January. I managed to pick up an Iberian Chiffchaff on call, there were plenty of ordinary singing Chiffs around to compare and a good thing too, as I am not good on calls. We got good views of a nice male Yellow Wagtail (another spring first) of the cinereocapilla race, sometimes called the Ashy-headed Wagtail - very bonny. And by that time the morning had flown it was time to call it a day, Clara delighted with her morning's birding - another satisfied customer!

28 February, the ponds yet again in the morning and drizzle with Luis Aleixos - one of us seabirders who was down from Valencia on a brief visit and staying with Salva García, otherwise Señor Colour Ring himself. There was not a lot to be seen but the first 2 Pallid Swifts of the year overflew and we saw all 5 spp. of hirundines, which isn't bad! An Osprey in one of the dead eucalyptus showed its colour ring nicely, black KM7, a German ringed bird. In the afternoon we met at La Caleta de Vélez but there was no fishing fleet active, it being a Saturday, so we found little apart from 6 Balearic Shearwaters - conspicuous by their absence here this winter but Luis says they are all off the Valencia coast where he saw over 2.000 not so many days since, a single Kittiwake in the harbour and a flock of 26-27 Black-necked Grebes on the sea - very nice too.
The objective of Salva was to take Luis up to Viñuela reservoir, inland from Vélez-Málaga, where there are huge afternoon concentrations of Mediterranean Gulls, Salva has guesstimated figures of over 17.000 birds! I set off home (paint and paper called) and on the way passed under a flock of what I reckoned was around 3.000 birds! Many of the adult Med. Gulls are coming into full breeding plumage and they really are stunning birds to look at, and if you don't believe me, have a look in your field guide.
So, on the eighth day, 1 March, there was a day devoted to more painting and a brief excursion out with the dog under lowering skies about an hour since showed 2 more swifts (species unknown) winging their west.