04/03 : Sierra de María

Before going to Dave's account of their trip to Sierra María, news from Málaga includes the first Pallid Swifts seen over the weekend at various sites, 3 Lesser Flamingos and the first Garganeys at Fuente de Piedra and as many as 4 Ferruginous Ducks reported at the laguna Dulce (Campillos). You really must stop giving Gilly and the rest of us nasty shocks, Dave, but we're very glad you're better.

After last Sundays health scare, when my blood pressure shot up to 170/110 & my pulse rate peaked at 170bpm, we (I) decided a walk in the fresh air would help with my recuperation. We headed our way up to the Sierra de Maria in sunny weather, but with a slight breeze. Rod, Linda and Val of the group had been in the area the previous weekend. I'll mention what they observed during this report.

We drove slowly up the approach road to the chapel, birding as we went. Managed to see Serin, Black Redstart, Blackbird, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Rock Sparrow. A wander round the chapel and water trough failed to add anything so we walked up to the Botanical Garden. Birds were few and far between on the way along the lower walk, but on the way back we came across a "titmouse" flock. Mostly Coal Tits, but some Blue and Long-tailed also. Also seen were Firecrest and Short-toed Treecreepers. Jays were being very vocal. Also heard a distant Raven. The first crocuses of the spring were poking their heads out of the frosty ground.

We then travelled along the valley, seeing a few Griffon Vultures gliding along the ridges. ( The previous week 300+ were seen at the feeding station near Velez Blanco + a Black Vulture) We stopped for a thermos coffee and were serenaded by a singing Woodlark. Seeing nothing else of importance we headed down onto the plain. We saw a plume of 50+ Griffons, but for a change the Calandra Larks were highly visible, posing on roadside rocks. A large flock of Linnets was noted.

(It was at this point the previous week, our three group members, together with others on a guided tour, saw a small aircraft take off near to the hamlet. After a short distance it plummeted to the ground, bursting into flames. They, together with their guide, who was a First Responder, rushed to the scene, getting there first. It was too late for the two occupants.)

At the hamlet we were pleased to see that six Lesser Kestrels had returned from their winter jaunt. The way back along the plain also produced a Hoopoe and a Little Owl.

We ate a sandwich lunch at the La Piza cafe (opens after Easter) with Crossbills above our heads, waiting to take drink from the fuente (water supply). That was an end to a good days birding. The lack of a Stonechat and Chiffchaff was noted. 35 species in all.

01/03 : Guadalhorce

A nice day weather-wise yesterday morning, which is more than can be said for today after overnight rain and electrics (yes, I'm a day late but there are extenuating circumstances to do with birding), and although it was cool when I entered the ponds the temperature rose pleasantly during the morning.
One of my aims, apart from birding of course, was to see how much more work had been done as yesterday was the last day of the workers who have been slogging away these past months. I have got so say that they have done a a good job overall, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically in parts, but as plant growth is rapid down here the scars will soon heal over. I think that those who visit these coming spring months will find a good chance of seeing more migrating pipits, wagtails (something to which I always look forward), with more chance of shrikes also. There is a variety of vegetation levels which amplifies species and insect range.
A lot, if not all, this work has been carried out because of financing by the Caixa bank as part of their social services programme to help the insertion of those with social integration problems. So, a big thank you to the Caixa and to those who did the work for Medio Ambiente from which we birders will benefit.
There are signs about dogs without leads, in spite of which one illiterate moron had two loose yesterday and was intercepted and bollocked by the indefatigable Antonio Tamayo. The excuse of said moron was that he hadn't seen the signs, in spite of having passed two! And they are amongst us and they breed!
On the negative side, there is a distinct lack of water in the río Viejo as this photo from the río Viejo observatorio (hide) shows and urgent pumping is necessary as I estimate the levels to be of a late July standard. The open spaces are being enjoyed by the Little Ringed Plovers who are busy tuning their hormones but not so good for the othe waders as I saw only 7 Sanderlings, the usual Black-winged Stilts which have not yet achieved total hysteria levels, Kentish Plovers (Estebán, the one who drives the Land Rover truck, told me he had seen a flock of 20+ that morning along the cleared beach and reckons it's going to be a very good year for them), and 2 each of Redshanks and Greenshanks and singles of Avocet, Green Sandpiper and Black-tailed Godwit.

The duck variety was much as always, Pochards, some remaining Teal, the ubiquitous Mallards, - the males now in their little bachelor clubs whilst the females are incubating, and the White-headeds of which the males are now gaining their blue daffy-duck bills. (I still think they look mentally retarded!) The Cormorant population is definitely down, I only saw one in full breeding plumage, and Grey Herons too seem to have declined in numbers.
There was no Osprey in evidence and only 2 Kestrels along plus a single Booted Eagle, although Ron Appleby had seen 8 the other day up river, 6 together possibly being migrating birds.
As I was alone I wandered at my own not very quick pace and noted a goodly increase in Chiffchaffs and several Hoopoes (2 of which I also had resting in the pine in the garden today, photo R here) and a fall in Black Redstarts although I did see a cracking male later on something and was rewarded with a female Bluethroat coming into the telescope view at the same time.
I also saw 2 Song Thrushes, these probably having come in from Morocco where they have over-wintered, rather like the Redwing that Stephen Daly had seen near Barbate yesterday. I spent some time with Antonio Tamayo and he heard Penduline Tit (I didn't as hearing goes with advancing years, as do other physical attributes - and you can think what you like!) but neither of us saw them.
However, as the virtuous are occasionally rewarded I did turn up a Wryneck which posed nicely for about 30 seconds, a very bonny bird to see and definitely bird of the day for a total of around 47 species, with which I was quite happy.

24/02 : Laguna Dulce + Fuente de Piedra

As hoped for yesterday, although nothing was certain until the evening, Federico and I were off to the laguna Dulce (Campillos) and Fuente de Piedra, starting at the first before 0930. It was a great morning, both weather- and bird-wise. Sunny, little breeze early on although cool, but warmer later but the wind got up. I should point out that this chronicle has only the one photo, which is by Federico, so you will have to trsy and imagine things.

The laguna Dulce was beautiful in the morning sun and the first thing we did was scan for Cranes, as we could hear distant birds. A count of those on tghe deck gave 350 or so but when they took flight in one long string - can one call it a skein? - what with those and the 80 os so left, there must have been around 450 birds in total. These will be on the long flight north very soon, staging at places like Villafafila and in France en route.

We then turned our attention to the water itself which had a fair covering of Coots and at least 30 Black-necked Grebes but no Great Cresteds. As for ducks, there were quite a few, including 18 Red-crested Pochards, some of the more normal European Pochards, a pair of Gadwall, Mallards of course and a handful of White-headed Ducks. The best by a long way was a very nice male Ferruginous Duck which tied for first place with 3 1st winter Little Gulls!
And just in case you might think that the Ferruginous looks a bit odd, with more white on it than it should have as shown in the guides, apart from the white stern, the white on the side is the white of the secondaries.

There were a few Barn Swallows hawking for insects and a single female Reed Bunting - it's been a pretty good winter for these nice little birds. A fat Corn Bunting uttered its squeaky gate call, always a good give away for this species.

On the way round to Fuente de Piedra, we noted a surprising quantity of Blackcaps (I had seen 5 yesterday in my garden) and went straight round to the information centre from where it was easy to pick up the pair of Lesser Flamingos feeding over to the left amongst their larger cousins. These are the birds that have been around for at least 6 weeks but this is the first time that I have seen them together, other times they have been at opposite ends of the lake. Can it be love?

We ran into Ron Appleby and shiortly thereafter into Bob Wright. Ron had been watching a male Bluethroat which we saw later very briefly as it took off to hide for the rest oif the time we were there, and Water Pipit showed briefly before flying off, whilst a Meadow Pipit hung around.

There were lots of waders, the majority being some 38 Little Stints but we couldn't find and Temminck's. These wandered like little clockwork toys along the water's edges amongst the larger waders such as the Avocets and the solitary Redshank, between the 4 feeding Shelducks, even making the 8 Dunlins appear enormous. Amidst all this coming and going, a solitary Greenshank slept on and a Lapwing ignored the lot of 'em.

And to round off an extremely pleasant and profitable morning, a couple of Marsh Harriers, a very distant Common Buzzard and the resident Black-shouldered Kite, always a delight to the eye.

22/02 : Villaricos and Vera

From Dave E-B, which I regret to say I overlooked this midday whilst trying to get umpteen things done at once, including that vital commodity called food. Sorry, Dave, but the record shot of the Penduline Tit comes out very badly so I had to eliminate it.
Things are moving, Chiffs are starting to move through again, as are Blackcaps (I had 5 together in my garden this afternoon, 23/02). In fororoa Birgit Kremer reports 12 Brent Geese from in front of Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz) whilst Antonio Miguel Pérez had 13 spp. of waders, 2 Water Rails and a total of 67 spp. at the Guadalhorce yesterday (22/02). Federico and I are off to Fuente de Piedra tomorrow, so we may have something interesting to report.

Firstly I'd like to welcome Heather and Jack Murrell and Phil and Sue Naylor to our group. I'm glad to say they would've had a good days birding with us. We all met up at the "ford" on the Rio Almanzora rambla. We were greeted by a very vocal Southern Grey Shrike high up on the power lines. We took a slow walk along the newly constucted, but not yet quite complete, walking/cycle track towards Cuevas de Almanzora which overlooks the rambla. There were still hundreds of Chiffchaffs. We saw Greenshank, Snipe, a few pairs of Little Ringed Plovers and noisy Black-winged Stilts. There were about half a dozen Teal, a single Cattle Egret and a Grey Wagtail. As we reached the water deposit a Grey Heron flew off and a Water Pipit was noted on the waters edge on the rambla. But the best birds until this point were a pair of calling Red-billed Choughs flying from the fields up to the hills to our right.

We turned round and headed back passed the vehicles towards the road bridge. Some Goldfinches and a Hoopoe were seen. I then spotted a small bird flying, then landing on a tamerisk shrub in mid rambla - a Penduline Tit. Thankfully it was seen by all the group. Managed to get a "record" shot. We have seen them in the area before, but down by the beach about 5 yrs ago with Richard Gunn.

We then moved en mass (11 members today) to the beach. Workers were doing pipeline construction on the flat parking area near the cafe. On the rocks were numerous Cormorants, a couple of Yellow-legged Gulls and an Audouin's Gull. A dozen Sanderlings, a Greenshank and a Grey Plover were on the rocks, as was a Kingfisher which I spotted but went before I could point it out. Out to sea were 3 Gannets, a couple of Black-necked Grebes and a Great Crested Grebe. No sign of Razorbills. Also noted was a complete void of Stonechats!

After a reviving cuppa and snack in Villaricos we headed to the pools at Vera. Here we added Shovelers, Little Grebes, Coots and Crag Martins. Still no hirundine influx. Phil did well to spot a magnificant adult Booted Eagle soaring in the distance. Oh yes, a few Stonechats as well!!Down at the pool opposite the 'Consume' supermarket, there were 100s of Black-headed Gulls and also seen were 6 White-headed Ducks and about 30 Common Pochards.

A very good day's birding, hopefully enjoyed by the new members, with 46 species for the day.

ZINO'S PETREL RETURNS!

It's a little known fact that I like seabirds in particular and some may remember the posted in this blogspot back in May 2010 about the memorable trip that several of us from the Spain had made with Madeira Wind Birds to see Zino's and Fea's Petrels. Then, in the August of that year there was a devastating fire which severely hit the breeding grounds of the Zino's high up on Pico d' Areeiro on the top of Madeira (L) . Chicks were burnt to death, as were some adults, and the future looked bleak. However, thanks to an appeal by BirdLife International and in cooperation with the Porstuguese, immediate action was taken, with almost miraculous results. The article below is reprinted from today's mailing (15/02) from BirdLife International

Emergency conservation work pays off: Zino’s Petrel bounces back!

Wed, Feb 15, 2012

Zino’s Petrel was Europe’s rarest seabird even before a ravaging wild fire hit the heart of Madeira’s central massif, where this globally endangered bird breeds.

The fire, in August 2010, had dire consequences: 25 young and 3 adults were found burnt to death, and of the 13 young birds found alive, only one survived to fledge that year – the others were predated in their now obvious nests on the barren mountain ledges.

Suddenly, the species’ population – which had been increasing steadily in recent years, thanks to efforts by the Natural Park of Madeira (PNM) – was jeopardized. The situation was grave indeed – the fire not only led to a near-complete breeding failure in 2010, but also exacerbated soil erosion, causing several nesting burrows to collapse.

As soon as the smouldering cinders permitted it, PNM developed an action plan to mitigate the consequences of this natural disaster. A team of conservation wardens was deployed to place anti-erosion coconut mesh on the breeding ledges to protect the soil in some of the most critical places. Then, with financial and logistical support from SPEA/BirdLife in Portugal, the RSPB/BirdLife in the UK and BirdLife International, about 100 natural nests were restored, while 60 new artificial nests were built. A protective cordon was also built around the known breeding areas, with cat traps and bait boxes.

When the surviving adult birds returned from wintering at sea in April 2011, to prospect for breeding, conservationists were expectant. As the summer progressed, the news from Madeira got better – proof once again that adequate investment in conservation pays off. Monitoring of the breeding colony indicated that 45 nests were occupied – with eggs laid in 43 of them. Although breeding success was lower than before the fire, with only 19 nestlings hatching, the species’ prospects looked more positive again. Moreover, fledgling success was good, with 16 out of the 19 young birds eventually flying out to sea in October.

PNM and SPEA are now more hopeful for the future – and will keep fighting the battle to save Europe’s rarest seabird species.

This work was funded by the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme, Mark Constantine and many generous donations to BirdLife’s online and World Bird Club appeal. Zino’s Petrel has also benefitted from Save Our Species (SOS), a joint initiative of the Global Environment Facility, IUCN and the World Bank, which aims to ensure the long-term survival and well-being of threatened species and critical habitats for biodiversity conservation. These achievements would not have been possible without the funds provided by members and supporters of SPEA, the RSPB and BirdLife International.

15 / 02 : Cabo de Gata

Dave, Spoonbills sleep during the day because they're basically nocturnal feeders. The flamingo ring (L)orange 8 bar TM (reading down) is one from Doñana, the bird being ringed in 2003.

After the adventures of Morocco, we were apprehensive about getting back to our Spanish birding. We met up with Val and Rod for a cuppa in Pujaire before heading to the first hide. We were greeted by a Barn Swallow fly past. In fact, apart from Crag Martins they were the only hirundines we saw all day, which was a bit of a surprise. The weather was sunny with a few clouds, but a cold easterly breeze kept our fleeces on all day.
There were numerous waders: Avocets, Little Stints, Curlew Sandpipers, Dunlins, Redshanks and Ringed Plovers. We saw the first of many Stonechats, usually in pairs.

We briefly checked the "pool" on the opposite side of the road. No water, but did see a Song Thrush.

On the way to the second hide, I spotted an Eurasian Curlew on the savanna. It flew a short distance away joining 30 others. None with short bills! Also in this feeding group were about 10 Golden Plovers.

The sea appeared devoid of bird life, so we proceeded to the hide. There were 327 Greater Flamingos and 4 Spoonbills (Why are they 99% of the time asleep?) Also seen were Shelducks, Cormorants and Black-winged Stilts. The walk back to tshe car produced Linnest and Corn Buntings.

The public hide added Shoveler, Sanderling and a Robin to the list. On the fence by a puddle colourful Greenfinches were waiting for us to leave.

We headed round the rear of the reserve. A group of about 10 Audouin's Gulls were resting with a couple of hundred Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Waders were few and far between but we did see one Bar-tailed Godwit and about a dozen Black-tailed cousins. The scrubland and ruined buildings produced Southern Grey Shrike and Little Owl respectively. As we got near the end I said to Val that we sometimes get Stone Curlew here, as she'd never seen one and two seconds later two flew up. It just happens like that sometimes!

A very good days birding. 51 species in all. Photos by my assistant, Gilly!!

06 / 02 : Guadalhorce pm.

Even by my standards of tardiness (I said tardiness, not Tardis, if uncertain ask anyone of less than 40 years old who likes sci-fi), a week late this is pushing it, although I plead mitigating cicumstances, my Lord, as I have corrected the English summaries on some 400 pages of three different conference proceedings, the English one marine scientific paper and one letter on same, plus trying to clear other stuff off my desk with a moderate degree of success and I've not even been birding. I have another blog to write for this and my Spanish blog before the end of the day too.
So, last Monday afternoon, 06/02, I met Federico for a rather cold walk with a rather unpleasant wind blowing down upon us from the sierras. Nevertheless, we had a very pleasant afteroon and notched up some 43 spp., of birds, which wasn't bad, although with nothing really oustanding. Our route was that we walked down the eastern bank, along the shore and up to the laguna Grande, across to the laguna Escondida and thence homewards.
It was nice to see some waders with 9 spp. recorded. The best was probably a single Wood Sandpiper, with plenty of Little Ringed, Ringed and Kentish Plovers, as well as some 5 Snipe, Black-winged Stilts, 3 Dunlin, Snipe and Common Sandpipers. There were up to 14 Sanderlings on the rocks over on the eastern arm of the river along with some Turnstones. Many of the waders were on the río Viejo, as were the juvenile Flamingos which have been around for ages, as well as 2 Spoonbills.

One of the reasons for going down was to assess all the work that has been done and Federico and I discussed it, but of that more in the blog which will follow this, today if at all possible but I may do the Spanish version first.
We saw the first adult Audouin's Gull of the spring, a lovely looking bird, they start coming in from about 15 February onwards.
On the laguna Grande we picked up the resident wintering Osprey, they really are fabulous birds, andf there were plenty of ducks, many sheltering from the wind. Apart from the White-headed Ducks, there were Teal - including these two (R) who did everything together - and the splendid males (below L), as were the male Shovelers (below R).

Ducks apart, both Federico and myself had the impression that numbers of Black Redstart had fallen somewhat whilst Chiffchaffs were on the scarce side. I should add here that my friend Samu both heard, which is really the only way to identify them on song, and photographed an Iberian Chiffchaff at the end of last week. These are early arrivals and some years ago a friend and I had one singing around 14 February. We saw only 2 Skylarks but I am hopeful that in the future we will see rather more wintering birds.
So, after one of the coldest weeks that I have had the misfortune to winter in 31 years on the coast, the temperatures are set to rise slowly and if anyone is heading towards Almería, the male Desert Wheatear was seen again this weekend near Torre García, Retamar.