03/10 : La Janda

Yes, it was Wednesday we - the we being myself , Peter Dunn. an old birding friend (we calculate 40 years) and co-founding member of the Filey Brigg Observatory back in the 1970s<, and Kath, Peter's wife,  went to Tarifa and thence La Janda, but since then I received Dave E-B's report on Sierra de María and we had a funeral to attend, so here I am on Friday night trying to get this shortish report done before going to the laguna Dulce and Fuente de Piedra tomorrow. So, on with show.
First stop, before 09.00, was Cazalla where it was blowing pretty hard as a flock of 5 Black Storks and 2 Black Kites struggling against the wind showed, although a Sparrowhawk was rather less fazed although it kept pretty low. Then to breakfast at the San José del Valle bar and after that on to La Janda.

There we went along the canal drainage bank, then across the bridge and up past the farm, then a couple of kms down the track between Benalup and Facinas, with multiple stops, of course. So basically, after the male Stonechat shown here had flaunted itself, it came down the second bird illustrated bdelow leftwhich was a bit of a puzzle. It's certainly an adult as it was in body moult and after much umming and aahing we put it down as a Melodious Warbler and not an Icterine (regrettably!), it being fortunate that Peter is a very experienced A class ringer. In the small birds line we had  quite a few Willow Warblers (10+) and a similar number of Yellow Wagtails, a single small flock of 4-5 Short-toed Larks, some Linnets and Greenfinches, a nice female Whinchat and a constant southerly movement of Barn Swallows and House Martins at a considerable altitude and one Sand Martin. Up beyond the smelly farm. we saw the pair of Magpies that have been hanging around in that area for at least a couplea of years now. A single Purple Boghen was heard in the thick reeds of the little pond at the beginning of the track to Facinas. There were plenty of White Storks and Cattle Egrets and a few Grey Herons. They have only just started harvesting the rice so at the moment there is little suitable habitat and the only waders we saw were singles of Snipe and Green Sandpiper.

In the small birds line we had  quite a few Willow Warblers (10+) and a similar number of Yellow Wagtails, a single small flock of 4-5 Short-toed Larks, some Linnets and Greenfinches, a nice female Whinchat and cuple of Northern Wheatears.  There was a constant southerly movement of Barn Swallows and House Martins at a considerable altitude and one Sand Martin. Up beyond the smelly farm. we saw the pair of Magpies that have been hanging around in that area for at least a couplea of years now. A single Purple Boghen was heard in the thick reeds of the little pond at the beginning of the track to Facinas. There were plenty of White Storks and Cattle Egrets and a few Grey Herons. They have only just started harvesting the rice so at the moment there is little suitable habitat and the only waders we saw were singles of Snipe and Green Sandpiper.
In the raptors line, a brief list with the approximate numbers seen and perhaps a comment where appropriate in parentheses: Griffon Vulture (2), Short-toed Eagle (2), Booted Eagle (2 on La Janda and no less than 7 between Algeciras and Marbella on the way back), Black Kite (13), Marsh Harrier (8 including one male), Montagu's Harrier (1, but it was a splendid melanic bird, the second one I've seen this autumn but they don't half make you think at first sight!), Common Buzzard (5); Sparrowhawk (5+), Goshawk (a big female which Peter saw but as it was me driving it was deemed better that I keep my eyes on the road), Black-winged Kite (10 with one giving merry hell to a Booted Eagle), Kestrel (less than 10, really remarkably few), Lesser Kestrel (about 5). Which makes a total of 12 spp. Not too bad and we had a jolly good day out.