30-31 March: a few more interesting birds

Now there's a surprise title for you, a few more birds! Never expected that, did you? So here goes although it will be brief as I want to try to get out and photograph Red-rumped Swallows later.

Yesterday morning, 31 March, it was a slow trundle around the Guadalhorce, part of it in the always welcome company of Antonio Tamayo. Surprisingly, the first bird seen and heardas soon as I had parked by the church was a Blue Tit. The Red-rumped Swallows were floating around by the bridge and should offer good photo opportunities. Also from the bridge I could hear my first 2 Nightingales of the year singing away, something they'll continue doing until late May, by which time they should be exhausted! The White-headed Ducks appear to have increased in numbers with a preponderance of sex mad males and fights between the males whilst the females undoubtedly suffer sexual aggression. Those apart, there was a good selection with Pochard, several pairs of Gadwall, the ubiquitous Mallards and, rather surprisingly as the date is getting late, 2 and a half pairs of Teal (i.e. 5 birds).

Several Whiskered Terns floated elegantly eastwards along the shoreline, as did 3 Meadow Pipits, while Whiskered showed very nicely at the laguna Casilla. There were 5 or 6 Woodchat Shrikes in total. There was only one Sand Martin yesterday and only 3 Yellow Wagtails seen, although the only male was a superb flavissima (the British race). The only wheatear was a female Northern.

Fortunately the number of waders, especially that of Kentish Plovers, has increased and of these there were some 12-15 birds but the conditions for them breeding are very poor, and also a handful of Sanderlings and 2 Ringed Plovers. 4 Redshanks were huddled together along the río Vejo, whilst the Black-winged Stilts are starting to get rowdy.

There were 2 Greater Flamingos on the río Viejo, one a ringed bird which was readable and a quick check at home showed that it had been in ringed in 2004 on the Étang de Fangassier, Camargue, France. Details will, of course, be sent off to France.

The surprise of the day was yet to come. Back in the late 1980s when the Guadalhorce was declared a Paraje Natural, the symbolic species was nominated as being a Glossy Ibis, and paradoxically since then there have been fewer and fewer sightings until now it is considered a damned good bird to see. So when we saw 2 sitting on shore the laguna Grande, Antonio and I nearly flipped, a flip when became damned near total when 2 more flew in and showed quite well overall, as these photos show.

Total of species seen, around 48.

At home in the afternoon, the only bird of interest was the Woodchat Shrike shown here which hung around between 14.15 and 17.10 but which was not present this morning. Also in the garden a single Red-vented Bulbul. After an absence of several months, I have seen and heard one or two of these escapes which first turned up a decade since.

31 March: This morning I took my little blonde friend for a walk and a look down at the mouth the Guadalhorce on the Guadalmar side. It was rather warm as we were rather later than intended, which she didn't like, but I was attracted first a pair of Common Sandpipers on the opposite bank, the male displaying to the female - some just can't wait! Better still, there was a small group of gulls on the sand bar and a quick glance showed 4 or 5 Mediterranean Gulls, all 1st summer birds, and a larger one but not a Yellow-legged. However, when it turned its all white head and I could see the black-tipped bill easily - at long last I had connected with the 3rd summer Ring-billed Gull that has been around and which I have mentioned previously. A very good bird to see. What a good week I'm having!

29 March, a few interesting birds

One day's birding from the terrace with a short walk down by the río Guadalhorce with the dog, nothing exciting one would think, in fact, pretty dull. Well, it shows that one can be greatly mistaken.

Part one (11.00) It started from the terrace when I was having a word with Stephen Daly and generally eying the world around which started with three warblers in the one remaining pine tree. It requires a bit of dexterity to (a) grab binocs, (b) push glasses on to forehead, (c) find and focus in on said warblers whilst (d) endeavouring to maintain a conversation without dropping the phone or, worse, the binoculars. However, all requisites achieved, 2 of the warblers were undoubtedly Bonelli's (by chance, Stephen had also seen some that morning in his garden in Barbate) but the third escaped unidentified.

Part two, 12.00-13.00 (approx.) I felt it was about time that I gave the knees and dog the chance of bit of gentle exercise and down by the Río Guadalhorce seemed a good place, it was flat, we could both go slowly - me to watch for birds and Luna to sniff and smell. I don't know what she smelt but it was interesting for her, but I saw a female Whitethroat and there were at least 2 Reed Warblers singing on the reserve side of the river. Bob Hibbett rang me from the seawatch mirador whilst we were still trundling along to say that he was watching the Ring-billed Gull that has been around that area for about six weeks and with which I signally have failed to connect.

Part three (18.00-20.30) This afternoon has been interesting, so first the swifts. There had been a goodish arrival of Commons on Sunday afternoon and this afternnoon there were more, as I could see from the terrace, with some Pallids mixed in. A walk around the town, about 1.5 km, with dog showed at least 400 and perhaps as many as 600 over my part of the town, which is basically the centre to western part of Torremolinos. It was nice to see them swirling and even more so to hear them and see the first few screaming parties in the low level pursuits and even, dare I mention it, a frustrated attempt at copulation by one pair. It takes a bit of practice after year without it!

And once more the garden. Goldfinches and Serins are a distraction at this time of year even though the males of these latter are little gems, as both bounce around all over the place and distract, but there was more to be seen apart from a very lost white Cockatiel, a species which I am confident is not a natural migrant here. First a female Subalpine Warbler, not the first in the garden but a bonny little bird, then a Woodchat Shrike which hung around forall of ten seconds and finally 2 Willow Warblers, one of which had been hanging around since the start of the afternoon session.

Not a bad day with 5 spp. of warblers, was it?

21-27 March, an uneventful week

This is nearly a full week's blog, between 21 and 27 March. Really, it started on 21 March, allegedly the first day of spring but blowing a gale. However, at least there have been one or two things of interest. On Tuesday, a rough day with lowering grey skies which promised rain and force 7 easterlies which were enough to peel your eyelids back against your forehead but the only day available before they went back to Blighty, I took Ron and Ian down to the rubbish tip at Los Barrios, inland from Algeciras, meeting up with Stephen Daly, David Cuenca and Dario (whoever, I can't remember his surname!).

Now, rubbish tips hardly rank amongst the most romantic of places but there have been large numbers of White (or mucky grey-brown) Storks there and also Griffon Vultures, as well as a Rüppell's Vulture and an immature Black/Monk/Cinereous Vulture (I do wish they'd sort out what they are going to call it) in this past week. Getting in around the edge of the perimeter fence is NOT a good idea for rocky knees and mine are still complaining bitterly. Yes, we saw a few Griffon Vultures, Black Kites and White Storks and very large numbers of gulls but to be honest I was more concerned about not going base over apex down the slope in the mud.

From there, Ian, Ron and myself went through to Benalup and then south to La Janda, going over the top by the smelly farm where we stopped briefly.

There were were more Black Kites, Griffon Vultures, a single male Hen Harrier, a Booted Eagle and both Common and Lesser Kestrels. From there we drove south along the side of the canal, clocking up a Purple Boghen in the process and more White Storks in need of the persil treatment, the one shown here being one of the cleaner specimens.

We took a quick look up at the swift cave at Bolonia, just to show Ian the place, and stopped to check the cave where the Egyptian Vultures breed, Stephen having seen them copulating the previous week, only to find a Peregrine sheltering from the elements in the mouth of the cave, and I don't blame it either! There were 2 Griffon Vultures on the cliff face but that was the lot and with the first spots of rain it seemed a good idea to set off for the two hour run, carefully trying to keep to 110 km/h which the Spanish government has imposed in its all-seeing wisdom with the aim of reducing fuel consumption because of the goings-on in Libya, which produces less than 2% of the world's production in any case.

At home, and with the knees definitely unhappy, I have not done much although I do at least have the Red-vented Bulbuls back in the area and there have been a pair on a couple of occasions. However, morning of 26/03, a signal date for me, I decided to have a quick run up to Fuente de Piedra and the laguna Dulce, there and back in less than 4 hours, basically with the aim of trying to find the Lesser Flamingos. In that quarter there was no joy and there were much fewer waders than ten days or so since with only a couple of Redshanks, some Avocets and the usual Stilts, although Gull-billed Tern numbers have gone up rather.












So it was on to the laguna Dulce at Campillos to find the Andalusian Bird Society outing with the august presence of Bob Wright and Bob Hibbitt on a brief trip. Indeed, Bob H. found a Little Bustard over on the far side of the laguna. There were plenty of hirundines, many of the Barn Swallows resting and preening between feeding flights and on the water at least one pair of Black-necked Grebes and certainly 2 pairs of Great Crested Grebes, both of these species delightful in their breeding finery. After which quick look it was time to run for home and take the family out for lunch and enjoy a very good gazpacho indeed, my first of the year.

Sunday, 27/03. As the knees are still playing merry hell and I had plenty to do, I decided not to go down to the ponds. It gets worse and worse on a Sunday what with families, arrogant cyclists who are likely to run over you and generally more and more like Picadilly Circus/Times Square at peak time At least I got my reward in the form of some 25-30 Bee-eaters in two parties - my first of the year - flying eastwards over the house.

'Sun comes up, sun goes down, Life gets tedious, don't?'

23 March, Arboleas Group at Cabo de Gata

Today was my last official search for the elusive Slender-billed Curlew, so I was joined by Gilly and five other members of the Arboleas Birding Group on the journey down to Cabo de Gata. After a coffee at the local cafe I suppose it was about 10 o'clock when we arrived at the first hide. There was a cool, gusty wind. The water level had dropped since last week. There were the normal Greater Flamingoes (267 for day) and numerous Slender-billed Gulls dip feeding. I spotted two Spoonbills in the distance. On the causeway we could see 4 Dunlin, a Greenshank, 9 Grey Plovers and Kentish Plovers. Also there were about 9 Sandwich Tern (my secretary had noted down Sandwich Pickle....the green tomatoes had got to her!). The wind caused most of the small land birds to stay in shelter.

Gilly, Chris and I checked out the pool on the opposite side of the road. Only finding some more Dunlin we headed off to the second hide to join Brian, Mary, Dave and Myrtle. On the approach walk we saw our 1st Woodchat Shrike of the year. From the windy hide we logged 17 Grey Herons, Avocets and Black-winged Stilts. A flight of 11 Eurasian Curlews circled and then landed on the grassland to our left.

On the drive to the public hide a Northern Wheatear flew across in front of us. Corn Buntings were singing away, but nothing was added to our day list from the hide.

Gilly, Chris and I headed round the rear of the reserve. We saw another 3 Woodchat Shrikes. A flight of Pallid Swifts, together with at least one Alpine Swift flew over. Barn and Red-rumped Swallows were also seen.
A Little Ringed Plover was caught having a bath in one of the many muddy puddles. 20 Black-tailed Godwits were noted. A small number of Chiffchaffs were flushed out by our passing truck, but the star birds were a Spectacled Warbler and a Willow Warbler. On our way to Retamar we stopped briefly at the "Dotterel field" with a negative result.

Meanwhile the others had made their way through the campsite to the Morales lake. Here they'd seen a Marsh Harrier, White-headed Duck, Shoveler and numerous House Martins to add to the list. They joined us and the House Sparrows later at the cafe.

A good day, but the weather could've been better. At least it didn't rain! 48 species in all.

Regards,

Dave & Gilly

18-20 March - down by the riverside....

A pot-pourri (sounds awfully cultured that, don't you think?) of records for the past three days, most from the Guadalhorce but first, from Cádiz province, records of the first Whitethroats (Hannu Koskinnen) in this period (date not given) on the Los Barrios rubbish tip, along with Griffon Vultures, Hannua saw a Black Vulture (a.k.a. MonkVulture) and a Rüppell's Vulture. Also on 18 March no less than 3,200 Short-toed Eagles crossed to this side with over 4.000 raptors in the day (fororoa). Sedge Warblers have been heard in wstern Andalucía also.

From the Guadalhorce, on Friday (18/03) Ron Appleby and Ian Austin saw 59 spp (Hannu saw no less than 70 earlier in the week!) with year firsts of Common Redstart and 3 Common Terns, as well as 4-5 Woodchat Shrikes, Northern Wheatears, Yellow Wagtails and 2 Slender-billed Gulls.

I have no news from yesterday but was there jusr after 08.00 this morning and rather cool it was too! I had little time as I had promised to be home by 11.30 (it actually was just gone 12.00 when I got in) but this haste does not make for good birding. However, to be brief, the best sp. of the morning (for me) was the presence of 2 male Garganey, one on the río Viejo and the other on the laguna Grande, although 4 males were seen later. There was the usual assortment of hirundines but numbers were much lower than the last two visits and there are also much fewer Cormorants and only 2 imm. Grey Herons. There were 6 fly-by Yellow Wagtails and only 6 Kentish Plovers on the beach which is covered in canes. If we even get in to double figures of this last breeding this year it'll be a miracle - and I stopped believing in those years ago! Surprisingly, the 12 Common Scoters are still with us, although well out in the bay.

On the laguna Grande there was also a Ruddy Shelduck, and quite vociferous it was! There were also 3 Avocets and 3 Spoonbills, two of these latter were ringed, one is definitely a Dutch ring and I shall be sending off those details when I have finished this, whilst I believe that the other is from Odiel (Huelva) and shall send that off also. A flock of 7 adult Black-crowned Nightherons came off the sea and circled around as I was leaving. On the way out I met Pat and Paco and Pat has sent me an e-mail that they had seen a flock of 17 Bee-eaters at the laguna Grande.

It's all happening, folks!

17 March, Sierra María with the Arboleas Group

Dave E-B never sleeps, methinks, and when he des I'll bet he's dreaming about Slender-billed Curlews and the like! The Nikon lens cap he found at Cabo de Gata was lost by Bob Wright on Monday. Herewith the report of the excursion up the Sierra María today.

Firstly I'd like to welcome Helen Commandeur to our group. Gilly and I picked her up and took her for her first outing to the Sierra de Maria. We met up with Brian and Mary at the cafe before heading up to the chapel. A slow drive up to the car park produced Goldfinch, Greenfinch and the first of many Chaffinches. There was low cloud cover and a bit of a breeze. Not good for birding up here, but we persevered. We spotted a pair of Rock Sparrows. Above us was a very vocal Raven. We soon had notched up Rock and Cirl Bunting, Robin, Stonechat and a Northern Starling amongst some Spotless ones.

Round the Botanical Gardens, birds were few and far between but I did manage to lure a couple of Short-toed Treecreepers near us for Helen to get a lifer. As we got back to the car I spotted some very distant Griffon Vultures. Next a Short-toed Eagle appeared. We commenced the drive through the forest and saw a low flying Griffon to our left. We headed straight for the farm buildings to cut him off at the pass. Getting out of our cars, we looked back to discover at least 30-40 Griffons and a Booted Eagle trying to gain height on a thermal.

We drove down onto the plain where the sun was finally making an appearence. Our target bird was a Calandra Lark, another lifer for Helen. We didn't have to wait long to see some by the roadside, one posing beautifully for Helen and her large lensed camera. Then I spotted two birds flying in front of us, left to right. Quickly got the binoculars on them...Black-bellied Sandgrouse. A first for us up here.

On the way down to the hamlet (just over the border into Granada Province) we encountered large flocks of Linnets. At the hamlet we counted 10 Kestrels in the vicinity. Some flying around, some sitting on the rooftops, but lots of mating going on, unusual to see so many Kestrels in one place, so checked for signs of Lesser Kestrel with a negative result. On the way back we saw a glimpse of a passing Lesser Short-toed Lark.

At the La Piza Recreational area a lot of the tall poplars had been lopped, making the Crossbills perch lower, making photography better. From there we headed back to María, disturbing a Common Buzzard in the forest. Nesting? Thus ended a really good days birding with 35 species in total. Helen said she really enjoyed the day so hopefully she'll become a permanent feature. Looking forward to seeing her photos. The competition will be hot!

Dave & Gilly

16 March, Cabo de Gata

From Dave, the second of todays offerings. Dave also adds that if any reader has mislaid a lens cap for a large Nikon optic, he found one there. If it's yours, write to me and I'll send you Dave's adddress.

Another early start as I left the house at 0545 hrs to get to the first hide at Cabo de Gata by first light. For the first time this year I didn't have to wrap myself up like Nanook of the North as I drank my coffee in the hide. Hardly a cloud in the sky and not too much wind. They'd obviously had quite a bit of rain as the water level had risen and there were large puddles in the carpark. The Greater Flamingo numbers had increased in the two expanses of water in front of me from the 22 last week in the high winds to 80 today. The Avocets had returned from their hidden shelter as well. Numerous Shelducks were spotted about in random pairs and in the distance I could make out 7 Spoonbills at rest. No sign of the Common Crane.

On the causeway I could see an Eurasian Curlew calling. It was joined by another two. Also there were 8 Grey Plovers and some Dunlin. Far off I could see the Black-tailed Godwit flock, 34 in total. To the right there was a pair of Bar-tailed Godwits with Little Stints, Ringed and Kentish Plovers. A Sardinian Warbler posed beautifully in front of the hide.

Going to the pool on the opposite side of the road, the water level had also risen, but it only attracted a solitary Redshank. A pair of Kestrels sat on the desalination building. Hopefully they'll nest in one of the ventillation holes as they did last year. There was about 2 tons of tomatoes dumped there, so I filled a carrier bag full of green ones for Gilly to make pickle....got 8kgs!

There was a westerly offshore breeze so the sea was quite choppy as I headed towards the second hide. The sound of Corn Buntings was clearly heard. All told I must have seen 20 - 30 sitting on bushes. I saw small numbers of Barn Swallows and Crag Martins, much less than I expected and no swifts. Only gained Black-winged Stilt and Greenfinch for the day list from the hide.

As I walked towards the public hide I looked back towards the beach and saw a Raven flying along it. Also en route saw one of the two Stonechats of the day. From the hide saw a pair of Yellow Wagtails. Heading further along the beach I saw a small flock of Sanderling feeding, as were a few Sandwich Terns in the breakers.

As I thought, the track round the rear of the reserve was full of deep puddles, around which I disturbed another pair of Yellow Wagtails. Only added Greenshank to my wader list. Ended the day with 40 species. Expected more to be honest. Saw better birds in the howling gale last week.

Regards,

Dave