We collected Jane from Sabinallas who joined us for the day and before setting off to Tarifa we stopped at a couple of places for some early birding. Just outside Torreguadiaro there is a large Monk Parakeet colony by the side of the main A7 coast road. We watched the noisy birds for a while and noticed that a Scarlet Fronted Parakeet had been adopted by the colonists.
SCARLET-FRONTED PARAKEET
The pine woods at San Roque called Pinar del Rey were next on the list and we enjoyed a good couple of hours walking the shaded glades and open areas. We noted many Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, a small party of Cirl Buntings, a single Crested Tit and many jays (11), Chaffinches, Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs Sp. As the heat increased so did the number of raptors cirling above the woods, we watched for about 30 minutes and logged over 200 Honey Buzzards, 50 Booted Eagles, a single Black Kite, several Short Toed Eagles, a Common Buzzard and a great find, a Goshawk which circled above us for few minutes.
It got better at Cazalla raptor watch point, the wind had picked up and had turned easterly which made it difficult for migrating birds to cross the Strait, many were held up in the valley below Cazalla. We had great views of many Egyptian Vultures, at least 50 were in view at any one time, it was hard to estimate how many there were altogether. Many Black kites. Booted Eagles, Short-toed Eagles and Griffon Vultures joined them. We also saw a single Red Kite, half a dozen Sparrowhawks and a couple of Black Storks.
At La Janda the windy conditions got worse (as usual), but it did spoil our views of Monatgu's Harriers, including a melanistic one. We also found a very large number of Black Kites and at least a 100 White Storks up on the thermals. Birds on the rice fields included Glossy Ibis, a single Spoonbill, Marsh Harrier,Green Sandpiper, big numbers of Yellow Wagtails, Gold Finches, cattle Egrets and Wood Pigeons.
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