SEPTEMBER 25TH 7-DAY TOUR DAY - 5

TARIFA - WHALE WATCHING PELAGIC

We took a break today from out and out bird watching to take to the seas and do some whale watching. But before we set off for Tarifa to catch the boat we drove down to El Colmenar to look for a few species still missing from our list. We set at 7:30am in the dark and drove the 12 kilometers to El Colmenar where we parked near the electricity sub-station so that we could watch my favourite dead tree.

We didn't have to wait for long before a Hawfinch landed at the top most branch, this was quickly followed a Great Spotted Woodpecker and several more Hawfinches. Over the next hour we found several other species which included: Spotted Flycatcher, Wren, Spotless Starling, Blackcap, Chaffinch, Blue Tit and Great Tit. A Grey Heron and a Little Egret flew over the tree before we left and headed home for Breakfast.

The weather was just right for a boat ride, a gentle easterly breeze and bright sunshine, the sea looked relatively calm. The trip was taken from Tarifa and covered a large area into the Strait of Gibraltar.

As we left the harbour walls behind us we found our first Cory's Shearwaters fairly close to the boat. Soon we had logged several more Cory's and a couple of Balearic Shearwaters. Over the next 2 hours we watched lots of Striped Dolphins, a few Sunfish, Flying Fish and a couple of Gannets. Other birds of note were Short-toed Eagle, an Osprey that looked as though it was coming from Morocco?? A few Honey Buzzards seen very high up and 6 Black Storks. An Arctic Skua dashed close to the and a Cory's Sheatwaters flew by almost within touching distance.

The views of the Spanish coastlaine were amazing and all in all it was a wonderful trip with plenty to see even if we didn't catch sight of a whlae, perhaps next time!