WHAT A FANTASTIC DAY OF BRILLIANT BIRDING WITH GOLDEN EAGLE TAKING THE TOP SPOT AND BLACK WINGED KITE NEXT ON THE PODIUM.
My clients today were Megan and Mathew from Chicago, USA they wanted to see raptors and that is exactly what they got. It was dull and overcast with a temperature of 17C.
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| Mathew and Megan at the start of the San Pablo track |
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| Sardinian Warbler |
We parked at the entrance to the track and were soon logging new species, in fact every bird we saw was a new species for my guests. We started with Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Blue Tit and Sardinian Warbler. On the wires we saw MEADOW PIPIT first for the autumn. Across the road we saw a Marsh harrier quartering a field then a Common Buzzard flew from a row of trees and chased the harrier off. We then noticed a a smaller bird of prey gliding across the same field it then perched on a nearby pylon, in the scope we had great views of it, a BLACK WINGED KITE a great sighting for the day.
We then spent an enjoyable hour watching some lovely species which included: Crested Lark, Greenfinch, Corn Bunting, Southern Grey Shrike and Linnets. But it was the birds of prey that stole the show, we saw a several Booted Eagles, a really low flying Short-toed Eagle, a single Honey Buzzard and lots of Griffon vultures. A flock of 29 Ravens was impressive but our star of the show was a sub-adult GOLDEN EAGLE. The bird flew from the ground and circled a couple of times before drifting over the distant hill, my first first goldie of the area and a superb record.
A brief visit to thew bridge over the river produce3d Common Whitethroat and we heard a Cetti's Warbler but not much else.
We then drove a couple of kilometers down the road toward San Martin, we stopped at the polo Fields where we had great views of a Little Owl near the stables and on the grass a flock of some 200 Yellow Wagtails fed. There we also saw a couple of White Wagtails and a Common Redstart and behind us a flock of 14 Lesser Kestrels fed over a freshly mown hay field.
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
Lunch was taken in the woods at San Enrique and a brief walk produced great Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Pied Flycatcher and a Grey heron on the river. The track leading from the woods held a small flock of Tree Sparrows.
A short visit to the Laguna Torreeguadiaro was quite successful as we found Common Coot, Moorhen, Little Grebe, Mallard, Gadwall, Purple Swamphen and a few Red-rumped Swallows. On the beach area we found a couple of Northern Wheatears.
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| Little Grebe |
Lastly we visited the Palmones estuary where we walked along the promenade in lovely sunshine, after a short coffee stop we scanned the river and marsh where we listed a good number of species. The best of which were: Whimbrel, Osprey, Slender-billed Gull and Ruddy Turnstone. Other species included: Sandwich Terns (50+), Med Gull, Greenshank, Redshank, Kentish Plover, Dunlin, White Stork and Ringed Plover.
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| Redshank/Greenshank |
We left at 4pm well pleased with our tally for the day, mathew and megan are coming out again on Sunday!
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