SEPT 4TH - DAY 2 OF 7 DAY MIGRATION TOUR

SAN PABLO - SAN ENRIQUE - TORREGUADIARO - PALMONES AND PINAR DEL REY.

Another lovely day of sunshine with a light easterly wind that developed as the day went on and became quite strong.

We set off from Gaucin at 8:30am and headed for the coast via San Pablo, San Martin and San Enrique making stops near all three places.

GROUP ON THE SAN PABLO TRACK

At my favourite track near San Pablo we spent an hour or two walking to the the brow of the hill  about a kilometer from the road, from there we had a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. It took and hour to get there because we stopped so many times to see many species. Although the bird numbers were down on the summer totals there was a good variety on show. On the migramt front we saw lots of Willow Warblers and many more Chiffchaffs. there were also Wryneck, Hoopoes, Tawny Pipit, Woodchat Shrike, Spotted Flycatchers many Martins and Swallows overhead.


Raptors were few and far between but we had good views of Honey Buzzard, Short-toed Eagle, Booted Eagle, Egyptian Vultures, Lesser Kestrel and a single Black Kite. A couple of Ravens, Common Kestrel, Zitting Cisticola, Crested Lark, Serin, Stonechat, Sardinian Warbler, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and Spotless Starling.

We spent a short time at the river Hozgargante where from the bridge we saw: Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail and we heard a Cetti's Warbler.

By the time we got to the woods at San Enrique it was quite windy so the bird sightings were down. We did find Spotted Flycathcer, Kingfisher, Common Sandpiper, Grey Heron, Yellow-legged Gull and a couple of Hawfinches. Back on the track after a picnic lunch in the woods we stopped to look for Tree Sparrows, the sparrows didn't show we added Common Whitethroat and a couple of Hoopoes to our sightings.

At Laguna Torreguadiaro we added Purple Swamphen and Little Bittern to our trip list and Coot, Moorhen, Little Grebe and Mallard to the day list. Over the sea there was an Osprey fishing.

Palmones was extremely busy with kite surfers and sun-bathers and together with a high tide it didn't bode well for a good list. however we did see small numbers of: Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Sanderling, Redshank, Whimbrel and a Common Sandpiper. Also on the marsh were: Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls, Sandwich Terns, Grey Herons and Little Egrets.

PIED FLYCATCHER IN PINAR DEL REY WOODS

Finally we stopped at the woods at Piunar del Rey, we spent an hour walking a circular track. Nothing showed much until we hit a Tit flock:  Blue Tit, Great Tit, Crested Tit and Short-toed Treecreeper. We also saw Great Spotted Woodpecker, Spotted and Pied Flycatchers, Jay and Chaffinches. Over the woods were a good number of Booted Eagles (20+), Griffon Vultures, Short-toed Eagles and a few Bee-eaters.

The drive back to Gaucin produced White Storks standing on the nest and afew Bee-eaters flying over the road.  68 species recorded today.