A surprise start to the day as the village was shrouded in mist and low cloud but as the day went on the cloud cleared and we had a very warm afternoon.
 |
| Tarja is from Finland and she really enjoyed the warm sunny weather |
Tarja and I set off at 8:30am and drove down the hill to the Rio Genal which was in full flow and reduced the number of water species on show. We walked for a kilometer or so along the track heading upriver. The found a small flock of Hawfinches, a few White Wagtails, Blue Tits, Chaffinch, Serin and Wood Pigeons made up the rest of the list. In the sky we saw distant Griffon Vultures, a well marked female Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard and a Common Kestrel.
 |
| some record shots of the Rollers |
Our next stop was on the road near Casares that leads down to the river about 10 kilometers down-stream. We stopped almost as soon as we got on the track because a Roller was sitting on the telephone wires, fantastic bird in great plumage and very obliging. We also found Woodchat Shrikes in good numbers (50+ throughout the morning), Thekla Larks, Stonechats, Corn Buntings, and lots of Goldfinches.
 |
| Yellow Wagtail (ssp. iberiae ) |
Down at the river as second Roller sat high on the electricity cables and in the scrub we enjoyed good views of Blackcap, Melodious Warbler, Common Whitethroat, lots of European Bee-eaters, Booted Easgle, Short-toed Eagle, Black Kite and more Woodchat Shrikes. We also heard several Common Nightingales, Cetti's Warblers and a single Wryneck. A pair of Little-ringed Plovers posed well for the camera and on the river we saw Grey Heron, Yellow Wagtail (ssp. iberiae) and more Bee-eaters.
 |
| lovely little birds - the Little Ringed Plover |
We drove slowly down river stopping to watch a Whinchat, Crested Larks, Common Whitethroats and plenty of Sardinian Warblers. Another stop produced much of the same.
We then drove to the coast at Soto Grande and walked into the Nature Reserve at the estuary of the Rio Guadiaro, the sun was now quite hot but a cooling breeze was a saving grace. Next we saw an extraordinary sight when scanning the sea, a flock of 54 Greater Flamingos were sitting on the water some 300 meters offshore. Well I'll be jiggered, I have never seen flamingos sitting on the sea like that, ever!! A flock of Common Scoter was equally as unusual which we saw some 100 meters away. A few Northern gannets fished in the bay and hundreds of noisy Yellow-legged Gulls sat near the flamingos, they had never seen such a bizarre sight either!
 |
| Greater Flamingos on the sea |
Back on land we scanned the laguna and found Mallard, Common Sandpiper, Yellow Wagtail and Moorhen. Along the beach there were several Northern Wheatears, a Willow Warbler and we heard a couple of Reed Warblers singing. At the mouth of the river we scanned the river banks and found Black-winged Stilts (8) and a single Squacco Heron. Before we left we scanned the laguna for a second time hoping for a sighting of Purple Swamphen but we found a Purple Heron instead, a very good find.
 |
| the Flamingos in flight after some dip-stick in a speed boat put them up |
Our last stop was much further along the coast on the way back to Gaucin, we stopped to look at a colony of Monk Parakeets, there were several birds present most of them seemed to be employed on house repairs.
No comments:
Post a Comment