Today I collected Rita and Ann from Malaga Airport and then drove to Guadalmar to collect Jette and Tony from their hotel before driving a short distance for some birding.
Rita and Ann were late because of a lost suitcase which was later found so we had a slow start. it was 2:30pm before we began birding but it was worth the wait.
Our first bird of the tour was a Red-rumped Swallow which was quickly followed by Monk Parakeet and then Turtle Dove, several of these latter two species were milling about a row of eucalyptus trees. As we neared the tress we added Jackdaw, European Goldfinch and then 3 Hoopoes flew across the fields towards the trees, a great start as all of the group were desperate to see this bird.
We neared a stream which still had pools of water and found a Grey Heron trying to eat a huge fish and a Little Egret looking on in envy! A Northern Wheatear flew onto a fence-line and a Whimbrel appeared on the grass of a nearby golf course. Several Zitting Cisticolas zipped and zittted about the scrub as did a couple of Sardinian Warblers. On the dry sandy car park 4 or 5 Crested Larks looked for insects and out to see huge numbers of Yellow-legged Gulls were joined by Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls.
Just before we left we found a Spotted Flycatcher on a fence-line and a Booted Eagle in the distance, Tony tried to photograph the Zitters without too much success.
We then drove down to Tarifa only stopping for food supplies, our journey sightings were few and far between until we reached the Tarifa area. As the road wound its way over the hills we saw a small group of Honey Buzzards and a couple of Short-toed Eagles perched on pylons. A Common Kestrel and lots of Cattle Egrets, were seen in the fields just passed Tarifa, as were neared our hotel. It was now 6pm so we concluded our birding and checked into the hotel with plenty of time to get ready for dinner.
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