With Nigel and Nathan back home in the rain I took out Stephen and 'new boy' Michael out for the day.
I thought it couldn't get any better than yesterday but it just did! La Janda was terrific today and so was the weather. We awoke to rain and overcast conditions so we decided to go to the coast for the day, what a great decision it turned out to be.
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| Stephen and Michael at Palmones, with Gibraltar in the back ground |
At the coast the sky cleared the sun came out and there wasn't any wind. perfect for my kind of birding. We drove down passed Jimena de la Frntera and logged Common Buzzard, Corn Bunting, Spotless Starling and jackdaw along the way. As we passed through San Roque we counted 22 White Storks on their nests and a Booted Eagle higher up.
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| White Stork on the nest at San Roque - taken by Nigel Bleaken |
The shore birds at Palmones were being disturbed by bait-diggers and boat men but we managed to see a good variety of species with good views of a couple of Slender-billed Gulls being a bonus. We saw: Knot, Dunlin, Kentish and Little Ringed Plovers, Redshank, Greenshank, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern and a solitary Little Tern. Mediterranean Gulls joined Black-headed, Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
A Marsh Harrier hunted over the marsh where Eurasian Spoonbill, Grey Heron and White Storks loafed around.
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| Bonelli's Eagle - subadult - taken by Nigel Bleaken |
At Cazalla raptor watch point we had a fantastic clear sky with perfect light. We could across to Morocco with Tangers being clearly visible. We had to wait for raptor movement and when it came it was slow but interesting. Several Eurasian Sparrowhawks passed over before we found Honey Buzzard (4), Black Kite (1), Egyptian Vulture (1), Black Stork (14), Short-toed Eagle (12), Booted Eagle (10) and over 30 Griffon Vultures. Lots of hirundines passed over: Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin and quite a few Alpine Swifts.
We ate our lunch in the pine woods along the western shore of Los Lances beach before driving off to La Janda.
WE HAD A SUPERB FEW HOURS AT LA JANDA - HOW ABOUT THIS FOR A LIST:
RED-KNOBBED COOT (1)
MARBLED DUCK (8)
SPANISH IMPERIAL EAGLE (1)
BONELLI'S EAGLE (2)
BLACK-WINGED KITE (2)
PURPLE HERON (2)
SQUACCO HERON (1)
SPANISH SPARROW (100+)
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| 3 of the 8 Marbled Ducks seen today at La Janda |
There were large flocks of a number of species:
WOOD PIGEON 2000+
GLOSSY IBIS 1000+
WHITE STORK 1000+
CATTLE EGRET 2000+
LITTLE EGRET 200+
LAPWING 50+
The whole area was filled with birds, at one point there were 13 Marsh Harriers together, we also saw Common Snipe, Ruff, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper and lots of Yellow Wagtails. On the way back out we stopped to look for Bluethroats (35 had been seen recently) but we never found one, but whilst looking we found Whinchat, Crested Lark, Alpine Swift, Stonechat and Zitting Cisticola.
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| Squacco Heron |
We left the area at 5pm having had a great afternoon birding with some super species on the list.
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