After a very cloudy and blustery Sunday and torrential overnight rain we awoke to a relatively calm, bright day. John & Betty (shown posing at Palmones with Gibraltar in the background) are staying with us here in Gaucin and joined me for their second day out.
We set off at 9am and headed down the Genal Valley stopping at Sierra Crestellina for a quick look. We notched Raven and Stonechat on the way down and then watched many Griffon Vultures, Cirl Bunting, Corn Bunting, Crested Lark, many Goldfinches and a few Serins. Next we drove down to the coast to visit Laguna Camelias at Torreguadiaro near Soto Grande. A good number of Gannets were fishing just off-shore and provided some entertainment as they dove for fish. On the laguna we found Little Egret, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Mallard and Coot. We walked the boardwalk to the beach and found several Whinchats but not much else.
A quick look over the farmland on the landward side of the laguna produced Cattle Egrets and sheep! We could have gone to Somerset for those!!
The next birding stop was a short distance away at San Enrique, a regular stop off for me because of the Tree Sparrow flock found there. We spent a lovely hour there, the sky cleared the sun warmed us up and birds came thick and fast. As soon as we got out of the car 17 Black Storks flew over, wow! They were joined by 2 Booted Eagles, then a couple of Short-toed Eagles flew very low right over us, wow again! We counted Sparrowhawk (4), Common Kestrel (2), Tree Sparrow (25), Whinchat (1), Sardinian Warbler (2) and a Cetti's Warbler sang from the scrub near the river. We ate our picnic lunch whilst watching lots more Eagles (Short-toed and Booted), a Common Buzzard circling in the distance was the last sighting there.
Palmones salt marsh and estuary was next on the list. We drove to the far side (Algeciras), first, to watch the marsh from the elevated position of the Municple Park. As we entered the park we disturbed a Kingfisher we also saw Common & Green Sandpipers.The view from the hide was tremendous and on the marsh the usual 3 Ospreys were quickly found, along with a Marsh Harrier. most other birds were roosting as the tide was very high, we found Cormorant (2), White Stork (98), Grey Heron (56), Spoonbill (11), Redshank (21), Whimbrel (5), Curlew (1), Oystercatcher (9). In the distance at the river mouth we could see dozens of birds, mainly gulls and terns with some waders. A couple of Little Terns were feeding in the nearest channel and several Common Terns flew over.
We decided to get a closer view of the sand bar by driving to the beach on the same side of the marsh. From our vantage point on the sand dunes we had a much better view. There were Sandwich Tern (68), Little Tern (4), Common Tern (9), Mediterranean Gull (5) but undoubtedly the best sighting was the LESSER CRESTED TERN. This first year bird sat amongst the other terns but was very flighty and soon disappeared, unfortunately the only photograph I took was very blurred so I have included a picture taken a couple of years ago.We quickly drove to the Palmones side of the river to get a closer look but never relocated the bird. We did however get good views of a number of waders, gulls and terns. Bar-tailed Godwit (7), Ringed Plover (50+), Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Knot, Kentish Plover, Curlew, Whimbrel and Oystercatcher, a great selection but no L-C-Tern.
On the way back to Gaucin we stopped at Sierra Crestellina for a second look for the elusive Bonelli's Eagle and right on cue both of the adults put on a lovely flying display with the assumed male taking a steep dive and hitting a Griffon Vulture that ventured a little too close to the nest site. A great finish to our day-out and what a great time we had in superb weather.
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