GIBRALTAR
This was not really a birding day out, we were tourist for a while, however there was an element of avian adventure and some new birds were added to our list.
We drove down to Gib via Jimera de la Frontera and San Roque logging White Stork, Bee-eater, Spotless Starling, Lesser Kestrel (9) and Cattle Egret along the way.
Once on Gib we drove along the east road and stopped to scan the slopes for Barbary Partridge which did not appear, we only saw thousands of Yellow-legged gulls at their nests. We then drove through the recently opened tunnel to Europa Point, the tunnel had been closed for 9 years!!! Europa Point is a building site and well worth avoiding, we parked short of the point on the east side and scanned the sea and the cliffs for possible sightings.
The best out to see was an Osprey struggling against the east wind, a Caspian Tern, likewise and a flock of some 100+ Black Kites. On the land we found a pair of Blue Rock Thrushes and a perched Peregrine. We decided to follow the Kites as they approached the ‘rock’ from Algeciras bay, they soon found a thermal and rose in a swirling mass up over the highest point, a great sight for us.
Next we visited the ringing station at ‘Jews Gate’ where the ringers were just packing up for the day! They patrolled the nets one more time and produced a solitary Willow Warbler, still a nice bird to see in the hand. Earlier they had caught many Pied Flycatchers, Bonelli’s Warblers, Common Redstarts and lots more.
We visited the Botanical gardens but only added Robin, Blackcap and Great tit to the list. The rest of the time was taken up with visits to the shops, lunch and walking around the sites.
Red-throated Bee-eater
join us for a fantastic tour of The Gambia this November
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