Today I collected John and Penny from their holiday home near Estapona and spent the day birding along the coast. I left home at 7am in the dark and in the rain!!
By the time we reached our first destination it was light and the rain had stopped, in fact the clouds began to clear and large areas of blue sky emerged. The cold north wind persisted all day.At the Casares Beach we logged our first birds, Spotless Starling, Black Redstart, Serin, Sardinian Warbler, Great Cormorant, Ruddy Turnstone ands a few Yellow-legged Gulls.
MONK PARAKEETSA brief stop was made at the San Diego urbanization where we watched a large group of Monk Parakeets at their nests. The laguna at TorreGuadiaro was as productive as ever. The Little Owl showed well so did Purple Swamphen, Little Bittern, Little And Cattle Egrets, Hoopoe (2), Shoveler, Common Snipe, Crested Lark, Spanish Sparrow, Corn Bunting and plenty of common species.
The woods at San Enrique were also productive, we found lots of Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Tree Sparrows, Short-toed Treecreepers, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Serins, Meadow Pipits, White Wagtails and Robins.
THE RELIABLE LITTLE OWL IN THE TOWER AT TORREGUADIAROWe ate our picnic lunch under the pines at Pinar del Rey and our walk afterwards was thwarted somewhat by the wind. However we had good views of Crested Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Jay and Great Tit.
For the rest of the afternoon we visited Palmones where walked the promenade to begin with. A good selection of waders were on show as the tide was just staring to ebb. Redshank, Greenshank, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Kentish Plover, Sanderling, Common Sandpiper were all seen easily. Some of the larger waders were located on the far bank: Whimbrel, Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit, small numbers of Sandwich Terns were loafing with the Gulls and over on the marsh we found Osprey, Marsh Harrier (3 females), Eurasian Spoonbill, White Storks, Grey Heron and Little Egret.
A BAD PICTURE OF A SERINAfter a quick coffee stop we set off for the west side of the marsh looking from the outskirts of Algeciras. The wind had picked up but it didn't stop us enjoying our last hour. From the elevated hide we had great views of four Spoonbills as they fed just beneath us, we also had better views of Osprey, Greenshank, Marsh Harrier (one was feeding on a dead White Stork - gross). A large flock of Griffon Vultures soared above as we were on our way back to the car, we also found a very obliging Kingfisher and after a little wait we found a Zitting Cisticola. Finally as we approached the car a Green Sandpiper called aas it flew passed us.
REDSHANKWe had had a wonderful day and saw just under 70 species, the best was voted as the Hoopoe and the Little Bittern by John and Penny.
No comments:
Post a Comment