FEB 5TH - DAY 2 OF 3 DAY TOUR

RIO GENAL - LAGUNA TORREGUADIARO - SAN ENRIQUE WOODS - PALMONES

My second day with Larry and Linda started bitterly cold, but it warmed up later, with bright sunshine at the coast. After a lovely breakfast we set off down the hill towards Casares, we stopped at the bridge over the Rio Genal. It was very cold but many birds were moving along the hedges and in the open fields.


Linda and Larry at Palmones with Gibraltar in the background

We quickly added Grey Wagtail to our list and got a brief view of Cetti's Warbler. Blue Tit, Cirl Bunting and Greenfinch we next to be added, but our search for Hawfinch failed.

The sun was well up by the time we arrived at Torreguadiaro, the Little Owl sat in the sun warming up from a cold night. Our walk across the sand dunes produced Corn bunting, Chaffinch, Cirl Bunting, Crested Lark, Stonechat and Serin.

The laguna was also quite productive, we saw Purple Swamphen (3), Little Egret, Common Snipe, Shoveler, Coot, Moorhen, Little Grebe and the star bird, a Little Bittern.

Purple Swamphen

Barn Swallows and Crag Martins hunted over the water and many Chiffchaffs chased flies from the reeds. Further into the walk we found two Hoopoes, much to delight of Linda who wanted to see one so much!

A great shot of a White Stork taken by Larry

Our excursion into the woods proved well timed as we found both Great Spotted Woodfpecker and Short-toed Treecreeper almost together at the entracne track. In the hedgerows and open fields we saw many Blackcaps, Serins, Goldfinches and our main target bird, the Tree Sparrow.

Little Owl

From San Enrique we drove to Palmones where we visited the municipal park on the Algeciras side of the salt marsh.From our vantage point of the raised hide we observed a great flying display from two Ospreys. We also saw a male Marsh Harrier, several White Storks, Eurasian Spoonbills (5), Black-winged Stilts, Grey Plover, a single Ruff and several waders already listed.

Cousins? - Greenshank & Redshank

On our way home we made two stops near Jimena where we watched Common Buzzard, Common Raven and Griffon Vultures. We also noted many finches, including Linnets, Goldfinches and Serins.

This second day produced 72 species and brought our trip total to 90.