An action packed today as we headed for the coast to look for migration raptors and some wetland species. The weather was great as usual, but it got very warm, 33C during the middle of the day.
We arrived at Calzada raptor watch point at 9:30am which is just above Tarifa on the main N340 road, it was deserted and so was the sky, so despite having perfect weather for crossing there were no birds in sight, perhaps we were a little too early.
At Los Lances beach it was the same there hardly any birds present, even the gull roost had just 10 Yellow-legged Gulls present. A fair number of Sanderling in both summer and winter plumage looked good, they were joined by 3 Dunlin, 20+ Ringed Plover and a few Kentish Plovers. On the grassy fields behind the hide we found a couple of Short-toed larks and a few of the Crested variety.
Los lances was also fairly quiet except for hundreds of Cattle Egrets, fewer little Egrets and the odd Grey heron and White Stork. We did see a few Black Kites and Common Buzzards fly and we had distant views of Griffon Vultures. In the channels we found 4 Purple Swamphens, Mallards and Moorhens. A Reed Warbler sat out in the open and sang for us but Cetti's Warbler and Common Nightingale were elusive.
We ate lunch near the 'rookery' of some 1,000 nesting pairs of Cattle Egrets, they were joined by a few pairs of Glossy Ibis and several Turtle Doves. A little further on a lagoon held a couple of Eurasian Spoonbills and Black-winged Stilts.
At Vejer we visited the Bald Ibis breeding sites where at least 9 nests now have chicks, it is an incredible place. The nest are just 3-4 meters above the ground and are situated right over a very busy road, what a sight.
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| It doesn't get much uglier than this |
After a cup of coffee we visited the 'new' reserve at Barbate, this regenerated land was a former landfill site and is now a series of open lagoons and island and is quickly becoming a very good place for birds. The approach track and surrounding flower meadows are full of larks, we found many Calandra, Crested and Short-toed Larks filled the air with song. On the scrapes and flying all around us were a dozen or so of Collared Praticoles, they were superb and gave us very close views both in the air and on the ground. We then had reasonable views of a pair of Stone Curlews on one of the islands, another great bird for us to see. In the distance we could see Greater Flamingo (1) and a few Pied Avocets so we drove round to get better vciews before we left the area.
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| Collared Pratincole - one of th many in the area near barbate |
lastly we stopped at the mirador which overlooks the Strait of Gibraltar, the views across to Africa were stunning, the light was perfect and air very clear. We heard of a Couple of Common Bubuls down in Tarifa and we decided to go back and see them, but disaster struck, the bus broke down, we were thwarted! A few hours later the group arrived back at Gaucin for dinner whilst I went back to Malaga to collect a new bus. A second disaster then struck, I left my binoculars in a taxi, what a blow, a few frantic phones in the morning will be made to retrieve them.
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| record shot of a Calandra Lark |
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