Wednesday aug 7th 2013 - Marchenilla Track near San Pablo

Today I collected Penny, Bernard, John and Ali from their holiday finca near San Pablo, they had booked a morning only birding trip.

John, Bernard, Ali  and Penny (l to r)

We met at 7:30am at the finca and quickly drove the short distance to the Marchanilla Track. It was quite a breezy morning, no cloud and a nice temperature. By the time we got to the track the sun was just rising over the hillside behind us. We noted a Common Buzzard sitting on a pylon behind us.

The hedgerows along the first part of the track were very busy with many Sparrows and finches and small flocks of Spotless Starling. A few Collared Doves sat on wires and many House Martins and Barn Swallows hawked overhead.

After a short while we watched a couple of Short-toed Eagles hovering over the far hillside, they were joined by a single Booted Eagle, another Common Buzzard and a Common Kestrel. More passerines appeared along the track fence-line, Common Stonechat, Crested Lark, Corn Bunting Eurasian Linnet, European Goldfinch & Greenfinch.

The view from the brow of the hill towards Marchanilla

As we moved into more open ground we found at least 3 family parties of Woodchat Shrikes and we had a couple of sightings of both Melodious Warbler & Sardinian Warbler. Then as we climbed up the hill a brief sighting was made of the Rufous Bush Robin, this bird remained elusive and only a couple of us got good views of it before it disappeared.

On the brow of the hill we had superb views of the countryside stretching across to Jimena de la Frontera and from there we found more Short-toed Eagles (3), Booted Eagle (10) and over 30 Griffon Vultures.

One interesting sighting was of a juvenile Montagu's Harrier which quartered the fields below us, this is the first 'reverse' migrating bird of this species I have seen this year.

On the way back down the hill towards the car we stopped to watch a good number of Bee-eaters along the power lines, we also found a single Turtle Dove and more Woodchat Shrikes.

Before we left the area we decided to have a quick look at the Rio Guadiaro from the bridge behind the Venta de Fuente. We spent a good hour there enjoying the birds coming to drink and those flying over us. It was surprising to see Red-rumped Swallows coming down to the river to collect mud for nest building? Or maybe for repairs!

viw of the Rio Guadiaro from the brdige

We found Grey Wagtail,. Serin, Goldfinch, Corn Bunting, Spotless Starling and Collared Doves coming to drink whilst the riverside vegetation held Spotted Flycatcher, Blackcap, Cetti's Warbler (heard only), Olivaceous Warbler, Chiffchaff sp, a Golden Oriole called a couple times and lots of House Sparrows milled about. Overhead a large swarm of Common Swifts held a single Alpine Swift.

juvenile Woodchat Shrike

A short walk passed the bridge led us to open farmland and orange groves we added our last bird of the morning, a Zitting Cisticola. We made short stop at some cultivated grassland hoping for some Yellow Wagtails on passage but the area was devoid of birds.

We returned to the finca near San Pablo where I said goodbye to my friends of the morning, they planned to sit by the pool, sipping cold drinks and taking time to digest all that they had seen this morning.

Thursday August 1st 2013 - Encinas Borraches track

I started the month off with an early morning walk along the Emcinas Borraches track with Paul from the village. The track is a few kilometers south of Ronda and about 500m above sea level more than Gaucin.

It was a bright clear morning but a chilly wind made it feel quite cool, the wind increased as the morning wore on. On the drive up to the track from Gaucin we saw 3-4 Short-toed Eagles, a dead (road-kill) Genet near the Benarraba turning, what a shame, this beautifully marked wild cat is such an elusive and hard to find species. We also saw a couple of Rock Sparrows on the roadside walls along the way.

We spent nearly 3 hours walking not far along the track in search of the Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush now called Common Rock Thrush,  we dipped completely but had a nice time anyway. many family groups of birds were on show, lots of them in full moult and looking very scruffy. In particular Black-eared Wheatears, Woodchat Shrikes, Spectacled Warblers, Stonechats, Thekla Larks, Linnets, Goldfinches, Southern grey Shrike and Rock Sparrows.

Black-eared Wheatear  - Juvenile (above) and scruffy adult male (below)

Up on the high rock face we found distant Blue Rock thrush, Black Wheatear, Common Kestrel and a small herd of Red Deer. In the sky over the valley we noted Griffon Vulture, Booted Eagle and a pair of Common Kestrels.

We spent our few minutes at the pool hoping for some action there, a few Crag Martins came down to drink as did scruffy Black-eared Wheatears, a Rock Bunting (seen earlier at the pool), Goldfinches and Linnets.

3 pictures of  Spectacled Warblers

At 11:30am the strong rays of the  sun started to warm us up a little too much, even though a strong wind was blowing, so we decided to call it a day and we drove back to the village.

Friday 26th - Wednesday 31st July 2013

Gaucin walks

July fizzled & sizzled out with nothing spectacular to report in the Gaucin area. The days are now long and hot so any birding done has to be early morning or later evening. over the last 6 days I have walked The Punta Umbria woodlands 3 times and the Camino de Gibraltar twice.

The only bird still singing is the Bonelli's Warbler, even the Blackcaps have shut up shop for now. No migrant movements have been noted except the reduction in the number of local swifts and a more frequent Bee-eater flyovers.

Recent sightings include:  Eurasian Sparrowhawk (the first one for me this summer, seen just below the village on the camino Gibraltar. It is good to see lots of family parties of local breeding birds such as: Eurasian Jay, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Short-toed Treecreeper, Crested Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Nuthatch, Cirl Bunting and martins and Swifts. Breeding Barn Swallow numbers seem to down this year and I haven't seen Red-rumped Swallow whilst on the Camino de Gibraltar.

THURSDAY 18TH - THURSDAY 25TH JULY 2013 - Local walks

The weather in and around Gaucin over the last few days has been very hot with little wind, however the early mornings and evenings have been lovely, balmy and a great time for walking.

Over the last 6 days I have walked the circular route around Punta Umbria  3 times and on Sunday 21st I visited the Rio Guadiaro at Cortes for the whole of the afternoon.

RIO GUADIARO  - Sunday 21st  July 2013

At the river I sat under our (Dawn and I)  favourite tree and watched the world go by. Many birds were on show and lots of juveniles joined their parents by coming down to the pools of water to drink and to bathe. Blue, Tit, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Serin, Blackcap, Rock Sparrow, Blackbird, Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaff sp. Sardinian Warbler and Woodchat Shrike were all seen there.

The view of the river Guadiaro from under my favourite tree

Along the river I saw a Grey Heron, Little Ringed Plover, Grey and White Wagtails, Common Kingfisher and many House martins, Barn Swallows and Pallid Swifts were coming down to drink. I kept my eye on the swift flock hoping for a White-rumped Swift but never saw one.

juvenile Woodchat Shrike

In the ash tree I was sitting beneath a few Bonelli's Warblers fed, often calling and a Short-toed Treecreeper gave me great views as it fed on the base of the main trunk.

PUNTA UMBRIA  -  Friday 19th, Monday 22nd & Thursday 25th July 2013.

This is one of my favourite walks in the vicinity of the village, the track climbs up through some pristine cork oaks woods and then takes you through pines, some very old holm oaks and finally into a sweet chestnut wood before climbing back up to the road. From the road you walk down a much narrower track which runs downhill parallel to the road back to the village. The track is sheltered from the sun by the trees and many flowering plants are still in bloom.

freshly harvested Cork Oak

On each of the walks you get varying amounts of sightings of all the regular woodland species but there a few still in full song:  Bonelli's Warbler, Iberian Chiffchaff and Blackcap all sang today and I also heard Great-spotted Woodpecker, Eurasian Nuthatch, Crested Tit, European Robin and Eurasian Jay all called.

heavily laden Sweet Chestnut trees

There are a couple of places where water is still running down from the hilltop and lots of birds are coming to drink there. I often see Serin, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Greenfinch there. Also nearby there are often Sardinian Warblers and it is a good place for Bonelli's Warbler.

Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis)  above -  with a sprig of Throatwort (Trachelium caeruleum) also shown below

Today I noticed a few more Blackcaps and Chiffchaff species than usual, perhaps this is the beginning of their southward movement towards Africa and Southern Spain?

WEDNESDAY 17TH JULY - SAN PABLO (MARCHENILLA TRACK)

Today I joined Paul from the village for an early morning birding outing. We decided to visit the The Rufous Bush Robin site near San Pablo before heading over the hillside to visit our new Black Winged Kite breeding area.

We set off at 0730hrs and headed straight down the Algeciras coast road to the Marchenilla track hoping to see the Rufous Bush Robin we weren't disappointed! We drove a couple of hundred meters along the track and parked up, then we waited near an area where we both had some activity in recent visits.
 
After a short while two or three birds appeared including one very obliging male, it worked its way along the track catching insects and quite often displaying its fanned-out tail (although the tail was quite worn and the black and white markings were barely visible).

Some dipstick brought a camera with a dud battery and a the spare was also flat, so all the pictures belong to Paul.

The Rufous Bush Robin on the track

Many other species were seen as we watched this special bird. Several Griffon Vultures, Short-toed Eagle (3) one of these was very obliging and flew right over the top of us, quite low! We also saw pale morph Booted Eagle, Lesser Kestrel,Crested Lark, Thekla Lark, Woodchat Shrike (several juveniles), European Bee-eater, Common Swift, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Blackbird, Common Nightingale , Zitting Cisticola, Melodious Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Stonechat, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Linnet and Corn Bunting. Turtle Dove was also heard. We also saw a couple of Little Owls, one sitting on telephone cables and the other on a fence-line.

next we checked out the Black-winged Kite site, but it was now late in the morning and the chances were slim. We also looked for European Roller that we had both seen at various times  throughout the spring, but neither  bird showed;disappointing really as we were hoping to prove breeding had occurred with the Roller, we already knew that the Kite had raised at least one chick.

TWO NEW SPECIES OF BIRDS BREED IN SPAIN

AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF SPECULATION THE LESSER FLAMINGO HAS FINALLY BRED AT FUENTE DE PIEDRAS THIS YEAR, SEE REPORT RARE BIRDS SPAIN. AT MOMENT IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND THEM AS THERE ARE 22,000 GREATER FLAMINGOS THERE TOO!

Lesser Flamingo Phoenicopterus minor (1-3)
(1-3) Málaga . Three individuals were at Fuentedepiedra lagoon, Málaga, on 12.7: two adults and a 25-day chick. Breeding confirmed (Manolo Rendón, José Miguel Ramírez).

ALSO,  IN GARDENS NEAR TARIFA A COUPLE OF COMMON BUBULS TURNED UP IN APRIL (I WENT TWICE TO LOOK FOR THEM BUT DIPPED BOTH TIMES) THEY HAVE BEEN SEEN FEEDING A FLEDGLING IN RECENT DAYS.



Garden Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus (1-3)
(1-3) Cádiz . Two adults were seen feeding a chick at Tarifa, Cádiz on 8.7 (Emilia Jiménez Vaquero). First mainland Spain & mainland Europe breeding record as far as we know. Record submitted to CR/SEO-BirdLife

Photo above:© Emilia Jiménez Vaquero, 8.7.2013

SATURDAY 13TH, SUNDAY 14TH & MONDAY 15TH JULY 2013 - PUNTA UMBRIA WALK

PUNTA UMBRIA

On Saturday I went for an afternoon walk around the wooded hillside of Punta Umbria just north of the village. Even though I was in the shade for a lot of the walk it was very hot.

Hardly a bird showed but the oak trees were covered in Purple Hairstreak butterflies, it must be a bumper year for this species.

For the last two days I have changed my walking from evening to the early morning because it is now getting too hot to walk, even at 8pm.

During both morning walks, (8am starts) the weather was superb, clear blue sky and no wind. I could see that the coast was shrouded in thick cloud and sea mist, glad I'm not down there.

I was pleasantly surprised to find several birds still singing at this time of the year but disappointed because of the lack of raptors - there should be many birds (especially Black Kites) returning to Africa at this time.

I heard several  Bonelli's Warblers singing and also Blackcaps, a European Robin and a Wood Pigeon. There were also Eurasian Jays, Common Blackbirds & Common Chaffinches. It was nice to see many family parties of Blue Tit, Great Tit, Sardinian Warblers, European Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

Other sightings included: European Serin, Short-toed Treecreeper, Firecrest and I heard Crested Tit but failed to see it.

I didn't take my camera with me but will do next time.

13th july 2013 - (nine minutes after midnight)

We became grand-parents today, hoorah!   Little Florrie was born just after midnight last night. She weighs 7lbs 12 oz. (whatever that means). Can't believe how hairy she is??

Dawn is over in Kent being the mother hen. Amy and baby are doing just fine, Chris the husband is knackered, he slept most of the time through 3 days of labour, its hard work being a dad!

Does this make me old now?

ANDALUCIA - 5 DAY TOUR - DAY 5 JULY 2nd 2013...

GAUCIN TO THE LAGUNAS DE CAMPILLOS THEN TO MALAGA AIRPORT

The last day of Simon's short break was as good as the first with some lovely venues and great sightings. We maintained our good luck with a couple of super finds giving Simon some wonderful memories to cherish as he headed back to Littlehampton in the afternoon.

We set off at 7:30am on the road to Ronda stopping just once near the Encinas Borrrachas track in search of Rock Bunting which failed to show. We did see Black Wheatear, Rock Sparrow, Black-eared Wheatear, Red-legged Partridge and a small party of Red-billed Chough.

Our next venue was the Laguna Dulce at Campillos, we first drove around the fields at the back of the laguna in the faint hope of seeing a Little Bustard and a few other species. It was a Montagu's Harrier that we saw first as we approached the fields, a beautiful male flew over the road. Then a few Linnets, Corn Buntings and Crested larks showed up along the track.

The track then drew close to the laguna and we had good views of the water and reed beds, there must have been 2-3 thousands Common Coots spread out on the water and THE FIRST ONE I LOOKED AT WAS A RED-KNOBBED COOT!!  Can you believe it? It was incredible really, the gods must have been with us (or this guide has an excellent eye?). We also noted Northern Lapwing, Black-necked Grebe, Black-winged Stilts, Great Crested Grebe, Gull-billed Tern, Greater Flamingo, WHITE HEADED DUCk, Common & Red-crested Pochard, Green Sandpiper (2) and a Great Reed Warbler.

the Red-knobbed Coot at Laguna Dulce this morning

The track led us across a number of fields and ended beside a smaller laguna, we had closer views of several of the species mentioned above plus a Marsh Harrier that menaced the breeding birds. On the way back we found a small flock of Calandra Larks and 4 Lesser Kestrels. From the hide we sat and watched the White-headed Ducks at close range, there were 42 of them, a big increase in recent days. Then we found our bird of the day,  FERRUGINOUS DUCK, there were two splendid males sitting out there with the Common Pochard.

One of the male Ferruginous Ducks seen from the hide at Laguna Dulce

Our last stop was the small laguna just south of Campillos called Laguna Redonda. There we spent our last hour of bird watching, a good number of Greater Flamingos were very close to the hide and we also enjoyed Black-winged Stilts with their young, Little Ringed Plover, Gull Billed Terns and another couple of White headed Duck.


It was now 11:15am and we had to set off for Malaga, it took an hour to get there. Simon jumped out of the car and disappeared into the masses, safely on his way back home.

HERE IS AN E-MAIL RECEIVED TONIGHT FROM SIMON:

Hi Bob,

Just to say very many thanks for a wonderful stay at your lovely home in Gaucin
You both were fantastic hosts and Dawn's meals were fantastic,the whole experience

was memorable.

The birding exceeded my wildest dreams to see over 40 new species and get superb 

views was very special. The Griffin vultures on the hill side,the rock thrush ,

the ducks as you say to see the three rare species was more than could have been 

expected.Also the chance to see some old favorites,as always Bee-eaters ,

little bittern and black winged stilt to name a few.

Each day was memorable for lots of reasons and they will all stay in my memory for

 a long time.I will look forward to catching up with the blog when I get home and 

will finish today's log with the locations.

These few days have really made me realize I need to spend more time on birds

so here's hoping our paths may cross again soon
 
Once again many thanks to you both.
Kind regards
Simon

 

ANDALUCIA - 5 DAY TOUR - DAY 4 JULY 1ST 2013...

SAN MARTIN ROAD - LAGUNA MEDINA (JEREZ) - lAGUNA SALADA (PUERTO MARIA) - BONANZA SALT PANS - TREBUJENA SALT MARSHES

What a fantastic day!! I have never recorded so many rarities in single day before, the list is superb and littered with great sightings. the weather was delightful too, the recent levante wind had subsided and the sun shone all day. This was the last full day with Simon from Littlehampton and we had a wish list of 40 new species for his list, a tall order but all possible.

We left the house at 7am (wifey Dawn was nowhere to be seen at breakfast!) and we headed for the coast on the road to Algerciras. We turned off towards San Martin hoping for glimpse of the elusive and rare breeding BLACK WINGED KITE.  We didn't find one, instead we found three, yes three! A pair with one young bird and positive proof that the birds, as suspected, have bred in the vicinity, great sighting and a great start to our day.

a record shot of a Black-winged Kite taken distantly by Simon

We then drove to laguna Medina on the outskirts of Jerez, we arrived at 9am, it was a little breezy but that kept the temperature down to a nice 25C. It was reasonably quiet too, our ears were not blasted by bird song as usual. However, within 15 minutes we had seen Common Nightingale, Cetti's Warbler, Reed and Great Reed Warblers and many Zitting Cisticolas. A Marsh harrier was seen distantly and many Common and Pallid Swifts hawked above us. From the hide we noted with disappointment that not many birds were visible but after a while we amassed several good ticks. Lots of Great Crested Grebes were feeding young or carrying them on their backs, a few Little Grebes were seen in the distance as were Mallards, Common Pochard, Gadwall and Common Coot. Then we had a flurry of activity as a Little Bittern flew into the reeds just below us and showed very well at times. Then a Purple heron flew over and landed in the distant reeds where we could see 3 young birds sitting on a nest. A Great Reed Warbler sat out for us and a trio of Shoveler flew passed us.

yes darling you will grow up and look as beautiful as me (I hope so

                                                                          you ugly little bugger)

Travelling from Laguna medina to Laguna Salada near Puerto Maria we saw Red-legged Partridge and Eurasian Magpie. At this smaller laguna we had a great time and we recorded our second rare breeder of the day when we found a RED KNOBBED COOT. Another great find was a couple of male WHITE HEADED DUCKS. We also saw Greater Flamingo, Red-crested Pochard, Collared Pratincole, Montagu's Harrier, Black-winged Stilt, Glossy Ibis and lots of Cattle Egrets.

you just about see the 'knobs' on this one

Moving on to Sanlucar we stopped at thew Rio Guadalquiver near the salt pans at Bonanza. many Black Kites were drifting over but on the shore we only added Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Black-headed Gulls and Yellow-legged Gulls to our day list.

The Salt Pans were a different kettle of fish, birds were everywhere: hundreds of Greater Flamingos were joined by hundreds of Pied Avocets, Black-winged Stilts, Black-tailed Godwits (300+) and lots of Kentish Plover. We also saw a good number of Little Terns, Redshank (3) and more Black Kites.

Avocet - Simon

Next we visited the small laguna called Tarelo found next to the pine woods of Algaida. There were a good number of birds still at the heronry on the island, many Little Egrets, Cattle Egrets and smaller numbers of Squacco Heron and Eurasian Spoonbill. Around the edge of the laguana sitting on the reeds and tamarisk bushed we saw a good number of Black-crowned Night Herons and more Squacco Herons. On the water were very few species, Common Coot, Red-crested Pochard and mallard. We did see a single Common Waxbill fly from the reeds.

Suacoo heron by Simon

Our drive through the pine woods of Algaida produced lots of flies and mosquitoes so we didn't stop! But at the open salt marsh of Trebujena there was a nice breeze and even though it was now 32C it was still comforatble to stand out in the sun. At the main laguna we stopped to look at the a large number of Coots on the water and discovered a MARBLED DUCK, HOW GOOD WAS THAT. I have never recorded Red-knobbed Coot, marbled Duck and White-headed duck in the same morning in Spain before!

Marbled Duck - the star of the day!

We also found a LESSER SHORT TOED LARK and a Red Kite as well as lots more of the water species seen earlier.  It was late in the afternoon now and we had 'cleaned-up'; all of our target birds were in the bag! After a short coffee stop we headed off home, well pleased with our day's work. We recorded 40 new species for the trip list, exactly what we had hoped for!