TUESDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2013 - 8 DAY TOUR - DAY 2

EL ROCIO - MATALASCANAS CLIFFS  - ACEBUCHE VISITOR'S CENTRE - EL PALICIO DE ACEBRON WOODLAND WALK - LA ROCINA NATURE TRAILS - EL ROCIO

We had a packed itinerary today with perfect weather once again, although it did get a little too hot during the afternoon.

We met at 8am outside the hotel, it was still dark but we could see the sunrise in the distance as a Tawny Owl called its' way onto the day list. We walked the short distance to the edge of the Laguna Marisma de Madre where we could hear Greylag Geese and Greater Flamingos. The light improved and we scoped several species out in the muddy pools of the marsh, the laguna itself did not hold much water.

the gang in the woods at Palicio de Acebron

We added Eurasian Wigeon and Eurasian Teal to our list as well as seeing Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, lots of Common Snipe and a good number of the species seen yesterday.  From El Rocio we drove to the coast at Matalascanas where we walked along the cliffs looking out to sea hoping for some seabird passage. However it was very quiet, we did see the odd Northern Gannet, Sandwich Tern and the usual gulls but nothing to write home about. On the cliffs we found a mixed flock of Thekla and Crested Larks, Sardinian Warblers, Stonechats and Goldfinches. A peregrine Falcon flew over us as we left to return to the car.

Acebuche centre was also very quiet it took a while to find a bird other than House Sparrows and Azure-winged Magpies. We did find Tree Sparrow and both Pied and Spotted Flycatcher but after spending an hour or so visiting two or three of the hides we found nothing great for the list. On the way out of the park we stopped to watch a small number of Crested Tits just as a Dartford Warbler hopped about in the scrub.

what is left of the laguna at Acebuche after a dry summer

The Palicio de Acebron was built in the sixties and is surrounded by a unique woodland which sits on a large peat-bog. We found a few new species but again it was very quiet. Garden Warbler was new for our list and a Short-toed Treecreeper appeared as we were leaving.

The hides at La Rocina overlooked dry open scrub where water usually stands so not much was seen there. Both Pied and Spotted Flycatchers were in good numbers and we did see a Booted Eagle as we drove there.

Azure-winged Magpie

 Our second visit to the laguna at El Rocio was more rewarding with much better late afternoon light, we approached it after stopping a couple of times around the outskirts of El Rocio town. During our stops we found White & Yellow Wagtails, Meadow Pipits, Cattle Egrets and more Crested Larks.

On and around the muddy pools of the main laguna we found lots of Ruff, Ringed Plover, Common Snipe, Northern lapwing, a few Spotted Redshank, Common Redshank and many Mallard, Shoveler and Greylag Geese. In the distance we found a two Ravens, they sat on the shore near some Red Deer, also Common Buzzard and two Griffon vultures.

Tree Sparrow

We called it a day around 5:30pm, we had seen just over 60 species, the list was almost identical to that of last year's tally when we visited the same sites (check out the archive blogs).

MONDAY 14TH OCTOBER 2013 - 8 DAY TOUR - DAY 1

MALAGA AIRPORT - GUADALMAR  -  LAGUNA DULCE - EL ROCIO

Today we began the 8 day autumn tour of Coto Donana and Extremadura. I collected Mike and Lorna and Bob from Malaga Airport in preparation for the trip.

Mike and Lorna arrived a couple of hours earlier than Bob so we went off for a short birding excursion in the meantime. Our destination was the beach area around Guadalmar near the golf course, we parked up adjacent to the beach and stood on a bank of sand which overlooked a stream, the golf course, the beach and a large expanse of sandy scrub land. We quickly found Crested Lark, Zitting Cisticola, Stonechat, Northern Wheatear, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and Serin. Along the stream we saw Little Egret, many Monk Parakeets flew over and a couple of Common Kestrels hovered nearby.

Lorna, Mike and Bob at El Rocio this afternoon

We drove a little further upstream and saw a Eurasian Hoopoe and a couple of European Robins. After stopping off to buy lunch we returned to the airport and collected Bob, we then set off for Sevilla with the intention of stopping for lunch at Laguna Dulce.

Our picnic lunch was enjoyed in lovely sunshine at laguna Dulce, we had seen a couple of Griffon Vultures along the way but not much else. The laguna was covered in birds, it has been a superb venue this autumn. Highlights include: 5 Ferruginous Ducks, over 100 White-headed Ducks, 3 Marsh Harriers, a Hobby and good numbers of Shoveler (300+), Gadwall, Common Coot (1000+), Red-crested Pochard (5), Common Pochard (20+), Purple Swamphen (1) and all 3 Gebe species- (Little, Great-crested and Black-necked).

A good find was Tufted Duck (2 males) but we also saw Greater Flamingo, Northern Lapwing, Ringed Plover, Black-winged Stilt and we heard Cetti's Warbler.

Spotless Starling with a deformed (elongated) upper mandible

We then drove to Coto Donana without stopping except for coffee near Sevilla and also to watch a few birds near El Rocio. An obliging Eurasian Hoopoe sat on a post and beckoned for us to photograph it, which Bob duly did, whilst several Azure-winged Magpies darted across the road. We also stopped to photograph the magpies without success, they are very flighty.

At El Roico we made a short stop at the huge laguna which was virtually dry. We added Greylag Goose, Black-tailed Godwit, Yellow Wagtail and Common Buzzard to our trip list before driving into town and to our hotel.

We ate a lovely meal out on the terrace of the hotel and our bird log total was 55 species, not too bad for our first day which included a lot of travel.

SUNDAY 13TH OCTOBER 2013 - DAY TOUR

SERRANIA DE RONDA

SIERRA DE LAS NIEVES AND ENCINAS BORRACHAS TRACK

This was my last day tour of the year here in sunny Spain, boo, hoo!! I drove to Ronda to collect Pat and Joseph who are on holiday from Texas, USA.

The weather was superb, clear sky, no wind but it was a little chilly, 6C to start with!!! Oops!

We met on the famous bridge just as a flock of Red-billed Chough flew over, nice start. We then drove 10km down towards the coast to visit the beautiful region of the Sierra de las Nieves. We birded from the car park at the entrance to the park where it was a little quiet at first but birds began to appear as we walked in the open parkland. Both Black Redstart and Common Redstart showed really well and my American friends enjoyed the likes of Eurasian Jay, Blue Tit, Great Tit, European Robin and Common Chaffinch.

A view within the Sierra de las Nieves park

As we drove deeper into the park we stopped to look for Black Wheatear but all we got was fleeting views of Rock Bunting and a couple of Stonechats. More Stonechats appeared on the open heath where we also enjoyed good views of 3-4 Dartford Warblers, a number of Goldfinches and a couple of Cirl Buntings.

Another stop produced more Rock Buntings, 4 Hawfinches and a small party of Common Crossbills, this latter species was especially pleasing for Pat and Joseph as they had searched for Crossbills over a number of years during visits to Scotland without success.

record shot of Common Crossbill

In a mature pine wood we stopped to watch another collections of species: Crested Tit, Firecrest, Eurasian Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker (drumming), Grey Wagtail near a stream and more Common Crossbills coming down to drink.

After we ate our picnic lunch we drove back out towards the exit, we stopped at a couple of places to look for the elsusive Black Wheatear, again without luck. We find a lot more Jays, Wood Pigeon and a string of Griffon Vultures.

Just outside the park we decided to take a coffee at a roadside cafe, we sat outside in the warm sunshine. The view was stunning as we looked over the park and the distant mountains. We counted over 30 Griffon Vultures circling over the hills and to our great surprise they were joined by, first a Golden Eagle, 1cy, and then by an adult Bonelli's Eagle. Wow what luck and both gave great views in superb light. A Common Kestrel continuously mobbed the Bonelli's Eagle which was quite entertaining.  A few Serins and a couple of Rock Buntings added to our 'coffee watch'.

the Encinas Borrachas track

For the rest of the afternoon we walked along the Encinas Borrachas track found on the Algeciras road west of Ronda. The light was simply magical, we could see a flea on a Wren's back from half-a-mile away!

Thekla Lark

 High up on the mountain ridge we scoped Black Wheatear and Blue Rock Thrush and in the hawthorn scrub we found a couple of Southern Grey Shrikes and a Song Thrush. A Little Owl sat out on a ledge and a couple of Northern Wheatear flitted from bush to rock. Many Stonechats sat atop the bushes and several Thekla Larks fed in the grasses. After watching more Goldfinches and a couple of Linnets we then enjoyed a Woodlark as it sang in flight above us. For the next hour we had a great time watching Sardinian and Dartford Warblers, both gave excellent views as fed in mulberry bushes, the berries being both prolific and ripe at this time.

two record shots of Dartford Warbler

Our last species of the day was a flock of Corn Buntings sitting on telephone wires, how nice to see my favourite bird at last!

Our total of 45 birds wasn't great but the quality of the list was excellent.

Watch out for my 8 day tour of Coto Donana and Extremadura which begins tomorrow.

WEDNESDAY 9TH OCTOBER - DAY TOUR

GIBRALTAR - PALMONES - TARIFA CAZALLA RAPTOR WATCH POINT AND LOS LANCES BEACH - LA JANDA - BENALUP- VEJER - MONTENMEDIO GOLF COURSE.

 A NICE DAY OUT TO THE COAST -  WITH A FEW 'FIRST' SIGHTINGS OF THE AUTUMN

1.  COMMON CRANES
2.  TREE PIPIT
3.  SONG THRUSHES IN GOOD NUMBERS

Today I drove down to Gibraltar to collect John and Susan, we met at 8:30am and set off in good weather with a cloudy sky and light winds. We saw White Storks on their nest as we drove along the main A7 road near San Roque.

John & Sue at Cazalla observatory

Our first stop was the mouth of the river Palmones, it was high tide which had just started to turn as we got there. The sandbar near the river mouth had its' usual array of species settled on it. We found Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, Redshank, Grey Plover, Whimbrel, Oystercatcher, Sanderling, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper and Ringed Plover.

Bar-tailed Godwit

There was also a nice group of Sandwich Terns and a single Little Tern sat with them. Amongst the Yellow-legged Gulls we found Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls.

Out on the Marsh we could see a number of Grey Herons, White Storks and a couple of Eurasian Spoonbills which stood fast asleep with their bills tucked over their backs. An Osprey circled over the marsh before drifting out into the bay to fish, we saw it dive into the water a couple of times without success.

Grey Plover at Los Lances

Next we drove through Algeciras towards Tarifa, the cloud thickened as we drove up over the hills and the wind picked up quite a lot. We noticed large groups of raptors in the valleys, none of them would attempt to cross to Africa with such a strong easterly wind. By the time we arrived at Cazalla the wind was quite fierce but we persevered. It was a waste of time as we never saw a single migrating raptor, but the views down to Tarifa and across to Morocco were superb.

We got blown into the hide at Los Lances beach and enjoyed a nice hour watching more shorebirds and gulls. the prize here was the beautiful Audouin's Gull, a lifer for John and Sue and always pleasing for me to see them. A couple of thousand Yellow-legged Gulls sat forlornly on the beach with a few Lesser-black-backed Gulls and a number of Sandwich Terns. Large numbers of Sanderling fed alongside Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpipers and Ringed Plover. The regular juvenile Greater Flamingo fed in the pools, it looked as though it was trying to bury its head in the sand - not a bad idea in this weather.

Out in the fields behind the beach we saw a Pipit which on further inspection was a Tree Pipit not a Meadow Pipit as we assumed, we also found Crested Larks, Corn Buntings, Spotless Starlings and Stonechats. A good number of hirundines flew over and the flocks included Red-rumped Swallows, Barn Swallows and House Martins. As we got back to the car we watched some Yellow Wagtails with White Wagtails amongst the herd of cows.

Higher up in the sky we saw Black Kites and Short-toed Eagles, looking in the direction of the Ojen Valley we could see a good number of raptors in the sky and so that is where we went next. We were now out of the wind as we parked a few kilometers inland. After half an hour of sky watching we had seen over 100 raptors, Short-toed Eagles (20+), Booted Eagles (20+), Griffon Vulture (50+), Egyptian Vulture (1), peregrine Falcon (1), Eurasian Sparrowhawk (2) and a Common Kestrel. There was also a single Black Stork up with them. A short walk produced our target butterfly - the Monarch  - we also heard Blackcap and Cetti's Warbler singing. After eating our lunch we drove to La Janda where we spent the rest of the afternoon.

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Monarch Buttery in the Ojen Valley

It was windy again at La Janda so getting out of the car was a nuisance and made scoping quite difficult. So from the car we saw Green Sandpiper, Zitting Cisticola, Marsh harrier, Cattle & Little Egrets and lots of White Storks. As we watched our second Black Stork of the day we noticed a flock of 8 COMMON CRANES, this was my first sighting of the autumn and a sure sign that winter is on it's way!

Further along the central track we found a couple of pools full of water but not too many birds, a flock of Spanish Sparrows was nice, we also found 40 Common Coots, 100+ Glossy Ibis, Black-winged Stilts, Common Snipe, a single Wood Sandpiper and a few Corn Buntings. On one of the earth banks which borders the rice fields we found Northern Lapwing and a few Ruff, more Marsh Harrier appearances put up most of the birds but they settled time and time again.

We drove over to the back of the area and onto the Benalup track, along the way we stopped to watch Common Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge and small flocks of Linnets.

An Ocellated Lizard seen on the Benalup track

After driving through Benalup and round to Vejer we stopped for a quick cup of coffee before making our last birding stop which was at the golf comples of Montenmedio. Alas we couldn't find the Bald Ibis we went for and came out with a large flock of Jacdaws on our list and not much else.

We called it day and drove back to Gibraltar where I left John and Sue to walk across the border whilst I drove home. A Raven flew across the A7 at Soto Grande and was the last bird on the list.

SUNDAY 6TH OCTOBER - DAY TOUR

RIO GENAL - EL COLMENAR CORK WOODS - VULTURE FEEDING STATION

Today was the last day for Stephen, he had participated in the 7-day tour and stayed on for a couple days extra. We only had half a day really as we had to leave at 3pm so we kept the birding simple and close to the village.

At 8:30am we set off down the hill to the river, it was another superb morning, a lovely blue sky and no wind to talk of. At the river our target bird was the Hawfinch and it wasn't long before we found 3-4 of them in the canopy of the poplar trees, a little later we saw a flock of 10 flying over and away from us.

The meadows near the river were full of cattle which attracted a host of White Wagtails, a few Serins and a trio of buntings. The Buntings flew into a tree at the far side of the field and quite distant from us. I got the scope on them for a brief time and was pretty sure that they were Ortolan Buntings, before I could confirm they flew off never to be seen again! Another one that got away.

Other birds seen were: European Robin (our first of Stephens visit), Great Spotted Woodpecker, Whinchat, Pied Flycatcher, Blackcap, Grey Wagtail, Grey Heron and we heard a Cetti's Warbler.

We then drove back to the village and down to El Colemar in the River Guadiaro Valley where we stopped for a coffee. In the pine and cork oak woods we stopped a couple of times but only found Eurasian Jay, Common Redstart and a few Blue Tits.

At the Vulture feeding station there were.....vultures!!!  About 60 Griffon Vultures loafed around a number of carcasses, an amazing sight and they were very close to the viewing point. After a short while most of the birds flew off and filled the sky, fantastic. Above them we saw a Eurasian Sparrowhawk and that sighting concluded our birding for the trip.

Griffon Vulture

We drove back to the house and had lunch before driving to Malaga so that Stephen could catch his flight home.

SATURDAY 5TH OCTOBER - DAY TOUR

SIERRA DE LAS NIEVES - LAGUNA DULCE - SERRANIA DE RONDA NEAR ATAJATE

Richard and Mike joined Stephen and myself for this day tour. The weather was superb once again, with clear sky and very little wind - it did get very warm at 30C (4pm) at Laguna Dulce.

Richard, Stephen and Mike at Sierra de las Nieves

We set off from Gaucin at 8:30am and drove to Ronda making a couple of brief stops to look at a few species seen from the car. In the mountains near Atajate we found Black Wheatear (4 males), Black Redstart, Blur Rock Thrush and a Rock Sparrow was seen on a wall as we drove passed it.


The weather conditions were exactly the same as our previous visit to Sierra de las Nieves but the bird life was very different. Many Migrant birds had cleared out after a couple of clear nights so we had to search for birds this time around. We parked at the entrance car park and walked into thew open grassland where scattered trees and bushes held a few birds. We found Pied Flycatcher, Common Chaffinch, Woodlark, Long-tailed Tit, Willow Warbler, Jay, Garden Warbler and not much else.

Woodlark

As we drove deeper into the reserve we stopped to scan the heath for warblers and we scanned the sky for raptors. On the heath we found Stonechat, Dartford Warbler, Common Whitethroat and a Northern Wheatear. The sky remained empty for the duration of our stay. One Griffon Vulture perched on a rock face and three more drifted over.

Dartford Warbler and Common Whitethroat seen on the same fence

Our last stop was near a pine wood where we searched for and found:  Crested Tit, Coal Tit, Firecrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Eurasian Nuthatch and a pair of Common Crossbills.

We ate our lunch in lovely sunshine at a picnic site nearby before driving out of the reserve to a venta on the main road. After a quick coffee stop we set off for Campillos and the laguna Dulce.

The Laguna was covered in birds as it has been for the last month. Hundreds of Mallards, Northern Shoveler, Common Coot were joined by Common Pochard, White Headed Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Gadwall, 3 grebe species, Black-headed Gulls and Moorhens. There were 3 Black Terns and 5 Western Marsh Harriers. We then found a single RED KNOBBED COOT, 2 FERRUGINOUS DUCKS and a little later 2 BLUETHROATS. On the shoreline we saw a couple of Black-winged Stilts, Common Snipe and Yellow Wagtails.

On the way back to Gaucin we stopped to watch a pair of Blue Rock Thrush and also found Black Redstart, Corn Bunting and another Black Wheatear.

FRIDAY 4TH OCT - DAY TOUR - GIBRALTAR

GIBRALTAR

Today was not an official birding day, but I still have Stephen with me for a few days but he decided that he would like to visit Gibraltar for a little birding and a lot of sight-seeing.

We set off at 7:30am and arrived in the centre of Gib at 9am, not too bad. Dawn had come with us, she went off shopping whilst we drove straight to the bird-ringing station at Jew's Gate on top of the Rock, which is run by GONHS  (Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society).

It was a cloudy morning with a very light breeze but very clear-looking over to Morocco. At the ringing station we met Ray, the annual ringer, he had just finished his rounds and was carry several little bags with his catches.

It was amazing luck that he had caught not only a RED NECKED NIGHTJAR but also a SCOPS OWL!! How fantastic was that? He also had 7 Blackcaps and 2 Garden Warblers which he weighed and measured and ringed whilst we were there. The two special catches were truly incredible in the hand, the colours of their cryptic plumage looks fabulous at close range and the photographs do not do them justice.

Red-necked Nightjar showing its wide gape

'Bird of the Day' - Scops Owl look how tiny they are, this is a full grown adult bird

After our ringing excitement we drove down to Europa Point for a little sea watching. Looking out over the Strait of Gibraltar the sea was flat calm we could see for miles. Hundreds of Dolphins could be seen in various group sizes, both White Sided and Bottle Nosed were easily identified. We also saw lots of  Cory's Shearwaters that skimmed the water or formed large 'rafts' on the surface. Smaller numbers of Balearic Shearwaters flew by, a few Northern Gannets were also out there.

On the rocks below us we found a single Ruddy Turnstone and to my great delight we found two European Shags. This latter mythological  bird has eluded me for years and this sighting represents the first ever for me in Spain.....at last!!!!!! My first ever Shag in Spain!

European Shags on the rocks at Europa Point

 After another couple of hours seeing the sites of the lower town area we headed back off the Rock and into Spain once more. A short but very sweet birding day!

THURSDAY 3RD OCT - 7 DAY TOUR - DAY 7

PALMONES SALT MARSH AND RIVER MOUTH - TARIFA RAPTOR WATCH POINT (CAZALLA) - LA JANDA

With Nigel and Nathan back home in the rain I took out Stephen and 'new boy' Michael out for the day.
I thought it couldn't get any better than yesterday but it just did! La Janda was terrific today and so was the weather. We awoke to rain and overcast conditions so we decided to go to the coast for the day, what a great decision it turned out to be.

Stephen and Michael at Palmones, with Gibraltar in the back ground

At the coast the sky cleared the sun came out and there wasn't any wind. perfect for my kind of birding. We drove down passed Jimena de la Frntera and logged Common Buzzard, Corn Bunting, Spotless Starling and jackdaw along the way. As we passed through San Roque we counted 22 White Storks on their nests and a Booted Eagle higher up.

White Stork on the nest at San Roque - taken by Nigel Bleaken

The shore birds at Palmones were being disturbed by bait-diggers and boat men but we managed to see a good variety of species with good views of a couple of Slender-billed Gulls being a bonus. We saw: Knot, Dunlin, Kentish and Little Ringed Plovers, Redshank, Greenshank, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern and a solitary Little Tern. Mediterranean Gulls joined Black-headed, Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
A Marsh Harrier hunted over the marsh where Eurasian Spoonbill, Grey Heron and White Storks loafed around.

Bonelli's Eagle - subadult - taken by Nigel Bleaken

At Cazalla raptor watch point we had a fantastic clear sky with perfect light. We could across to Morocco with Tangers being clearly visible. We had to wait for raptor movement and when it came it was slow but interesting. Several Eurasian Sparrowhawks passed over before we found Honey Buzzard (4), Black Kite (1), Egyptian Vulture (1), Black Stork (14), Short-toed Eagle (12), Booted Eagle (10) and over 30 Griffon Vultures. Lots of hirundines passed over: Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin and quite a few Alpine Swifts.

We ate our lunch in the pine woods along the western shore of Los Lances beach before driving off to La Janda.

WE HAD A SUPERB FEW HOURS AT LA JANDA - HOW ABOUT THIS FOR A LIST:

RED-KNOBBED COOT (1)
MARBLED DUCK  (8)
SPANISH IMPERIAL EAGLE (1)
BONELLI'S EAGLE (2)
BLACK-WINGED KITE (2)
PURPLE HERON (2)
SQUACCO HERON (1)
SPANISH SPARROW (100+)

3 of the 8 Marbled Ducks seen today at La Janda

There were large flocks of a number of species:  

WOOD PIGEON 2000+
GLOSSY IBIS   1000+
WHITE STORK 1000+
CATTLE EGRET 2000+
LITTLE EGRET 200+
LAPWING 50+

The whole area was filled with birds, at one point there were 13 Marsh Harriers together, we also saw Common Snipe, Ruff, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper and lots of Yellow Wagtails. On the way back out we stopped to look for Bluethroats (35 had been seen recently) but we never found one, but whilst looking we found Whinchat, Crested Lark, Alpine Swift, Stonechat and Zitting Cisticola.

Squacco Heron

We left the area at 5pm having had a great afternoon birding with some super species on the list.

WEDESDAY 2ND OCT - 7 DAY TOUR - DAY 6

SIERRA DE LAS NIEVES - LAGUNA DULCE (CAMPILLOS)

A superb day of bird watching with fantastic weather and a wealth of birds. We only visited two places and still saw over 70 species which is a testament to the wide range of birdlife found here in Spain.

Nigel and Nathan were due to fly out from Malaga at 5:40pm and Stephen decided to have a day off so only the three of us set off at 8:30am and headed towards Ronda. The sky was clear and there was not not a whiff of air, perfect for birding. We saw Rock Sparrowand Rock Bunting along the way.

male Crossbill

Our first stop was at Sierra de las Nieves nature reserve near Ronda we parked in the car near the entrance and birded the immediate area of rough  open woodland. We had the best birding of the whole trip I couldn't how many birds of many species were around. We were amazed and didn't know where to look for the best! Pied and Spotted Flycatchers darted out from the low branches of the bushes, Woodlarks fed on the ground with Chaffinches and Mistle Thrushes, Common Redstarts flitted from bush to ground and back again. A few Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers fed in the canopy and our bird of the day was a Wryneck which spent its time being elusive but showed well at times. A small group of Common Crossbills landed at the top of a poplar, Long-tailed Tits moved through in  small groups, Goldfinches dropped in, Ravens drifted over and Red-legged Partridges called from the rocky scrub.

Common Redstart

Spotted Flycatcher

Woodlark

The Wryneck -eating ants

We managed to drag ourselves away and drove a short way into the park to look for other species and our next stop produced 3 Dartford Warblers, Cirl Buntings, Stonechats and a flock of 6 Red-billed Chough. We scanned the clear blue sky for raptors but none were showing.

The next stop near some mature pine trees was just as good, we parked by a babbling brook and immediately found our target species the Coal Tit. We also found half a dozen Crested Tits, 4 Firecrests, a couple of Short-toed Treecreepers and a Grey Wagtail.

It was now getting on for lunchtime so we drove out of the park and took lunch at a roadside restaurant, we sat out in the warm sunshine looking back over the natural park from the terrace. We saw 2 Short-toed Eagles, several Griffon Vultures and a Eurasian Sparrowhawk during lunch.

Our final destination was the Laguna Dulce at Campillos, it was covered in birds, thousands of them! The main bulk of the ducky mass were Mallards and Shoveler, a couple of thousand of both were present. Then came Common Coot with just as many present, then lesser numbers of: Great-crested Grebes, Little grebes and Black-necked grebes. We also found 5 Ferruginous Duck, a dozen or so of Gadwall, a couple of Teal, small numbers of Common and Red-crested Pochard, Moorhen and Purple Swamphen.

We searched through the Coots until we found a Red-knobbed variety aka 'tomato-head', there was also Black-headed Gull, Greater Flamingo, Black-winged Stilt, Common Ringed Plover, Marsh Harrier, Grey Heron, Cattle and Little Egrets. In the bushes around the hide we found Willow Warbler, Cetti's Warbler (fleeting view) and we were informed that we had just missed both Bluethroat and Wryneck, the pair of them had showed well 10 minutes ago!

it was now 2:30pm and we had to be at the airport in an hour's time so we packed up our scopes and went back to the car. The short break of 5 nights, 6 days were over for Nigel and Nathan, they seen over 150 species and at least a third of them were new birds for their life lists.

Tomorrow, Stephen and a new boy on the block, Michael will be going out to seek more of the rich avifauna of Southern Spain,

TUESDAY 1ST OCT - 7 DAY TOUR - DAY 5

GAUCIN CHESTNUT WOODS - RIO GUADIARO (ESTACION CORTES) - LLANOS DE LIBAR - RONDA - ENCINAS BORRACHAS

Today we ventured into the mountains, the weather had changed for the better and although it was dull and overcast at first it brightened up for the afternoon.

We stopped at the chestnut woods just outside of Gaucin on the Ronda road where we spent a hour searching for Firecrest and other woodland birds. We did find Great spotted Woodpecker, European Robin, Eurasian Nuthatch, Blue Tit and we heard Mistle Thrush and green Woodpecker.

the boys in Llanos de Libar

At short visit to a track near Estacion Cortes produced up to 5 Firecrest, a Pied Flycatcher and a Blackcap.
The River Guadiaro was quite productive too, we watched a flock of Rock Sparrows but also saw Common Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Grey Heron, Spotless Starling, Stoenchat and lots of finches.

Red Deer stag

By the time we reached Montejaque and the Llanos de Libar the sky began to clear and it warmed up somewhat. Our walk began after we had eaten our picnic lunch which was interrupted by several Griffon vulture sightings and a Black Wheatear. Birds along the first part of the track were few and far between but as we climbed higher then more activity was noted. Blue Rock Thrushes showed well, then both Black Redstart and Common Redstart were found. A Rock Bunting put in a brief appearance and several Rock Sparrows showed well, at least 4 other Black Wheatears were found and lots of Goldfinches, Linnets, Greenfinches and the odd Chaffinch madea lot of noise in the bushes. We added Blackcap, Sardinian Warbler, Northern Wheatear and Crag martin to the Llanos list.

Common Redstart

After a quick coffee stop we drove into Ronda for a short visit to the famous gorge but failed to see Red-billed Chough as we peered over the bridge.

Lastly we spent a couple of hours at the Encinas Borrachas track it was now quite bright as the cloud completely cleared. We quickly located a couple of Southern Grey Shrikes and a Northern Wheatear. A Thekla Lark was found, tracked down as it sang from a low boulder. A Woodlark then also burst into song on the wing right above us, a lovely surprise and nice to see. The next hour was spent following the antics of a couple of Spectacled Warblers as they flitted from bush to shrub and back again. In the meantime we found a Common Whitethroat, a Raven and 8 Red-billed Chough. We could hear the baying of the stag Red Deer in the distance and we found one or two on the top of the mountains.

Southern Grey Shrike

The light began to fade as we headed back to the car, most of our target species were in the bag and we were happy with our day's sightings, 18 new species for our master list.