JUNE 16TH 2014 - PYRENEES & PICOS DE EUROPA - 9 DAY TOUR - DAY 4

THE ARAGON VALLEY WITH STOPS AT:  ALASTUEY ROAD - PUENTE DE REINE - ARRES LANE - MARTES BRIDGE - BERDUN

We spent a day down the valley out of the mountains because the weather looked better for us there, and it was, the wind had subsided quite a lot and we had sunshine for most of the day.

After reaching the Puente de Reine we turned towards Jaca and then onto a small lane leading to Alastuey where we pulled over to search an open scrub area for warblers. Our target bird  was the Western Bonelli's Warbler which was seen within a couple of minutes one sat singing from the canopy of a small tree. A Woodlark was a nice find and we heard a Common Cuckoo calling but other than a few raptors nothing else was seen. However there were many butterflies on the wing and the group showed a good interest in seeing them, lots of shutters were clicking away, we saw: Black-veined White, Wood White, Scarce Swallowtail, Ilex Hairstreak, Chestnut Heath, Dusky Heath and several others.


SCARCE SWALLOWTAIL



ILEX HAIRSTREAK

From there we drove a few hundred meters further along the road and stopped by a small stream, again we hoped for Orphean Warbler but never found one, a Subalpine Warbler was a nice find and more raptors circled above us, we saw Black Kite, Red Kite, Booted and Short-toed Eagles and lots of Griffon Vultures.

CHESTNUT HEATH

Driving back to the main road we turned back towards Puente de Reine and then followed a narrow track down to the river Aragón, we searched this area for WRYNECK and eventually we found two birds, the second one showed very well for most of the group. During our time there we saw Grey Heron, White Wagtail, Spotted Flycatcher, Garden Warbler, Blackcap and Golden Oriole.

Next we stopped at a picnic site on the small lane that leads to Arres, it was the butterflies that stole the show, hundreds of them were milling about, we added many new species to our list including; Silver Washed Fritillary, Knapweed Fritillary, Large Skipper, Safflower Skipper, Spanish Chalkhill Blue and Southern White Admiral.




LUNCH



SILVER WASHED FRITILLARY



Bird sightings during our lunch stop included Cirl Bunting, Serin, Subalpine Warbler, Golden Oriole, common and Nightingale and Cetti's Warbler (heard).

Further along the lane we made two more stops to scan open scrub along an escarpment and large arable fields full of wheat ready for harvest. Common Stonechats, Corn and Cirl Buntings were the common species but we did see Woodchat Shrike, Crested Lark and more butterflies.

CIRL BUNTING

DUSKY HEATH

We turned onto a dirt track that led us to the river near a village called Martes, we spent our last birding time there, first at the bridge and then  a little further west. At the bridge we found Rock Sparrow, House Martin, White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail and Common Nightingale. Then at the second stop we saw Great Spotted Woodpecker, Spotted Flycatcher, Golden Oriole and a Little Ringed Plover. A Southern White Admiral posed for the cameras, what a beauty.



SOUTHERN WHITE ADMIRAL

PAINTED LADY

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER

From there we drove to the village of Berdun where we sat in the late afternoon sunshine and had a coffee, cold drink or ice cream, a Booted Eagle circled over us as we sat there.

FRITILLARY sp.

The Journey back to the hotel was generally uneventful, the group on the second minibus stopped to look at a Marsh Harrier and we in the first bus stopped to look for Dipper at one of the bridges without success.

Dinner was a joyous affair with a lot of leg-pulling,  yours truly took a tumble earlier, much to the delight of some of the group. Pressure is mounting as time is running out for a good sighting of Lammergeier.

JUNE 15TH 2014 - PYRENEES & PICOS DE EUROPA - 9 DAY TOUR - DAY 3

GARBADITO REFUGIO - UPPER HECHO VALLEY

WALLCREEPER AND LAMMERGEIER IN THE BAG TODAY

 

The cloud cover and the strong winds persisted over night but eased off this morning, just a little, it didn't look good at 7am when we got up for our morning walk. The tops of the mountains were enshrouded in thick cloud but the valley was a little better.

Birds were singing in the car park and the hotel grounds, Blackcap, Chaffinch, Wren, Garden Warbler and Song Thrush were some of the species we heard and we also got glimpses of some of them. Making our way down to the river we found Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Crested Tit and a Red-backed Shrike, we heard Firecrest and got better views of Garden Warbler.

At the river we found Grey Wagtail but not the expected Dipper, on the way back we added both Black and Red Kites to the list as well as Common Buzzard, Carrion Crow and Griffon Vulture.

The cloud lifted  somewhat and it got much brighter so by the time we finished breakfast we decided to go ahead with our plan and head up to Gabardito to look for the Wallcreeper. It was quite sheltered  there and the weather was improving by the hour, splendid! From the car park we had fantastic views over the mountains and soon we were listing birds, Alpine Swift, Griffon Vulture and Serin were the first to go into the notebook.


the view from Gabardito Refugio

We followed the main track that led us through mature trees of mixed pine and beech and also through open alpine meadows as we headed towards the Wallcreeper nest site. As we walked along the views were stunning and the flowers, butterflies and birds were a delight. We soon found a few more species of birds - Song Thrush, Crested Tit, Marsh Tit were seen and a Eurasian Nuthatch wasw heard.


Three of the front walkers in the group managed to see a Lammergeier as it drifted along the rock face on the opposite side of the valley, sadly it disappeared before the rest of us caught up. Several parties of choughs flew over us calling loudly both the Red-billed and the Alpine were seen.

Finally we arrived at the vertical rock-face where the Wallcreeper breeds each year and as soon as we got there one appeared. Amazing!! It was a male and fed for a while then disappeared only to reappear and delight us all for a further 10 minutes or so. After that incredible time we started our way back noting more butterflies and flowers as well as a few species of birds. We saw Mistle Thrush, Crested Tit, Dunnock and we heard Wren and Robin.

the rock face where we saw the Wallcreeper

Back at the Refugio we ate our picnic lunch sitting at the picnic tables in lovely sunshine, the weather was still improving with bright sunny spells warming us up.



lunch at the refugio

For the rest of the afternoon we travelled further north up the Hecho Valley towards the border with France. We spent several hours photographing, birds, butterflies, orchids and the scenery, we had a wonderful time. Few birds were seen but we did manage: Red-backed Shrike, Yellowhammer, Serin, Common Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail and we had marvellous views of the stunning Egyptian Vulture. As time wore on we realised that a Lammergeier sighting was getting less and less of a possibility until we reached the far end of the track.


The first sighting was made by me but only briefly, then a little later the same bird flew across the valley and several others saw it, but not well enough. The weather was mow closing in again, dark clouds loomed so we set off back to the hotel. Along the way the second bus saw 2 Dippers and the lead-bus was full of 'dippers'.

walking up the Hecho Valley this afternoon

At the hotel we decided to search for Firecrest in the grounds, it was a good idea as we all got superb views of this dainty little beast.

view looking back down the Hecho valley

Dinner was at eight, another enjoyable experience with lovely food and nice wine, ah, such fun!


Here is a list of the some of the flowers and butterflies seen today.


ORCHIDS

GREATER BUTTERFLY ORCHID
LESSER BUTTERFLY ORCHID
COMMON SPOTTED ORCHID
MARSH ORCHID
FROG ORCHID
FRAGRANT ORCHID

BUTTERFLIES

SCARCE SWALLOWTAIL
WOOD WHITE
BLACK VEINED WHITE
LARGE SKIPPER
GRIZZLED SKIPPER
DUKE OF BURGANDY FRITILLARY
PEARL BORDERED FEITILLARY
AMANDA'S BLUE
SILVER SPOTTED SKIPPER

Photographs of some of the orchids seen today

above and below - BURNT ORCHID

 

 

MARSH ORCHID

COMMON SPOTTED ORCHID

 

JUNE 14TH 2014 - PYRENEES & PICOS DE EUROPA - 9 DAY TOUR - DAY 2

EL PLANERON - QUINTO (RIO EBRO) - LOS MONEGROS - HECHO VALLEY

This was  a great day with a lot of travelling and a lot of species listed, however it was marred by the weather, we had lovely clear skies but it was very windy all day and hot!

We got up early and left the hotel carrying our picnic breakfast, it was just getting light as we pulled away at 6am. It took 20 minutes to drive to El Planeron, a huge area of 'Steppe' managed for the rare Dupont's Lark and other endangered species. The wind was blowing hard as we stepped out of the buses but we managed to hear a DuPont's Lark singing, but after a lot of searching we couldn't find one. Nevertheless we did see a host of other Larks, many Short-toed Larks, Crested Larks, Skylarks and Calandra Larks were seen during that first half an hour, we also saw Red-legged Partridge, a Little Owl and a Southern Grey Shrike.

The next hour was spent searching the surrounding 'steppe' for other species, a Stone Curlew sat very near the track and the photographers ample opportunity to get some great pictures. We also found several Lesser Short-toed Larks as they ran around on the track in front of us, Corn Buntings and Eurasian Magpies were common. But our best sightings included; Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Montagu's and Marsh Harrier and a distant probable Golden Eagle (seen by the group on the second bus).

the wonderful and colourful landscape of El Planeron

the Steppe of El Planeron where Dupont's Lark was heard

a common sight in Spain - Storks nesting on the church

As we drove to Quinton we stopped to watch White Storks, Red Kites, European Bee-eaters and an Egyptian Vulture. At Quinton we stopped for coffee and toast before driving down to the river Ebro,
We spent a couple of hours having great birding and seeing many species. In sheltered areas of reeds and hedges we found Common Kingfisher, Reed and Great Reed Warblers, Melodious Warbler, Cetti's Warbler and we had great views of Common Nightingale. Other species seen were Purple Heron, Golden Oriole, Little Egret, Sand Martins and we heard Penduline Tit. Black Kites we constantly in the air above us and often we saw Griffon Vultures and Booted Eagles. Before we left the area we stopped at another bend of river where shingle banks we found in the river, Little Ringed Plover, White Wagtails and Yellow Wagtails we found there.


We drove to PINAR de Ebro to buy lunch, the church was covered in Stork's nest and we saw a few Jackdaws flying around. Next we stopped in Los Mongols a unique area of hill-steppe where dry scrub and open valleys hold several interesting species. A Spectacled Warbler was found fairly quickly but it flew off before most of the group saw it, however, a pair of Black-eared Wheatears were enjoyed for a long time. The same went for a pair of Dartford Warblers, they too showed well. From then it went downhill, the wind got stronger and time pressed so we decided to move on.

Our trip took us passed Huesca and up through Jaca before we turned into the Hecho valley, birds seen along the way included several beautiful Red Kites, Raven, Carrion Crow, Red-backed Shrike and more Black Kites.

We arrived at our hotel at 6pm, it been a long day, a windy day, but everyone agreed that it was an excellent birding day with 79 species listed.

most of the group at Hotel Uson, two are missing - presumed asleep!

JUNE 13TH 2014 - PYRENEES & PICOS DE EUROPA - 9 DAY TOUR - DAY 1

MADRID AIRPORT - TO BELCHITE WITH STOPS ALONG THE WAY.

I arrived at Madrid airport at 10am with Mervyn, the driver of the second bus. We met up with Conor and Ann who arrived from Dublin at 10am. The majority of the group (10 members of the Cheltenham Bird Club) arrived from Gatwick at 11am. we all loaded onto the two minibuses and set off for Belchite.

During the trip we saw White Stork, Eurasian Magpie, Common Buzzard, Spotless Starling  and Crested Lark.

some of the group on the bridge at Villanueva

 We stopped for a lunch break along the autovia where we added Griffon Vulture, Booted Eagle and Greenfinch to the list. Our next species on the list were Turtle Doves, Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves, all were seen perched on wires in the countryside and near farms.

The stop at Villanueva was quite productive, the first bird we saw was a WRYNECK, unfortunately it flew off before all of group saw it. We also added Egyptian Vulture, White Wagtail, Spotted Flycatcher, Serin, Goldfinch and we heard Common Nightingale, Golden Oriole and we saw Common Swifts.

record shot of a Spotted Flycatcher

Further along the route we added Cirl Bunting, Calandra Lark and Barn Swallow. At our hotel near Belchite we settled into our rooms and took a short walk before dinner. It was very dry and hot and a little windy but we saw a few more species. A Rock Sparrow was nice to see but distance, but better views were had of Short-toed Lark, Skylark and an amazing 'flock' of Eurasian Hoopoe, we saw eight together!!

We had a very a delicious dinner and a nice cold beer before retiring for our first night, over 40 species were in the bag.

 

 

JUNE 10TH 2014 - DAY TOUR

GAUCIN SWEET CHESTNUT WOODS - MARCHENILLA TRACK - SAN MARTIN BRDIGE - SAN ENRIQUE WOODS - PALMONES SALT MARSH - SPTO GRANDE NATURE RESERVE - RIO MANILVA

A mixed bag of fortunes today and compared to yesterday a bit of an anti-climax. The weather was lovely and a bit cooler due to light overcast clouding.

It was the third and final day with Roly and Helen, they had seen most of their target species but a few were still missing so we tried to fill the gaps.

Our first stop was the chestnut woods just above Gaucin, it was a bright, very still, morning ideal for warbler watching. We were after the Iberian Chiffchaff but we never got a sniff of one, not a single note of song or contact call, disappointing. We got great views of Crested Tit, Eurasian Nuthatch, Bonelli's Warbler and we did hear European Robin and Wren.

Next we went to the track near San Pablo to seek out the rare Rufous Bush Robin, we could hardly believe when one sat out singing as we pulled up, we watched it for a while but we were driven off by clouds of flies and biting midges. Further along the track we found another target species the Tawny Pit, it showed well on the telephone wires. Other goodies included Sardinian Warbler, Melodious Warbler, lots of Bee-eaters and an odd looking Common Buzzard, it had a pure white head! Our first Short-toed Eagle sat nicely on a pylon for us to get great 'scope views, White Storks did the same and another Common Buzzard posed on a post.

Rufous Bush Robin in full song

The Lesser Kestrel colony at the railway bridge near San Martin was exciting to watch, adult birds were bringing food to the full grown chicks, mainly grasshoppers, they were soon devoured by the hungry siblings.

male adult Lesser Kestrel with a grasshopper in its talons

you can just make out the Lesser Kestrel chick in the nest hole

At San Enrique Woods we made our second attest at finding Tree Sparrow without success, we did see a Wryneck, Short-toed Treecreeper, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Spotted Flycatcher and lots of Serins. At the river nearby we saw Little Ringed Plover, White Wagtail and Common Kingfisher, a few Booted Eagles had been noted by now too.

PALMONES was almost as bad as last time, but there were a few waders and two lovely Slender-billed Gulls to watch. Kentish and Ringedlovers joined a single Oystercatcher and a Black-headed Gull on the sand bar and a single Greater Flamingo flew into the lagoon behind them.

Slender-billed Gull - adult

you can just make out two of them in this picture

After a coffee and tapas stop we visited Soto Grande nature reserve where we added Common Coot, Common Moorhen and a Purple Swamphen to our list but there were very few gulls about. A short sea-watch produced a small number of Northern Gannets and a single Cory's Shearwater, that one was well appreciated by Roly.

Lastly we drove to the Rio Manilva to look for Cirl Bunting a bird that had escaped our attention throughout this mini-tour. It still evaded our observation, well you can't win them all, can you?



he Rio Manilva - it is fed by a natural spring which carries rich minerals giving the water a milky blue quality

We ended there having had some success and some failures, we ended up with over 120 species for the 3 days with some really good sightings on the list.

 

JUNE 9TH 2014. - DAY TOUR

ENCINAS BORRACHES TRACK - LAGUNAS DE CAMPILLOS (DULCE & SALADA) - TEBA RAPTOR OBSERVATORY - GAUCIN SWEET CHESTNUT WOOD.


My second day with My Australian guests, Roly and Helen.

This was one of the best morning's birding I have ever had in Spain! At Encinas Borraches we absolutely "CLEANED UP', it was fantastic, super, smashing and great. The weather was superb too!

How about this for a list for one small area in Spain in June:

ROCK THRUSH
BLUE ROCK THRUSH
BLACK WHEATEAR
BLACK EARED WHEATEAR
IBERIAN GREY SHRIKE
WOODCHAT SHRIKE
GOLDEN ORIOLE
SARDINIAN WARBLER
SPECTACLED WARBLER
DATFORD WARBLER
WESTERN ORPHEAN WARBLER
WESTERN BONELLI'S WARBLER
SUBALPINE WARBLER
CRESTED LARK
THEKLA LARK
WOODLARK
RED-BILLED CHOUGH
ROCK SPARROW
BLACK REDSTART
ROCK BUNTING
CORN BUNTING

We also heard Common Cuckoo and there were plenty of Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Linnets, Common Kestrel and swifts, swallows and martins. All in all we saw 30 species along the track, a  very creditable list indeed.

Roly and Helen on the track today

We moved on at midday and before we reached our next destination we stopped for coffee and tapas just outside of Ronda.

Well, the afternoon could not possibly be as good as the morning, it had to calm down and sure enough it did. We stopped at a known Bonelli's Eagles nest but the two chicks' had fledge and no one was at home.

At Campillos we drove around the back of laguna Dulce and it was very quiet indeed. No Larks, Pipit Wagtails or Buntings, none! We did see a pair of Montagu's Harriers but nothing else.

Woodchat Shrike

From the hide we enjoyed an hour watching lots of water birds, we added several new birds to the trip list. White-headed Duck, Ferruginous Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Black-necked Grebe, Gull-billed Terns, Great Reed & Reed Warbler were some of the goodies.

Plenty of Common Coot and Mallards, Little Ringed Plover, Gadwall, Common Pochard, Little and Great-crested Grebe were also seen well.

two pictures of the very obliging Dartford Warbler

From Laguna Dulce we drove through Campillos and made a visit to Laguna Salada, this was also very good with a fair number of species there. Greater Flamingos, Black-headed Gulls, Whiskered Terns and Kentish Plover were new for us. Then Roly spotted a bird of prey in a bush and through the scope we could easily see that it was a BLACK WINGED KITE, this was the first sighting I had ever had of this species in the Campillos area, fantastic. We drove around the laguna to get a better view and whilst there we saw Stone Curlew in flight, Red-rumped Swallow and lots of Gull-billed Terns. On the way back to the car we saw our first Marsh Harrier and a couple of Lesser Kestrels, then the Black-winged Kite flew over and gave us excellent views.

Rock Bunting - in a tree?

From Campillos we drove back to Gaucin making two stops along the way, the first stop was at the Teba bird of prey observatory where we saw Alpine Swift, Red-billed Chough and Griffon Vultures.
Our second stop was at the sweet chestnut woods near Gaucin, we found a Eurasian Nuthatch within a couple of minutes then we had great views of a Firecrest before we went home.

one of several Black-eared Wheatears seen today

After another delicious dinner cooked by Dawn, Roly and I drove down to the Genal Valley to look for nightjars. Before it got dark we found another warbler for Roly's list, Western Olivaceous Warbler showed well in the evening light. The Red-necked Nightjars performed well, calling and flying around, it was a great finish to a superb day's birding, it tired me out so it's goodnight from me.

 

 

Red-crested Pochard, just starting to moult into eclipse

JUNE 8TH 2014 - DAY TOUR

ESTAPONA - CASARES BEACH - SAN ENRIQUE WOODS - PINAR DEL REY - PALMONES - TARIFA PLAYA LOS LANCES - LA JANDA - VEJER - BARBATE MARSHES

After a 5 day break from birding I was raring to go, chomping at the bit! I needed a long day out and a challenge and that is exactly what I got with my clients today. Roly and Helen are with me for three days, they are Brits living in Australia and Roly is a big lister and gave me a list of species he wished to see. I really enjoy a challenge like that, so here goes......


I collected them from their accommodation near Estapona around 8am, it was sunny and warm with a bit of a breeze. We drove a very short distance and stopped at some waste land near the main A7 dual carriageway. Within minutes we found one  of Roly's target birds, the Sardinian Warbler, a whole family party of them! We also listed Hoopoe, Serin, Barn Swallow, House Martin; Blackcap and Turtle Dove were heard not seen.


A few more kilometres later and we stopped at the Casares Beach hoping for a gull roost but dog walkers had dispersed the gulls. We did see Spotless Starling, Yellow-legged Gull, Grey Heron and two Pied Avocet that flew passed us. One more stop in the area produced Monk Parakeet, another lifer for Roly and Helen.

Our first official birding stop was at San Enrique Woods which proved to be very successful, after parking the car we scanned the field adjacent to the woods  and found Serin, Zitting Cisticola and a few Barn Swallows. Once we were inside the woods we immediately found a Wryneck, this bird showed extremely well, how cool was that? Next we found a Spotted Flycatcher, a few Blue Tits and a Short-toed Treecreeper.

Little Owl hiding at the 'smelly farm'

PINAR del REY was our next venue, we saw White Storks and a Jay en-route and in the woods it didn't take long to find another of Roly's target species, the Bonelli's Warbler. A Blackcap showed well too and we saw a few more Jays and three more Treecreeper.

At Palmones we were disappointed it was a poor turn out, a few Yellow-legged Gulls, two Yellow Wagtails, a distant Spoonbill and nothing else, what a let down.

It took about 30 minutes to drive across to Tarifa, a Black Kite was seen from the car as neared the town. We parked up and walked to the hide on Los Lances Beach, the area was full of joggers, walkers and, worst of all, dog walkers. There were dogs all over the restricted area,  and so, no birds. A few Kentish Plovers, six or seven Sanderling, two Dunlin and just one Yellow-legged Gull! On the grass meadows we fared a little better with Crested, Sky and Short-toed Larks, Stonechat and Corn Bunting. Everywhere we went today we saw many Goldfinches and Linnets.

Bald Ibis colony at Vejer

La Janda was a little more rewarding, the rice fields are now mostly flooded and this had attracted many White Storks, Cattle Egrets and Glossy Ibis. Our drive along the raised central track gave us excellent views of the rice paddies, we saw a single Green Sandpiper, Mallards, Common Kestrel, lots of Zitting Cisticolas, quite a few Bee-eaters, Red-legged Partridge, Common Coot and a large number of Black-winged Stilts.

A drive up to the 'smelly  farm'  produced the usual Little Owl and we had very good views of a Booted Eagle being mobbed by Jackdaws and several Griffon Vultures.  The huge breeding colony of Cattle Egrets and Glossy Ibis was in full swing and along the same section of track we added Turtle Dove, Common Nightingale, Cetti's Warbler and another one of Roy's list, the Melodious Warbler. A Night Heron was seen as we returned along the same track back towards the main road.

Vejer provided the sightings of the Bald Ibis at the breeding colony, nearly all the chicks are fully grown and ready to fledge, I doubt of they will be there next time I visit, it has been a gold year for them.

BARBATE Marshes was our last venue and gave us tremendous views of Collared Pratincoles, they sat along the track as let us approach quite close to them, very nice too. More Short-toed Larks were seen and Kentish Plovers, we also added Greater Flamingo to the last and got much better views of Eurasian Spoonbill. Bit the best bird was another of Roy's most wanted, the Audouin's Gull, we found six of them with about 1,000 Yellow-legged Gulls.

BARBATE Marshes

Well that concluded our day out, we drove home stopping at the Mirador de Estrecho where a very clear day gave us excellent views of the north Moroccan coastline.

We arrived at Gaucin at 7pm and Dawn cooled is a delicious chicken Tajine, taken with a nice glass of Rioja, what a nice way to end the day, Roly and Helen have two more days with us.

 

 

 

JUNE 2ND 2014. - LATE NEWS FOR LAST NIGHT

SIERRA CRESTELLINA

As I travelled back from Malaga Airport with my beloved at 9:30pm we saw a Red-necked Nightjar sitting on the road . It was the first time that I have recorded one at that particular site.

Today we passed the same area and stopped to look at the Bonelli's Eagle nest and I can happily report that the chick is doing fine.

We also saw many Griffon Vultures and a couple of Short-toed Eagles, incidentally a Short-toed Eagle has appeared in Wareham Forest in Dorset, a place I used visit many times when I lived in Sherborn, Dorset.

MALAGA (GUADALHORCE) - JUNE 1ST 2014

DESEMBOCADURA DE GUADALHORCE NATURAL PARK

I took DAVE, MARTIN and ALAN back to MALAGA airport for their return flight to the UK. and as I have to collect my darling wife a little later I planned a full day's birding in the area. However, the weather decided otherwise. Some of the darkest clouds I have ever seen gathered over Malaga and I spent just 1 hour birding before the rain started, I am sure my dearest had something to do with it!

I only went to one small part of the reserve on the east bank of the old river, where I took as many pictures as I could in appalling light conditions.

I listed the following:

black-winged Stilt, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Sanderling, Hoopoe, Whiskered Tern, Little Egret, Audouin's Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Black-headed Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Mallard, Gadwall, Redshank, Collared Dove, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Spotless Starling, Goldfinch and Linnets.

I tried to photograph most of them:

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO SEE AN ENLARGEMENT OF THEM ALL

AUDOUIN'S GULL - IF YOU LOOK CAREFULLY YOU CAN SEE FISHING LINE PROTRUDING FROM THE BIRD'S BEAK, HE WAS CONSTANTLY TRYING TO REMOVE IT - NOT A HAPPY FUTURE ME THINKS

8

AUDOUIN'S GULL - 2cy

LITTLE EGRET

EURASIAN HOOPOE  - he was calling from the rocks on the shore, not long after a female arrived, pulling on the beach is easy in Spain I guess?

KENTISH PLOVER

 

RINGED PLOVER

SANDERLING  - you don't often get to see this species in summer plumage, very pretty too! What is a summer plumage Sanderling doing in Spain in June?? It should be much further north by now.

SLENDER -BILLED GULL, unfortunately this bird is oiled

our local Sturnus - Sturnus unicolor, SPOTLESS STARLING

very common in Spain now - BLACK-WINGED STILT - remember Sammy at Titchwell? He took up residence there from 1993 - 2005, he was very lonely I saw him trying to mount an Avocet, imagine the off-spring, AV-A-STILT!

WHISKERED TERN - a record shot taken in very bad light and at distance

 

 

rain clouds gathering over Malaga