AUTUMN MIGRATION WATCH - 7-DAY TOUR DAY 6 - SEPT 7TH 2016

LAGUNA MEDINA – SANTA MARIA SALINAS - SANLUCAR POOLS – BONANZA SALINAS – LAGUNA TARELO - CHICLANA SEA-FRONT

Weather: clear blue sky 35C max temp. lovely breeze all day average temp. just 30C

We had a tremendous day despite the long distances travelled, our list approached 100 for the day including a few superb ‘rare’ species……………..

We set off a little earlier today because we had to travel quite a distance to Sanlucar and Bonanza Salt Pans so we set off at 7:30am. We drove to the coast via Jimena de la Frontera noting Little Owl, Common Buzzard, Corn Bunting, White Stork and Common Stonechat along the way. At Castellar we saw two Great White Egrets and a Eurasian Spoonbill in flight!


Green Sandpiper

From the coast near Palmones we turned inland towards Jerez passing through large tracts of the Alcornacales (cork forest) National Park. We listed a few more species as we made our way to Jerez; Eurasian Hoopoe, Black Kite, Jackdaw, Red-legged Partridge, Black-winged Kite (2) and Griffon Vulture.


White-headed Duck

We stopped at Laguna Medina for a short visit, just walking the main track and boardwalks to the hide. It was still quite cool with a nice breeze very agreeable weather. We found good numbers of Red-legged Partridges as well as hundreds of Mallards with Common Coot, Common Moorhen, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Gadwall and Cetti’s Warbler. A few migrants fed in the bushes along the track, both Spotted and Pied Flycatchers, Whinchat, Willow Warbler and local resident species such as Sardinian and Cetti’s Warbler. From the hide we added a couple of other species, Eurasian Spoonbill and Common Pochard.


Curlew Sandpiper

Next we visited the large expanse of the Salinas de Santa Marie, we were hoping for a Stone Curlew sighting but instead we got Northern Wheatear, Water Pipit, Yellow Wagtail (Ibericae), Mediterranean Gull, our first Greater Flamingos and hundreds of White Storks.


White-headed Duck - a pair!

After a coffee and sandwich stop, (where we logged Common Magpie), we drove to Sanlucar ponds. I was surprised to see how much water they still held and consequently they were full of birds. In lovely sunshine and a nice breeze, we logged a good selection of birds with MARBLED DUCK topping the bill and White-headed Duck, Squacco Heron, Purple Swamphen, Glossy Ibis providing a supporting cast, of a dozen more common species were also seen.


Caspian Tern

Bonanza Salt Pans was relatively quiet compared to past early-September visits but eventually we found a small number of the pans brimming with water and birds. It would take a long while to list the birds we saw, so here is a summary:


What makes Flamingos go pink? - these tiny Brine Shrimps do, thousands of them are consumed everyday

Huge numbers of Slender-billed Gulls, Greater Flamingos, Pied Avocets, Black-winged Stilts, Black-tailed Godwits and Redshanks filled the pools. We also enjoyed views of Black Stork, Caspian Tern, Osprey, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Little Stint, Grey Plover and Greenshank.


Slender-billed Gull


A feeding frenzy of Slender-billed Gulls - also eating brine shrimps

A couple of Whinchats with Zitting Cisticola, Northern Wheatear and Yellow Wagtail made up the bulk of passerine sightings. Five Montagu’s Harriers flew low over us whilst we explored the marsh behind the pans.


Marbled Duck

Laguna Tarelo usually turns up something good and today was no exception. Apart from a nice array of waders we saw nine more MARBLED DUCKS, a RUDDY SHELDUCK, lots of Night Herons, over 20 White-headed Ducks, Northern Shoveler and Common Waxbill.


The Ruddy Shelduck in the fore-ground

Lastly we visited the sea-front at Chipiona where a colony of LITTLE SWIFTS can be found, we saw about 6 birds, they visited their nests several times during our visit, lovely birds and our 5th Swift species of the tour!


Squacco Heron

The journey home went uneventful, we added Short-toed Eagle to the list and arrived safely home at 7:30pm – a long but very enjoyable day! 96 species seen.
 

AUTUMN MIGRATION WATCH - 7-DAY TOUR DAY 5 - SEPT 6th 2016

ENCINAS DE BORRACHAS TRACK – SIERRA DE LAS NIEVES - RONDA

Weather:  the hot spell continued and with little wind in the mountains it was a scorcher average temp. 38C

We set off towards Ronda at 8:00 am and reached the Encinas Borrachas (drunken oaks) track within 30 minutes. It was still a cool 23C with a little light cloud cover that soon burnt off.

This track is a favourite of mine with something good to see any time of the year, however I wasn’t optimistic today because of the current heat-wave. My fears were allayed as we notched up a few species within minutes, Iberian Grey Shrike, Northern Wheatear, Black-eared Wheatear, Whinchat and both Crested and Thekla Larks.

Northern Wheatear

It took us nearly an hour to walk the first 100 meters! Soon we were listing warblers that were feeding in the tamarisk scrub, we saw family parties of Spectacled Warblers, a few Sardinian Warblers and further down the track we found Dartford and Subalpine Warblers.

The Hermit Butterfly

Flocks of Bee-eaters flew over but very few raptors were present, a couple of Spanish Ibex stood in the shade high up in the mountain cliffs, one pregnant female looking a bit hot and stressed as she crouch in a sheltered crevice.

the underside of the Wall Brown is quite beautiful

As the cloud cover burnt off the sunlight became harsh and the temperature went up to 35C. Butterflies came out in good numbers, lots of Hermits, Rock Graylings, Small Blues, Sage Skippers, Wall Browns, Meadow Browns and Iberian Marbled Whites.

Cardinal Fritillary

We got back to the car 3 hours after we set off and promptly drove to a venta for a cup of coffee and a rest. We saw Swallowtail Butterfly whilst drinking our caffeine.

For the next venue we drove to the natural park of Sierra de las Nieves some 3 minutes up the road, after entering the park we stopped at the entrance picnic site to eat our lunch in the shade of a pinsapo pine!

During lunch we saw around a dozen Common Redstarts as well as Black-eared Wheatears, Willow Warblers, Jays and Blue Tits.

Common Redstart

For the next two hours we sat in the shade close to an over-flowing watering trough where a creditable list of species was recorded. The two trees above the trough were alive with birds, they took turns to drop down to drink or bathe or both.

The trough

Trough list:

Blue Tit, Great Tit, Crested Tit, Eurasian Nuthatch, Short-toed Treecreeper, Jay, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Willow Warbler, Iberian Chiffchaff, Garden Warbler, Spectacled Warbler, Cirl Bunting, Spotted Flycatcher, Firecrest, Common Redstart and Eurasian Hoopoe.

female Cirl Bunting at the trough

Several butterflies came to drink or take up minerals from the wet soil, Cardinal Fritillary, Banded Grayling, Spanish Chalk-hill Blue, Cleopatra and Striped Grayling were the most abundant.

The Cleopatra Butterfly is the Mediterranean Cousin of the Brimstone

It was now 4:15pm so we decided to call it a day, we drove into Ronda to be tourists for an hour, boy was it hot there, the car registered 40C again. We added Red-billed Chough to our trip list before we nearly melted.

Spotted Flycatcher

We got home at 6:30pm, a cold drink, in the shade, went down very well!

AUTUMN MIGRATION WATCH - 7-DAY TOUR DAY 4 - SEPT. 5TH 2016

GAUCIN SWEET CHESTNUT WOODS - RIO GUADIARO AT EL COLMENAR – CUEVA DE GATO – LLANOS DE LIBAR

Weather: Southern Spain continued to bake in this very unseasonal hot-spell. It reached 42C today which reduced our birding time somewhat!

Fiona and I left my house at 7:15am, it was only just getting light as we left the village and drove the 3km to the woods. At first it was very quiet, just a Eurasian Nuthatch called then other birds began to wake and started feeding.

A Great-spotted Woodpecker came next followed by sightings of Blue & Great Tit and the Nuthatch. Soon the ‘goodies’ began to appear, 2-3 Firecrests showed well before a ‘gang’ of Crested Tits appeared, they had a successful time catching moths in flight, very skillfully done.

female Bronze Demoiselle Damselfly

After breakfast we met up with Penny, Paul and Helen and together in my van we drove down to the Rio Guadiaro at El Colmenar. It wasn’t too warm at that time in the morning so we spent a nice hour looking at birds, insects and bugs. Paul is an expert entomologist and is currently producing a field guide on the insects of the Mediterranean.

We logged Grey Wagtail, Long-tailed Tit, Willow Warbler, Eurasian Chiffchaff, Blackcap and a possible Garden Warbler. Some butterflies were on the wing with Monarch, Lang’s Short-tailed Blue, African Grass Blue, Speckled Wood and a Clouded Yellow all seen in flight. Paul pointed out a few damselflies and dragonflies; Bronze Demoiselle, White Featherlegs and Ringed Cascader.


The track through the Llanos de Libar
Fiona, Penny and I left Paul and Helen to study the insects whilst we drove to Benaojan and Cueva de Gato. On arrival it was boiling hot so we never walked far from the car park, a flock of about 30 Alpine Swifts flew over us and a couple of Crag Martin joined them. High up we logged a few Honey Buzzards and just over the ridge a Short-toed Eagle drifted by.

We visited the cave and its beautiful ‘blue pool’. A Cetti’s Warbler showed unbelievably well as did Grey Wagtail and we had together views of Long-tailed Tit, Blackcap, Common Redstart, Willow Warbler and Eurasian Chiffchaff.

Iberian Wall Lizard
From the cave we made the short journey to the Llanos de Libar track. We ate our picnic lunch in the shade whilst watching the local Griffon Vultures drifting along the mountain rock face and climbing to great heights on the thermals. We had several sightings of small groups of Honey Buzzards at very great heights with a few Black Kites.

A Black Redstart flitted around on the ivy-clad rock nearby, a Cirl Bunting flew up off the track and both Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff sp. fed in the ivy.

You can imagine the lack of bird activity in 40C heat so we drove to a spot where we could watch a leaking water trough, where birds were coming to drink. With small flocks of Goldfinches we logged Rock Bunting, Linnet and two Black Wheatears sat on prominent rocks in the foreground.


The entrance to Cueva de Gato

Apart from a ‘swarm’ of Martins, both House and Crag, nothing else was moving so we drove up the valley for a few kilometers hoping for sightings from air-conditioned car. But apart from a single Northern Wheatear, a couple of Black-eared Wheatears and a Common Stonechat it was very quiet.
The scenery was stunning, it was worth going there just for that but alas time had run out and we had to go. We returned to the Rio Guadiaro to collect Paul and Helen who had had a great time photographing insects.

We finished back in Gaucin at 4:30pm a little early but the heat was now oppressive so we chilled to 7pm and then went into the village centre to eat and to watch a dance-concert in the square.

AUTUMN MIGRATION WATCH - 7-DAY TOUR DAY 3 - SEPT 4TH 3016

HUERTE GRANDE – CAZALLA WATCH-POINT – EL TRAFICO WATCH POINT – LA JANDA – MIRADOR EL ESTRECHO

WEATHER: the hottest day for quite a while! It reached 40C but a strong easterly breeze saved us from frying.

It was another fantastic day of migration-watching as we ventured down to the coast at Tarifa. Fiona and I set off at 8am and headed down the valley to San Pablo but before we reached there we stopped to watch a huge number of hirundines as they assembled into a massive flock along a set of power lines. We estimated that 2000 birds were present, 90% were House Martins with some Barn and Red-rumped Swallows, a great start to our migration-watch day.

We drove down to Algeciras and headed westward towards Tarifa making a stop at Huerte Grande to collect John and Gill who were joining us for the day. Huerte Grande is a small private nature park with chalet accommodation and several nature trails. We stayed for an hour walking the trails and watching a few species, we saw Serin, European Robin, Chaffinch and not much else.

Egyptian Vulture

The four of us made a brief stop at Bujeo to look for passerine migrants in the wild-olive scrub, it was windy there and we only found Common Redstart, Spotted Flycatcher and Cirl Bunting. Raptor passage was now quite noticeable with a stream of sightings involving Honey Buzzards, Egyptian Vultures, Black Kites and both Booted and Short-toed Eagles. So we set off for the watch-point called Cazalla which is situated in the hills above Tarifa.

view of Tarifa Island and port from El Trafico

We had quite a spectacular migration watch, several hundred raptors were in the sky at any given moment it was superb. The strong easterly wind prevented the birds from venturing out of the valleys behind Cazalla so their numbers built up. Hundreds of Black Kites, Egyptian Vultures, Honey Buzzards and fewer Booted & Short-toed Eagles were joined by a single Black Stork and a single Eurasian Sparrowhawk. The obligatory flock of 60+ Bee-eaters flew over as did a trickle of Swifts and Hirundines.

After a very brief venture into Tarifa town to look for the breeding Common Bulbul we popped down to El Trafico watch-point where the wind was really too strong to be comfortable. So we left the Tarifa area and headed for La Janda.

A flock of 400+ White Storks flew over us at La Paloma

Another quick stop found us looking at waders and gulls at the pool near Punta la Paloma. We listed Kentish & Ringed Plover, Sanderling, Yellow-legged, Lesser Black-backed and Audouin’s Gull. A flock of nearly 500 White Storks circled above us, they went very high and disappeared from view!

Another large flock of White Storks greeted us at La Janda, this time nearly 1000 birds were seen. We ate our picnic lunch whilst we watched the storks but we also list: Green Sandpiper, Glossy Ibis, Cattle & Little Egret, Marsh and Montagu’s Harriers and lots of Goldfinches, Linnets, Greenfinches and Zitting Cisticolas.

record shot of Black-winged Kite

Driving along the 5km central track we made a number of exciting finds as we made frequent stops. A few Water Pipits in summer garb were nice, so were Yellow Wagtails and a distant Osprey. We watched Common & Green Sandpipers, Little Ringed Plover, Black-winged Stilts and a beautiful Black-winged Kite was seen hunting over the rice fields.

Glossy Ibis numbers were staggering as we got deeper into the rice fields they almost equalled the White Storks. We added Purple Heron, Eurasian Spoonbill and Black Stork to the list as well as Woodchat Shrike, Wood Pigeon and Common Stonechat.

the shooting season has started - a beautiful Turtle Dove 'wasted' for nothing!

Near the ‘smelly’ farm we searched for Red-necked Nightjar in a well-known site, we found Common Pheasant, Pied Flycatcher and Turtle Dove and we succeeded in flushing a Little Owl and the only nightjar we saw was also in flight!

Juvenile Woodchat Shrike

Our exit from La Janda took us quite a while as we stopped to marvel at the numbers of storks and ibis, thousands were feeding in the rice fields it was spectacular. A brief visit to a lical golf complex to look for Eagle Owl ended in disappointment and our final stop was at the mirador de estrecho where fantastic evening light provided a memorable view across the Strait to Morocco.

Beware road-block ahead!

We finished back at Huerte Grande where a short search for another owl, Scops, went unrewarded. After leaving John and Gill we drove back to Gaucin, arriving at 8:30pm a little later than planned but that’s birding for you!

Across the Strait to Morocco - if you look carefully you can see a couple of Black Kites above the ship!

AUTUMN MIGRATION WATCH - 7-DAY TOUR DAY 2 - SEPT 3RD 2016

MARCHENILLA TRACK – RIO HOZGARGANTE – EMBALSE GUADARRANQUE – SAN ENRIQUE WOODS – LAGUNA TORREGUADIARO – SIERRA CRESTELLINA

WEATHER:  cloudy at first, clear from 10:00. Then hot, dry sunny – max temp 32C light easterly wind

We set off at 8:30am and headed down the Guadiaro Valley towards the coast, it was overcast but not dull. We turned off the main road at San Pablo then onto a farm track that led to a ‘hamlet’ called Marchenilla. During our journey we logged Common Buzzard, Woodchat Shrike, Common Stonechat and Spotless Starling.  

Hard-core birding? Fiona in a relaxed mood

The track was alive with birds, flocks of Goldfinches, House Sparrows, Linnets, Serins, Common and Spotless Starlings. The scrub appeared to be full of Sardinian Warblers and the odd Zitting Cisticola.

Short-toed Eagle

As we advanced along the track the cloud dispersed and the air began to warm up, this triggered a tremendous movement of Honey Buzzards. First small groups of 6-10 appeared but as the morning went on the groups got bigger and bigger. I counted 98 in one bunch but there were many larger ‘kettles’, a conservative estimate would put the count at 1500 birds.

Honey Buzzards gathering to form a spiralling 'kettle'

Other species helped to fill the sky, over 30 Short-toed Eagles with similar numbers of Black Kites and Booted Eagles came over. A single Black-winged Kite was a bonus sighting, an unusual bird for this area and the second one I’ve seen this week.

Female Whinchat

A few migrant passerines were found along the fence-line, Whinchat, Northern Wheatear and a small flock of 5 Tawny Pipits. A single Eurasian Hoopoe showed well and over 100 Bee-eaters chirped above us or perched on the power lines.

Blackcap

We had spent nearly 3 hours walking the track so we decided to seek shelter at the nearby river Hozgargante. We sat near a large pool of water (the river wasn’t flowing) andcate our picnic lunch whilst watching a number of birds coming to drink.

It was an exciting hour as several species appeared close by, Willow Warbler was the most common species but we saw both Iberian and Eurasian Chiffchaffs, Western Bonelli’s Warbler and to our great delight a SPECTACLED WARBLER came down to drink, what a cracker!

From the river we drove to the dam at Guadarranque where we switched to butterfly watching. I used to take people there just to see Monarch Butterflies but this year there have been hundreds all over my patch. We had at least twenty sightings today before we got to the main colony! A second favourite butterfly of mine is the Two-tailed Pasha which can also be found nearby. Again this little beauty appeared right on cue, my old faithful never lets me down.

Two-tailed Pasha

Next we drove to a coastal site near Soto Grande where WHITE RUMPED SWIFTS breed, it took us a while to find one but it really showed well once it appeared. We watched a single or two individuals for about 20 minutes, smashing bird and a new one for Fiona. Both Pallid and Common Swifts joined the show as well as Barn & Red-rumped Swallows and House Martins.

Our visit to San Enrique woods was a bit of a waste of time, we saw Spotted Flycatcher, Common Kingfisher, a few Booted Eagles and a very brief Tree Sparrow. We quit after 30 minutes and drove to the Laguna at Torreguadiaro.

As usual there was no access to view the laguna we had to make do with looking through a tiny gap in the reeds. We saw Purple Swamphen, Grey Heron, Little Grebe, Eurasian Coot and Common Moorhen, no sighting of the hoped-for Little Bittern.

Apart from a short stop at Sierra Crestellina, where we watch Griffon Vultures, we went straight back to Gaucin arriving at 6pm. A hot, dry day had produced a fine list of species with one or two ‘corkers.

AUTUMN MIGRATION WATCH - 7-DAY TOUR DAY 1 - SEPTEMBER 2ND 2016

TRANSFER FROM MALAGA AIRPORT TO GAUCIN WITH STOPS AT GUADALHORCE WEATHER: HOT, DRY AND SUNNY ALL DAY WITH A LIGHT BREEZE

I collected Fiona from the airport just after her 12:30 lunchtime arrival, I was a little late and Fiona was in panic mode but she was keen to go birding as soon as her feet hit the ground, ‘hard core birder’ – wait for me!

Juvenile female White-headed Duck
We drove around to the Paraje Natural Desembocadura de Guadalhorce where we spent two to three hours walking the tracks and visiting the hides. One of our first birds was the Monk Parakeet, a new bird for Fiona to go onto her category D list! We saw Booted Eagle, Grey Heron, Goldfinch and Spotless Starling before we reached the first hide.

Little Tern
The number of species sitting on the water were very few but the main target and our best sighting was that of White-headed Duck, several were on show, mainly juvenile birds.  We also listed Common Kingfisher, Common Pochard, Little Grebe and a dozen Eurasian Coots.

Laguna Grande
From the hide that overlooks Laguna Grande we had much better luck, a large flock of loafing Lesser Black-backed Gulls held several Yellow-legged and a single Audouin’s Gull whilst good numbers of Little Ringed Plovers, Black-winged Stilts and Avocets were joined by Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Greenshank and a small flock of Dunlin flew around the laguna.

Banded Groundling - male
Other species seen during our walk included Sardinian Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Red-rumped Swallow, Common Swift and Eurasian Hoopoe.

Zitting Cisticola
Moving on we drove to Estepona before turning inland heading towards Casares and Gaucin. We made one stop near the rubbish tip where dozens of Griffon Vultures soared above us with both Booted Eagle and Black Kite. A single Short-toed Eagle sat on top of a pylon not far away.

An unusual sighting at Guadalhorce - European Hare
At our home in Gaucin Fiona settled into her apartment and went straight up to the top terrace to watch the sky! During 45 minutes over 300 Honey Buzzards flew over with a few Black Kites and about 50 Bee-eaters, I think she is going to like it here.

We ate a delicious meal in the courtyard with Dawn the ‘chef’ and enjoyed a nice bottle of White Rioja.

DINNER ON THE TERRACE AT CASARES - FANTASTIC EVENING MIGRATION - AUGUST 31ST 2016

Dawn and I were invited to dinner at Penny and John's finca in Casares where John and Gill, some other good birding friends, are staying as Penny's guests for a short while. Trouble is, John is a Leicester City fan and you can't shut him up, he even wears the T-shirt!

We had a lovely evening and a delicious dinner prepared by Penny and John. A real bonus was a terrific passage of Honey Buzzards and Black Kites. During the evening we logged over 600 raptors and they were still drifting through as it got dark.

The view of Casares from the terrace

Most birds we were watching were really high up, just dots but some came over a little lower. An amazing aerial display by Griffon Vultures is always a show-stopper above the terrace, there is a constant presence of raptors in the sky, never a dull momemt. We saw a couple of dozen Booted Eagles, a handful of Eurasian Sparrowhawks, a couple of Short-toed Eagles and the odd Lesser Kestrel.

Another view;  looking down to Manilva from the terrace

Flocks of Bee-eaters flew over too whilst both Common and Pallid Swifts were ever-present. A couple of Spotted Flycatchers fed in the garden below and as it got dark the prize bird appeared. Yes an EAGLE OWL flew across the valley and perched on rocks above us, it called twice before flying off just as I got its silhouette in the scope.

Griffon Vulture having a look for scraps off our dinner table?

A smashing evening topped by great company, delicious food and an Eagle Owl - it doesn't get much better than this!

Gaucin - Saturday Night and Sunday Morning - 27th/28th August 2016

Saturday 27th August -  Evening  – Eastside of Gaucin

At last the endless Levante (east-wind) has eased off, it seemed to blow forever, Saturday was very still and as expected the flow of migrating raptors started trickling through.

Short-toed Eagle

At 6:30 I climbed up to my top terrace to watch this mini-spectacle, for 30 minutes I counted 181 Honey Buzzards, 51 Black Kites and 1 Booted Eagle, none of these birds were very high and they all headed down the Genal Valley towards Sierra Crestellina.         

Sunday Morning  -  28^th August  - Marchenilla Track

The absence of wind instigated a venture a little further afield this morning. At 8:30am I drove down to San Pablo and turned onto the Marchenilla Track.

Zitting Cisticola

A two-hour walk failed to produce the number of migrants I was expecting but 6 Short-toed Eagles, 2 Booted Eagles, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel and a single Montagu’s Harrier was enough to keep me occupied. One unexpected sighting was of a BLACK-WINGED KITE, never seen one of those along this track before.

Record shot of the Black-winged Kite

Other migrant sightings included: Woodchat Shrike, Red-rumped Swallow, Melodious Warbler, European Bee-eater (60+), Common Starling 20+ (my first for this autumn) and lots of Common Swifts.

the driest time of the year along the track

As I was leaving small groups of Honey Buzzards started to form above the hillsides, I counted 25 in the valley and saw plenty more as I drove back up the mountain to Gaucin.

LOCAL PATCH WALK - NOVEMBER 1ST 2015

 

Today I took my first walk in my local patch since last March! It’s not because I’ve been lazy it’s because I’ve been away all that time working hard..........................

STOFORD RIVERSIDE WALK 

My local walk consists of a track which starts near Yeovil Junction Railway Station and follows the course of a tributary of the River Yeo in both directions. This small river winds its way through flood meadows and pastures, a nice ‘ribbon’ of mature Alder Trees  traces its meandering course through the fields. These trees are excellent for ‘tit’ flocks, woodpeckers, treecreepers and siskin, they also provide perches for hundreds of Redwings and Fieldfares that feed in the pastures during the winter
.
                  a close-up of the foggy-dew on a dandelion seed-head

It was foggy most of the day and it cleared mid-afternoon, I walked around 10am for an hour or so. The first bird I encountered was a Green Woodpecker that flew up from a grassy bank and quickly disappeared. I then watched a Wren for a while before looking higher up and seeing a flock of Long-tailed Tits. Two Redwings flew over, a couple of Jays appeared and numerous Jackdaws darted about.

                                  not it's not frog-spawn! Just dew on a leaf

A small mixed flock of Siskins and Goldfinches were joined by Blue Tit, Great Tit and Coal Tit as they fed on the Alder seeds. I added more common birds as I made my back up river having walked for a mile downstream. Robins, Blackbirds, Dunnocks, Carrion Crow, Wood Pigeon, Magpie and Grey Wagtail were all added to the sightings list.

The light was very poor all day so I couldn’t take any pictures of birdies, a few plants were still in flower with White Dead Nettle being the most interesting.

                        Lamium album (white dead-nettle)

FINAL BLOG ON THIS SITE - December 31st 2014

Hi readers,

please note that this will be the final blog on this site - all future blogs will be written on my web-site blog found;

www.wingspanbirdtours.com/blog

 

I thank everyone for reading my blogs over the last few years and I hope you have enjoyed them.

 

best wishes, Bob