JULY 3OTH 2014 - DAY TOUR

CASARES BEACH - SAN ENRIQUE WOODS - SECADERO TRACK - RIO GENAL BELOW GAUCIN

Today I collected the Haigh family from the coast at Casares beach, they had a mixed bag of interest between them which included Will's fascination with bugs!

I left Gaucin at 6:45am and along the way down to the coast I counted 15 Black Kites, a Common Buzzard and a couple Griffon Vultures.

It was windy at the coast at first, also overcast, humid and very warm but as we moved inland the sky cleared the humidity eased off and it got hot.

the Haigh family - William Haigh on the left is looking for bugs

We drove along the coast towards Algeciras making a quick stop to look at a colony of Monk Parakeets, unfortunately no birds were home so we ended just looking at bunches of twigs in the eucalyptus trees.

At San Enrique Woods we fared a little better our first bird  in the scope was a Spotted Flycatcher, then as we moved into the woods we added Great Spotted Woodpecker, Short-toed Treecreeper, Bonelli's Warbler, Blue Tit, Greenfinch and Goldfinch. Another eight Black Kites flew over too.

the river Guadiaro - viewed from the San Enrique Woods

We viewed the Rio Guadiaro from the woods and enjoyed views of Common Kingfisher, Grey Heron, Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper and Yellow-legged Gull.

Moving onto Secadero we stopped a few times along the track to watch a number of interesting species, Will kept finding bugs, grasshoppers and wasp's nests, how nice. Meanwhile the rest of us, Richard, Ben and mother Phillipa found some nice birdies. Several Bee-eaters sat on the power cables as did Corn Buntings. There were Stonechats and a couple of Eurasian Hoopoes in the field and our first Woodchat Shrikes sat on the fence line.

White Stork at the river

A walk along the river on a raised bank produced a good number of birds, a pair of White Storks fed in the river as did a Grey Heron and up to Six Little Egrets. A Green Sandpiper fed nearby with Common Sandpiper and several Little Ringed Plovers. Many Goldfinches, Linnets and Corn Buntings were coming to drink and a Common Kingfisher whizzed by and perched upriver.

One of our main target species was the Olivaceous Warbler, we had several sightings of this light grey bird but nothing to write home about, however, in complete contrast the Sardinian Warbler was very obliging and showed very well. A few raptors appeared which included a Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle, several Griffon Vultures and a distant Short-toed Eagle.

After a picnic stop further upriver where we had excellent close views of Booted Eagle and a sighting of many Bee-eaters on the power lines we drove to the bridge over the Rio Genal near Gaucin.

Our final walk was in the intense heat of the afternoon so we kept in the shelter of the trees. We found Grey Wagtail, Common Kingfisher, White Wagtail and not a lot more. Insect life sightings included several nice dragonflies and we saw a superb Swallowtail butterfly ovipositing on a fennel plant.

look very carefully and see the Swallowtail egg - its actual size is that of a pin-head

Lastly as we got back to the car we noticed many, many Griffon Vultures  diving to the ground on a nearby hillside, suddenly they all erupted and took to the air very close to is. It was a fantastic sight to see over 100 vultures in the sky just above us, a superb way to end the day's birding trip.

 

 

 

 

JULY 2OTH 2014 - LAZY SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT THE RIVER

RIO GUADIARO NEAR ESTACION DE CORTES

weather; very warm and sunny, but a strong easterly was whipping its way up the valley.

We spent all afternoon at the river with friends John and Mary, just talking, reading and watching a few birdies. However a bit of excitement got me out of my deck chair in a flash when a swift with a white rump flew down to the river!!!!

Yes my first WHITE-RUMPED SWIFT of the year at this site, fantastic. The bird flew around for a while then it went very high up and was lost in the ether, poor John didn't know what hit him and found it very hard to find the bird.

Other species of note:

Common Kingfisher (still feeding young), Little Ringed Plover, Cetti's Warbler, Olivaceous Warbler, Woodchat Shrike, Rock Sparrow (a flock of about 20), Red-rumped Swallow, Paillid and Alpine Swifts, Bee-eaters, Golden Oriole (calling constantly), Short-toed Eagle (also calling), Booted Eagle, Griffon Vulture (30+) and lots of serins, finches and linnets. Blackcaps are still singing, crazy birds!

THURSDAY JULY 17TH 2014 - DAY TOUR

GAUCIN TO MARCHENILLA TRACK - SAN MARTIN - SECADERO TRACK- RIO GUADIARO - RIO GENAL - CASARES - GAUCIN

Today I collected Peter from a holiday finca just outside the village in the GENAL Valley. It was just getting light at 7am as we met, I then drove back up to the village to collect Paul before driving down the Guadiaro valley towards Jimena de la Frontera.

one of the many SHORT-TOED EAGLES in a typical pose

We arrived at the Marchenilla track just as the sun was rising over the hills, it was a lovely still morning with some cloud cover. It wasn't long before we had a nice list of species in the bag. Many Sardinian Warblers flitted about in the hedgerows with Goldfinches, Serins, Linnets and Greenfinches in abundance. Woodchat Shrikes were everywhere, many juveniles showed well which was a nice testament to a good breeding season and the same could be said for Stonechats. A couple of Common Nightingales showed well too and we saw Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Corn Bunting.

As we proceeded along the track we added Melodious Warbler, Tawny Pipit, Red-legged Partridges, Red-rumped Swallow, Bee-eater and several Short-toed Eagles were sitting on the pylons, one individual had remarkable white feathering, looking like a ghostly figure on a post. We also had several sightings of Little Owl which was nice.

distant  Red-legged Partridges

Then we found our main target species the Rumpus Bush Robin, in fact we saw two or three, one male burst into song a couple of times which was nice for Peter to hear. Walking back to the car we had our first surprise when Peter called out a Wryneck, the bird flew into a bush not too far away and showed very well, how nice.

Next we walked to the river Hozgargante where we stood on the bridge and quickly found our second target bird the Western Olivaceous Warbler (now called Isabelline Warbler in "Collin's" 2nd edition), we had excellent views of a family party and even heard one singing.

a bad record of the Olivaceous Warbler - such a nerve even putting this picture out!

From there we drove the entire length of the track into Marchenilla village and onto the main road to San Martin, we noted White Storks along the way and we made a quick stop to look at Lesser Kestrels near the railway bridge before driving through San Martin and onto the Secadero track.

Now we were alongside of the Rio Guadiaro where we made one long stop and found a nice selection of birds. Corn Buntings were also in abundance, many juveniles drinking at the river. We also found more Bee-eaters, Eurasian Hoopoe, White Wagtails, Little Ringed Plovers, Common Buzzard, Little Egret, Grey Heron and a nice flock of 10 White Storks. Raptors began to appear frequently we notes good numbers of Griffon Vultures, Booted Eagle and more Short-toed Eagles. An OSPREY was an excellent find, a very early migrant going south.

another record only shot - Little Owl

Our lunch stop was much further up the valley besides the Rio GENAL and it was there that we found one of Peter's most wanted birds, the Bonelli's Eagle. We found not one but three of these superb eagles, a family party, we presumed from Sierra Crestellina, fantastic. We added Common Kingfisher to the list and saw a large flock of Bee-eaters. After lunch we drove to the new information centre at CASARES. We used our tome there to look out for Egyptian Vultures without success, however we did see Common Raven, Common Swift  and Blue Rock Thrush.

Well that concluded our little excursion, we drove back up to Gaucin, dropping Peter at bhis finca and Paul in the village, I was home by 2pm as planned. A lovely day out with some super species on the list, must do it again sometime I am getting to like this birding lark, talking of larks we did see numerous Crested Larks that I forgot to mention!

 

JULY 13TH 2014 - RIO GUADIARO

Dawn and I went down to our favourite Sunday-afternoon place under ash tree at the river Guadiaro near Estacion de Cortés.

THE VIEW FROM UNDER THE ASH TREE

It was baking hot with a nice breeze. Several birds were still in song:  Blackcap, Cetti's Warbler, Turtle Dove, Wryneck and even Bonelli's Warbler made a bit of an effort.


Other birds on show were; Little-ringed Plover, Common Kingfisher, both Grey and White Wagtails, Pallid Swift, Crag Martin, Woodchat Shrike, Short-toed Treecreeper, Corn Bunting, Red-rumped Swallow, Booted Eagle and lots of common finches and Sparrows.

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER

SAGE SKIPPER - ABOVE AND BELOW

SOUTHERN GATEKEEPER

 

WOODCHAT SHRIKE

BATH WHITE

WHITE FEATHERLEG

JULY 6TH 2014 - RIO GUADIARO

This was just a quick outing for a couple of hours during the middle of the day. It was quite blustery with a chilly wind and a lot of cloud cover, totally atypical of July in Andalucia.

I only stayed our for a couple of hours and despite the wind I listed the following species at one of my favourite places along the Rio Guadiaro near Estacion de Cortés.

RED-VEINED DARTER

The best bird seen was a WRYNECK, this bird called several times before showing itself on the bare branches of a tree on the opposite bank.

 



record shot of the WRYNECK

On the river a few family parties of White Wagtails fed on shingle banks as did at least 8 Little Ringed Plovers, a single Grey Wagtail and a couple of Common Kingfishers also turned up.

In the hedgerows a few Blackcaps were still singing but Cetti's Warbler and Common Nightingale were noticeably silent.

Raptors overhead included Booted and Short-toed Eagles, Griffon Vultures and a Eurasian Sparrowhawk.

Other species seen were: Serin, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, European Bee-eaters, Pallid Swift, Woodchat Shrike and Common Stonechats.

JULY 3RD 2014 - DAY OUT TO CUEVA DE GATO

 

It seems a long time ago since I was up before 7am but it has only been 12 days since the tour of the Picos and Pyrenees finished when we were up everyday before 7am - how time flies!

Today I was joined by Paul from the village and American John who lives a short distance along the Ronda road. We left the village at 7am just as it was getting light heading up country towards the Rio Guadiaro.

Today we were heading for the village of Benaojan some 25km away, we were following up reports of a pair of DIPPERS (WHITE-THROATED- Cinclus Cinclus) that were breeding not too far from Benaojan near the Cuevas de Gato (cat's cave) where the river Gaduera flows from the spectacular cave into a pool and flows down to join the Rio Guadiaro.

HOUSE MARTIN

CRAG MARTIN

We parked at the train station at Benaojan and walked to the river, from the first bridge we found both Grey and White Wagtails, also Blackcap (still singing) and lots of Goldfinches. The walk to the cave took us along a track which followed the river giving us good views of the water and rocks. We heard and then saw several Golden Orioles in the tall poplars along the far bank and many House Martins and Barn Swallows were dashing about.

MEADOW BROWN

As we approached the cave we realised that a host of repair men we using chain saws and strimmers, making a racket and consequently not many birds were near the cave entrance. However we stuck around for ta while and got good views of Crag Martins and Alpine swifts as they went back and forth into the caves to their nests. A Grey Wagtail also gave excellent views as it came back and forth to its nest with food.

if you look carefully you can see the Olivaceous Warbler on the nest

Walking back down to the river Guadiaro we stopped to watch a pair of SOUTHERN WATER VOLES (Arvicola sapidus) feeding along the bank and then we found a pair of Olivaceous Warblers, located by hearing the male in song. We watched them for a while and discovered that they we adding the finishing touches to a nest, the female often sitting in it to try it for size and comfort.


This the distance that we saw the dipper from



WHITE-THROATED DIPPER

After that bit of excitement we set off back towards the car, we had missed our target species but enjoyed our time there. One last look at a section of the river produced our bird, there feeding in the middle of the river was a WHITE-THROATED DIPPER, at last, this bird was missing from my Andalucia list these past five years and now I had it, wonderful! We all went home happy after taking numerous long-distant shots of the bird.

 

 

 

JUNE 21ST 2014 - PYRENEES & PICOS DE EUROPA - 9 DAY TOUR - DAY 9

TRANSFER - PICOS DE EUROPA TO MADRID AIRPORT

Our final day had arrived and all we had time for was an early breakfast, no birding just travelling. We took the scenic route which was a little longer time-wise but more enjoyable than spending a longer time on the autovia.

We saw a surprising number of birds along the way, some of the goodies included; Yellowhammer, Red-backed Shrike, lots of Common Buzzards, Jay, Raven, Red kite and Black Kite, Egyptian and Griffon Vultures.

A little nearer to Madrid we added two more species to the trip total: Green Woodpecker and Azure-winged Magpie, smashing!

Everyone got to the airport on time and I left Mervyn at the car rental centre before driving down to Malaga, another 5 hour drive. At Malaga I met Dawn and we transferred from a minibus to a small car which I drove back to Gaucin, another 1 1/2 hour drive. I got home at 10pm after setting off at 8am, a lot of driving and now I'm totally bushed!  Good Night.

JUNE 20TH 2014 - PYRENEES & PICOS DE EUROPA - 9 DAY TOUR - DAY 8

FUENTE DE AND PEMBES BEECH WOODS

 

WALLCREEPER - SNOW FINCH - ALPINE ACCENTOR - ALPINE CHOUGH - WATER PIPIT - BLACK REDSTART

This was our last day of birding and we certainly went out with a bang, this group does not mess about, we had a number of target species and we saw them all. The weather could not have been better, high cloud and sunshine for most of the day with no wind, just perfect.


just arrived at the top of the cable car

 

After a nice breakfast we walked across the road from the hotel to watch Dippers and Grey Wagtails in the river Deva, both of which turned up in good numbers, we also found Wren and White Wagtail there too.

From the hotel we drove the short distance to the cable car at Fuente De arriving at 9am in plenty of time to catch the first cable car to the impressive summit of the surrounding limestone peaks. It was like a cirque, a lush green valley encircled by magnificent snow-capped peaks. The cable car rises some 830 meters in 3 minutes and the first one of the day was at 10 am so we had an hour to kill.

record shot of Alpine Accentor

 

We birded the pine woods around the car park and found lovely Red Squirrels as well as Eurasian Jays, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Firecrest and lots of Chaffinches. In due course all 14 of us sidled into the cable car and made the journey to the top, it was a wonderful experience the views were just amazing.



yours truly with Mervyn my second driver who was great throughout the tour

At the top we climbed the stairs of the upper cable-car housing and out onto to a mirador that gave extensive views of where we had just come from and of the surrounding area, a camera could not capture the true magnificent of our vista.

Following the track from the buildings we were confronted by a lunar landscape with patches of lush green grass and wild flowers including orchids! Patches of snow littered the hillside and mountain tops and a few bird calls could be heard.

Dave and Vanda leading the group from the cable car

We located a pair of Alpine Acceptors within minutes but they wouldn’t come close, then small parties of Alpine Choughs dashed about and a couple of Water Pipit sang as they parachuted back to earth. Our progress along this alpine track was very slow as birds, butterflies and flowers came into view in regular intervals. Northern Wheatears were nesting by the side of the track and Black Redstarts flitted about on the rocks.

We then came to a junction where a huge rock face reaches high above and a sloping rocky area is behind you. It was there that we had a fantastic experience when a Wallcreeper flew down not 5 meters from us, it was amazing, the bird stayed for a full 5 minutes whilst it collected goat or sheep hair from around the rocks. It was not fazed one little bit by a group of admiring birders staring at it, the cameras were getting red hot as they clicked away.

                                         THE MOST OBLIGING WALLCREEPER I HAVE EVER MET

 

 

Almost straight afterwards we saw our first Snow Finch, in fact over the next 15 minutes we saw a pair going in and out of a crevice so we directed our scopes onto the crevice and watched them for a while. Everyone got to see the finches but closer views would have been nice. Alpine Choughs came down for crumbs and we found more Alpine Acceptors much closer than before.

 

We had such a wonderful time that it was hard to leave this incredible wilderness, we made our back down the track towards the cable car restaurant and before we got there we stopped to look at more Alpine Accentors and then we had incredible views of Snow Finch as a pair flew right to us and landed within a few meters, they stayed for a while collecting food before flying off. Again this was the best views I had ever had, the group were simply stunned with amazement, they couldn't stop talking about this whole fantastic experience.

 



unfortunately this is all I could manage to get of the female Snow Finch, both birds would not keep still enough

We ate lunch in the restaurant at the top of the cable car run and travelled back down to 'earth' about 3:30pm. Our day was not finished yet, after dropping off a few of the group back at the hotel we drove a short way to the village of Pembes. This unique little hamlet is incredible to look at, it is just like something from the 18/19th century, I can't describe the ambiance of the place it is simply incredible.

We walked up through the village and spent am hour walking up a very steep path that led us into a dense beech wood, this where we searched for Middle Spotted Woodpecker. Our efforts were in fact rewarded but only just because we had fleeting glimpses of this elusive 'pecker' and only a few us at that.

Heath Fritillary

Other birds seen in and around the village included: Black Redstart, Common Redstart, White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Robin, Song Thrush and lots of Serins. The butterflies were pretty good too, at one place we saw 8 Adonis Blues settled on some animal droppings!

It then began to thunder and large dark clouds formed above us so we beat a hasty retreat, by the time we returned to the hotel it had begun to rain. During the course of the evening we had the most heavy downpour of rain I have seen in a long time, the road was flooded in minutes. We were not bothered though as we tucked into another superb meal accompanied by mirth and merriment brought on by some lovely rioja.

Well our final birding day was over all that was left was our morning trip to Madrid to catch the flight home. We had seen just 150 species which is a remarkable total for this tour. We saw 95% of the target list, a great effort by the group. Some of the most wanted species in Europe showed extremely well for us and we take home some memories of a host of special moments. We talked at dinner of favourite species or best bird of the tour, Wallcreeper was high on the list, Snow Finch too, the Rock Thrush crept into the top 5 as did Ring Ouzel, bur the best bird was of course the LAMMERGEIER which showed so well and so often.

I can't wait for next year's tour, why not join me?

 

 

JUNE 19TH 2014 - PYRENEES & PICOS DE EUROPA - 9 DAY TOUR - DAY 7

TRANSFER FROM PYRENEES TO PICOS WITH STOPS AT; FOZ DE BINIES – SENCILLO HILLS - EMBALSE DE EBRO – SAN VICENTE SALT MARSHES .

 

NO PHOTOGRAPHS TODAY I'M AFRAID

Transfer days are often tedious with few birds seen, however today wasn’t quite that bad, we saw over 50 species with 8 new editions to the trip list. We drove all day from 9am to 7pm making several stops with at least 3 prolonged birding stops.

 

 

From the Hecho Valley we drove to Anson and them down through the most scenic of gorges at Foz de Binges. We stopped to look for our target species the Blue Rock Thrush and after a short while searching the sheer cliff faces we found at least three, and although our views of these montane beauty was limited to ‘in-the-scope’ long distance ones we enjoyed the sighting. Other species seen there were Griffon Vultures, Crag Martin, House Martin and Black Redstart.

Once on the main road to Pamplona we made a short stop at a garage for refreshments before we put a few miles on clock, we passed through Pamplona and Logrono before turning towards Santander. We listed several raptors on this stretch of the journey; Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, both Black and Red Kites, Egyptian Vulture and Common Kestrel.

Our picnic lunch was eaten by the roadside in alpine woods at some altitude, we never listed a single bird during that time. From there we travelled for 30 minutes and stopped in the hills just above Sencillo where we saw a nice selection of species, including Stonechat, Whinchat, Northern Wheatear, Red-backed Shrike and lots of finches. Also Ravens and Egyptian Vultures showed particular well.

Next we stopped at the Embalse de Ebro and along the route we saw Montagu’s Harrier, Southern Grey Shrike and a good number of Common Buzzards. The reservoir was a little disappointing, we found Mallard, Gadwall, Great-crested Grebe, Black-headed and Yellow-legged Gulls and a Common Coot. The best sighting was of a Melodious Warbler. Which sang to us and a Common Kestrel was seen mobbing a Common Buzzard.

We then drove for an hour to the coast west of Santander to a holiday resort called Saint Vicente, there a large salt marsh held a few species but not many. It was warm but humid and the group were getting tired of travelling by now. 

Our first signting was an unusual one, a female Common Scoter  sat I. The water just under the bridge, it seemed perfectly healthy but it shouldn’t have been there really. We also found a fair number of Eurasian Curlew and a smaller number of Whimbrel, it was nice to see these species side by side for comparison. Also on a large sand bar we found a gull roost which held, Black-headed, Yellow-legged, Lesser & Greater Black-backed Gulls.

That just about summed up our sightings so we then drove the last leg of the journey into the Picos de Europa national park. It about an hour and fifteen minutes to negotiate the winding roads and narrow gorges but the scenery was spectacular. We arrived at our hotel at 7:15pm, tired and hungry, dinner at 8pm was most welcomed and SO was the wine that went with it. 

JUNE 18TH 2014 - PYRENEES & PICOS DE EUROPA - 9 DAY TOUR - DAY 6

MONESTERIO AT SAN JUAN DE LA PENA - RIO GALEGO VALLEY - AGUERO - EMBALSE SOTONERO - RIGLOS

What a difference a day makes, yesterday was full of new sightings and exciting finds and today was quite the opposite. That's birding for you.

It started off quite chilly with 8C and a cool breeze making it feel like 2-3C, but we set off heading down the valley away from the mountains and by the time we got to the Monastery it was about 12C

 

San Juan de la Pena monastery

 Along the way we saw the usual kites and Shrikes, a Common Buzzard and not much else. We then spent 2-3 hours walling through the woods looking for Black Woodpecker, we found every almost woodland species  except the woodpecker! Eurasian Chiffchaff, Crested Tit, Firecrest, Eurasian Nuthatch, Coal, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and lots of butterflies came out as the sun got higher.

The views from the escarpment at the edge of the woods were simply stunning we had a wide panoramic vista of the snow covered peaks which no camera could capture sufficiently. We waited for quite a while to see what raptor species came up on the thermals but again we were disappointed with just Griffon Vultures, Red Kite and Common Kestrels.

Spanish Chalkhill Blue

Back at the monastery we saw a family of Black Redstarts, some Crag Martins and Common Swifts, even the cafeteria was closed so we couldn't get a coffee.

Driving down the valley we followed the course of the Rio Galego and stopped near the bottom where a wide expanse of reeds were growing in a roadside pool. Whilst eating our picnic lunch we saw a few more species, Common Nightingale, European Bee-eaters, Marsh Harrier, several Golden Orioles dashed about never giving prolonged views and our first Great Reed Warbler was seen by a couple of the group.

looking for a Black Woodpecker

From there we drove to the scenic village of Aguero where magnificent pinnacles of 'pudding stone' rise vertically some 100-200 meters, again photographs can't depict how dramatic the scene really is.
Whilst looking from the mirador we found a few more bird species and lots of butterflies. Common Quail and Turtle Doves called from the fields and olive groves and overhead we saw Booted Eagle, Red Kite and Wood Pigeons. Above the village a host of Griffon Vultures were joined by Red-billed Chough, a Short-toed Eagle and a single Egyptian Vulture.

Aguero viewed from the mirador

Our next stop was at the Embalse Sotonero, by now it was getting very warm, up to 28C! We spent an hour so at two places where we could some of the water. We amassed a little lost which included: Mallard, Common and Red-crested Pochard, Gadwall, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Little Egret, Great White Egret and Great Crested Grebe. In the pine woods around the lake we found Turtle Dove, Orphean Warbler (heard), Serin, Zitting Cisticola and a few finches.

Fritillary

Back on the road we headed for Hecho Valley via Riglos, the most famous of the villages with the 'fingers' Mallos de Riglos towering above the tiny village, we stopped to photograph the scene and found a pair  of Orphean Warblers that showed very well.


We had to stop there, it was getting late and we had a long journey back to the hotel, we made good time and arrived back at 7pm. Dinner was at 8pm which was enjoyed by all.