I can hardly believe I haven’t posted anything in the blog since October! Unfortunately, we were in England dealing with a family illness and ultimately bereavement.
We are now back in Spain and managed a short trip out around the El Hondo fields on Monday. First we drove across the salinas noticing four or five Great White Egrets not far from the road. The usual Flamingos, Avocets, Black winged Stilts and Shelducks were in evidence, along with quite a number of small waders. A Kestrel seems to be a regular on the wires here at present and a Southern Grey Shrike was a welcome sight as always. Plenty of Black Redstarts have arrived for the winter since we were last here and numerous White Wagtails seem to be around. On entering the palm farm track we flushed a Little Egret out of the ditch closely followed by a Kingfisher, a bird that always makes me feel good. We watched three Buzzards sparring with each other in the air above the fields to our left before moving on. After turning right onto the next track we were on the lookout for the usual Green Sandpipers and we had seen about four or five by the time we reached the end. Crag Martins were numerous above the reedbeds along the Vistabella road and a Booted Eagle and a Marsh Harrier made an appearance. On the way back along what we call ‘the Bee eater road’ a Hoopoe appeared, the second of the two species (along with Southern Grey Shrike) that we always expect to see when we are out for a drive round. Not a massive species list, but it was so good to get out again and see some birds!
Species list – Cormorant, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Greater Flamingo, Shelduck, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Black winged Stilt, Avocet, Dunlin, Green Sandpiper, Snipe, Yellow legged Gull, Woodpigeon, Kingfisher, Hoopoe, Crag Martin, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, Common Starling, House Sparrow, Linnet.