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This section of the website contains reports on members birding trips around the Costa Blanca and surrounding area. This contains the information previously found in the section 'Latest News'.
Members Travels Members Stories
2009-10
Birding in the Cold - 16th December 2009 - By Barry Chambers
Although the temperature was under 5 degrees I decided to make a visit to the back of El Hondo and walk along to the hide. As I parked the car a Southern Grey Shrike flew overhead disturbing a Grey Heron. I crossed the irrigation canal and saw two Hoopoes fly across the road. As I walked along between the reed bed and the canal towards the hide there were at least ten Bluethroats, all males, popping in out of the reed beds onto the path giving excellent views, accompanied by Stonechats and White Wagtails and the occasional call of a Cetti’s Warbler. There were also several large groups of Cormorants flying over the reed beds. As I approached the turning to the hide I noticed a very large raptor sitting in a dead tree in the distance on the opposite of the road, it was feeding on a kill, but too far way to identify.
I made my way to the hide and was greeted with the sight of over 530 Flamingoes, more than ten Wigeon, 23 Red Crested Pochard, over 45 White Headed Duck, six Gadwall, a large group of Pochards, many Shovelers, a few Mallards and hundreds of Little Grebes. After spending a long, cold time in the hide I made my way back along the wooden walkway spotting a Cetti’s Warbler, many Chiffchaffs, a Blackbird and a Robin.
Back at the road the large raptor was still in the tree and in silhouette I could see its crop was full. Then it took off and I could see it was Tonn, the Greater Spotted Eagle, showing it's characteristic depressed hand in flight, and giving me great views. I returned to my car seeing many more Bluethroats, some females this time, two Pipits and large numbers of Crag Martins and one House Martin. I drove the short distance to Vistavella and saw many more Crag Martins , Chiffchaffs, four Booted Eagles in the trees, three Marsh Harriers and then I heard a familiar sound from England as two Greylag Geese flew over head. Then the rain started which ended my very enjoyable few hours of birding in the cold.
The Flood following the Rain - By Barry Chambers - September 2009
My daughter Sarah and son in law Gareth arrived at our villa from New Zealand on the 27th September, the following day we had a Gota Fria. All was not lost as Gareth is a keen birder and we were treated to a flood of birds over the next ten days. From the 29th Sept to the 5th Oct we had 25+Booted Eagles ,two Peregrines at least one Short toed Eagle and several other eagle species flew over my villa in Rojales, and considering we spent a lot of time out and about we wondered how many actually flew over during that period.
On Thursday 1st October Gareth and myself went to the back gate of El Hondo and immediately two Ospreys flew over calling to each other. There were several Booted Eagles and Marsh Harriers flying over the reed beds and two Kingfishers were darting about over the open areas of water. We then moved 200/300 metres along from Vistabella to an area where a field was flooded next to lots of Palm stumps that have been left in the next field. We were treated to an incredible sight of probably more than a thousand birds in an area smaller than a football pitch. This is a list of the birds in this small area:-
Bluethroat, Corn Bunting, Cormorant fly over, Dunlin, Cattle and Little Egret, four Bar tailed Godwits, Black tailed Godwit, Goldfinch, Greenshank, Black headed, Slender billed, Mediterranean and Yellow legged Gulls, Grey Heron, 17 Glossy Ibis, Lapwing, Crested Lark, Mallard, Moorhen, Meadow Pipit, Grey, Kentish, Little Ringed Plovers, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Curlew, Common, Green and Wood Sandpipers, Shelduck, Snipe, Black winged Stilt, Little Stint, Stonechat, Teal, Grey, White and Yellow Wagtails, Fan tailed Warbler, Northern Wheatear and Whimbrel.
Some of these species had well in excess of a 100 in number. It was an incredible mornings birding. Later in the month I had a Black Stork circle overhead for 10 minutes and at the beginning of November a Black Shouldered Kite sitting on a pylon all within 400 metres of the same area. We were all moaning about the rain but as I look back it gave us a fantastic month of birding.
2008-09
White Headed ducks galore - By Barrie and Jan Avis - April 2009
Our local pond, in the middle of the triangle between Mazarrón, Puerto de Mazarrón and Bolnuevo, (Southern Costa Cálida) is called Charcas de las Moreras. I have reported in past years a growing number of pairs of White Headed Duck breeding there. We check this site often and in April we counted as many as nine males in view at once, and all on the surface, and of course there may well have been others that had dived as they were popping up and down all the time. We think there were at least two more in an adjacent arm of the pond that we had seen just a few minutes before this. We did not see any females but presumably they would all have been incubating eggs at this time. As well as all the usual gamut of other waterfowl, including Marbled Duck, on this visit there was a Night Heron, the first we had seen on this pond.
A Transatlantic Twitch - by Malcolm Palmer - June 2009
The other day, I had the pleasure of guiding two American doctors around my ‘patch.’ These two guys have world lists in the 5,000 species bracket! I was armed with a ‘wants’ list, and took them first of all to a lonely eroded barranco. Great start! Two wonderful male Trumpeter Finches were present to order, and a Black Wheatear added spice.
A longish drive, then, to the Clot de Galvany, hoping for Marbled Duck, very elusive this year. No sign! But we did pick up a Purple Swamp-hen, so the lengthy walk paid off. Not too far then, but an anxious search eventually resulted in great views of another elusive little fellow, the Rufous Bush Robin.
We stopped in the middle of Santa Pola Salinas, and were immediately rewarded by a terrific view of the big target species, a fine Marbled Duck. We also had Slender-billed Gull and Little Tern there, as well as a Great White Egret, and a Mute Swan, a local rarity, but my clients showed no interest in a passing Glossy Ibis, which most European birders would love to see – they see them all the time in the States!
Going inland, we paused to see a Roller on the wires, then spent a while beside El Hondo, without much luck, before having a good lunch at la Hoya. Next stop was for Lesser Short-toed Lark, then we went to the San Felipe area, where we had a last chance of Mediterranean Gull, which is normally very easy to find on the Salinas at this season, but which had eluded us so far. After a scan over the water, sifting through hundreds of gulls, I located one flying, with the all-white wings of the sought-after species – bingo!
Up then into the Sierra de Crevillente, and to Jane and Colin’s most hospitable place, where we enjoyed a cuppa while watching the resident Bonelli’s Eagles – another bird ‘ticked’ and, as a bonus, saw a pair of statuesque foxes on the hillside. It had been a great day, and my transatlantic twitchers could count ten more species on their world lists.
A trip to Parque Natural de Cazorla, Segura y las Villas - By John Edwards - December 2008.
We stayed at an English owned and run Bed and Breakfast in Los Teatinos which is about five kilometers from Santiago de la Espada in Jaen Province. Mel and Wendy Squires are the owners, both are keen birders and they are members of CBBC. We met them on the March trip to Sierra de Espuñas, already having seen their brochure and having decided to visit them.It would be an understatement, to even suggest that, we were anything but delighted with the area, the birding, Andalucian hospitality and the facilities and food at Rosa Blanca. I suggest, if you want to know more, look at the web site. Cortijo Rosa Blanca Bed and Breakfast
Common Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Kestrel and Griffon Vulture (very numerous). Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Jay, Greater and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, White and Grey Wagtail,Blue Tit, Great Tit, and Coal Tit. Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Raven, Rock Bunting, Rock Sparrow, Robin, Southern Grey Shrike, House Sparrow, Spotless Starling, Serin, Short toed Tree Creeper, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Crow and Chough (seven locally but very numerous at an higher altitude).
A Walk around some birding spots in the Moraira / Calpe area - By Peter Alden - December 2008
On the 18th December 2008 Julian Sykes (Jules) and I explored some of the birding spots in the above area of the Northern Costa Blanca. More details about the sites and directions, can be found on the ‘Site Guide’ page of this website.
Granadella - Meadow Pipits, Sardinian and Dartford Warblers, Chaffinches and Crag Martins were in abundance, and late Clouded Yellows & Red Admirals obligingly posed for our inspection. Despite this being a reliable spot for Peregrine we had to make do with a pair of Kestrels! However we did see around 20 Siskins drinking from a puddle, followed shortly by a Fieldfare, which obviously had come in off the sea that morning as it headed inland.
El Portet Watchtower is more a pleasant walk (apart from the initial climb) than a special place to spot rarities but the views are magnificent. Black Redstarts were everywhere, but with searching we also saw Thekla Larks, Black Wheatear and Greenfinches.
At the “back” of Calpe Salinas we initially saw a Grey Wagtail, another puddle drinker, whilst Blackcaps sang from the bushes. On the salt lake were Greater Flamingos, Grey Herons, Cormorants, Mallard, Coot and Teal. One each of Yellow legged, Black headed & Audouin’s Gulls conveniently stood side by side on a rail to allow a comparison of size to be made.
Mont Olta - Jules spotted a Blue Rock Thrush before we had left the car and the walk through the pines yielded the usual Great, Coal and Long tailed Tits as well as some Crested Tits. In response to Jules pishing (some weird pesh, pesh call) we were rewarded with excellent views of at least three Goldcrests. As time was running out we made our retreat back to Benitachell and from the car we saw Southern Grey Shrike, Cattle Egret and Common Buzzard. The latter was our first large raptor of the day.
The weather reminded us of why we came to live in Spain, a perfect blue sky with exceptional visibility. The intention of the day was to see if Jules thought that any of the sites merited inclusion in future field trips, so we did not linger too long at any place, hence a fairly abbreviated list of sightings.
A trip to El Clot - by Mary Brazier - December 2008
Today we took a short walk around El Clot, enjoying a warm, sunny December day. Our bird list for this outing consisted of lots of Black Redstarts, a small flock of House Sparrows, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Robin, Blackbird, Southern Grey Shrike, Stonechat, Hoopoe, Little Owl, White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Linnets singing beautifully, Greenfinch, Red legged Partridge, Kestrel, Buzzard, Shoveler, Teal, Moorhen, Coot, Little Grebe and one solitary Lapwing.
We met an English birder there who told us that an Azure winged Magpie had been seen on El Clot last Thursday and Friday, but there was no sign of it today. Returning home via the beach road we added Little Egret, and Turnstone to our list, and later had a Sardinian Warbler in our front garden! Nothing too remarkable then, but it never ceases to amaze me how many birds you can see during just a short trip out.
A Short Walk along the River Segura - by Barry Chambers - December 2008
Today I took a one hour walk from my villa in Rojales to the Segura river bank and walked towards Guardamar. The bulk of the reeds have been cut away during the last week from the river to assist the flow of the water during the winter. It has left some small stands of reeds and areas of narrow open water, this changed habitat has given an improved opportunity to view many of the birds that frequent the river.
As I approached the river bank I crossed a field of newly planted crops which produced 15 + Black Redstarts and even more White Wagtails. Once on the river bank a Hoopoe flew overhead and almost immediately I saw a Kingfisher sitting on the reeds. I then added to my list a group of five Cattle Egrets, several Chiffchaffs, three Blackcaps and some great views of two Cetti's Warblers plus a number of Serins and many more Black Redstarts and White Wagtails plus one Grey Wagtail.
After half an hour of my walk I started to retrace my steps and viewed a Kestrel hovering overhead. The light was better on my return journey as the sun was now behind me. Before I left the river bank I was really surprised to have wonderful views of three Penduline Tits (2 males, 1 female) they were soon followed by a great sighting of a Redwing sitting on a small stand of reeds.
Other birds seen on this short walk were: Blackbird, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, several Crested Larks, Mallard, Crag Martin, Moorhens, many Robins, House Sparrows, Spotless Starlings, Stonechats, Song Thrush and Sardinian Warbler, 26 species in total and a great walk before breakfast around my local patch.
Three Reports By Julian Sykes - October/November 2008
October 29th - Today at Pego Marsh there were two drake Ferruginous Ducks and a drake Tufted Duck with a host of Coots, Shovelers and Common & Red crested Pochards. Also around here there were Squacco Heron, Booted Eagles, Marsh Harriers, Purple Gallinule, Bluethroats, Water Pipits, Water Rail, Kingfishers, Yellow, Grey and White Wagtails.
October 30th - At the Santa Pola Salinas today there was an adult Lesser Flamingo (Spanish rarity), two Common Cranes (later found at the Vista Bella Rd), 11 Spoonbills, 6 Great White Egrets, Osprey, 3 Stone Curlews and lots of waders; highlighting the great potential of this site.
November 9th Pego Marsh - an unconfirmed report of a Red flanked Bluetail (possibly the 3rd for Spain) from Ray Chiverton.