It is great to be back in sunny Spain after several weeks in cold and rainy England. Last week we had a short visit to El Pinet where we found the 380 Black Tailed Godwits previously reported by Malcolm. We didn’t actually count the birds but there were certainly a lot of them! They were joined by Avocets, Black winged Stilts and Shelducks and we also added a few of the more common species to the year list during the day.
Species list El Pinet and the Salinas – Cormorant, Cattle Egret, Greater Flamingo, Shelduck, Shoveler, Kestrel, Coot, Black winged Stilt, Avocet, Redshank, Black tailed Godwit, Yellow legged Gull, Collared Dove, Crag Martin, Hoopoe, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Serin.
Today we visited El Clot with our friends Dave and Linda. A short walk around produced Linnet, Greenfinch, Black Redstart, Sardinian Warbler, Crested Lark, and a single Stone Curlew was good to see. From the Mirador we saw a single White headed Duck, along with various other wildfowl species. From the main hide we saw Shoveler, Teal, Moorhen, Little Grebe, Pochard and a nice pair of Red crested Pochard. A Chiffchaff appeared just below the hide and a few House Sparrows were flying around. I spotted a small bird fly into the reeds on the other side of the pool and scanned with my bins. to find it. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a Penduline Tit, soon joined by two more birds, a species I have not seen before in the Clot. We turned around to look for a Serin that was singing behind us, and as well as seeing the Serin, Dave spotted a Bluethroat on the ground, another great bird for the list. We soon left El Clot and headed off to lunch on Urbanova seafront, passing a Kestrel on the way.
Species list El Clot – Little Grebe, Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Pochard, Red crested Pochard, White headed Duck, Kestrel, Coot, Moorhen, Stone Curlew, Black winged Stilt, Woodpigeon, Crested Lark, Crag Martin, White Wagtail, Robin, Bluethroat, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Cetti’s Warbler (HO), Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Penduline Tit, Common Starling, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Linnet.