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This is a regular Blog in which I intend to share my birding experiences in Spain, the UK and anywhere else I might visit. I will try to add to it as and when I go birding or see something that I think might be worth reporting.
I would like to say 'thank you' to Bryan Thomas, who often comes out birding with us, and is providing some of his bird photos to include in the blog.
Bryan thinks we should also thank John for doing all the driving, which often involves Bryan and I saying "reverse" or "stop" or "go forward again", whenever we spot an interesting bird. Then there are the numerous rough, or scrubby, or muddy tracks he has to drive down, so I think it is only fair that we acknowledge John's patience (I never thought I would say that) and driving skills.
Anyone reading this should please note that it is a personal account, written NOT by an experienced birder, but by an enthusiastic amateur who simply enjoys the whole birding experience!
If you wish to make comments on anything I have written in the blog, please email me at
If any other CBBC members would like to start a blog of their own, I am happy to create a page and update it as I receive information from them, perhaps in a weekly email. Please contact me if you want me to set up a blog for you.
Photos - Me with my husband John, with our photographer friend Bryan Thomas and 'The Three Amigos!'
It was all going really well until ..... no, I will come back to that later. Having returned to Spain on Sunday it was time for us to go out and find some birds. Driving out of Gran Alacant, I saw something I have never seen before, two Swifts apparently mating in flight, amazing! We drove over the Salinas and noted many of the usual birds, but we didn't stop as were heading to our known Bee eater site. On the way we passed a Little Owl and a Southern Grey Shrike before we spotted our first Bee eaters of the year. We watched about 10 - 20 of these birds for a while before another bird caught our attention. It was a Great Spotted Cuckoo and another one soon joined it in a nearby tree, brilliant! We had good views of the Bee eaters and the Great Spotted Cuckoos, although trying to get decent photos proved challenging; where is Bryan Thomas when you need him?
Beeeater and Great Spotted Cuckoo by Mary Brazier©.
From here we moved on past the 'little reserve', and over the bridge where a Corn Bunting was preening itself on a large piece of grass, close to the road. Further along the road we flushed a couple of Night Herons which flew out of a small canal. We moved on towards the 'Vistabella' road where quite a lot of Black Terns were flying overhead, along with a few Collared Pratincoles.
Beeeaters, Great Spotted Cuckoo and Corn Bunting by Mary Brazier©.
We drove down and parked by the Vistabella house and John decided to climb onto the low bank there to look for Marbled Duck, bad mistake! Within seconds he had sunk into the mud with both legs covered up to his knees! I didn't laugh, not at first anyway, as lots of things flashed through my mind, such as, was he going to sink further? How was I going to get him out? Should I call for help? And so on. Luckily, he managed to scramble out, although he was absolutely covered in mud. I couldn't help but laugh although John was not amused! We found what we could in the car to clean him up, but his trainers were caked in mud so I had to drive to La Gola beach where he used the water fountains to clean himself up a bit. As I said before, the day had been going really well up to that point and we had seen most of the birds we had hoped to see, so we came home for lunch and to try to rescue John's trainers! We are off to Extremadura on Friday, for just over a week, and we are hoping to see some good birds there. Details of our exploits will appear here when we get back.
After the joy of watching the Sedge Warbler, and the despair of not having the camera with us on Wednesday, I had to go back to find the bird again and try to get a photo. As we approached the hide where we had seen the bird before we spotted a Sedge Warbler, presumably the same bird, perched on a twig singing away. From the hide we watched it singing from various perches and performing a 'skylark like' song flight for about half an hour, brilliant! We even managed to get a few photos before we had to leave.
Sedge Warbler by Mary Brazier©.
We seem to be having one day of rain followed by another of sunshine at the moment, but at least we have had some opportunities to get out and do some birding. After a couple of weeks break from visiting Belvide we found the small woodland to be alive with the sound of birdsong. I am looking forward to going back to Spain next week, but there really is something special about an English woodland at this time of year. It was nice to see a couple of male Blackcaps on Monday, and today we caught sight of a female as well as a male. As we walked along the path beside the reservoir we saw and heard a Sedge Warbler perched at the top of a tree singing loudly on both of our visits. Today we also watched it for about ten minutes as it sat on various perches, and occasionally flew up, still singing, right in front of the hide we were in. We had incredible views of the bird and I was literally kicking myself for deciding not to take the camera with us today!! Grrr! We had good views of a Wren singing on both days, which was great as we often hear these little birds without actually seeing them, and all the 'usual suspects' were in the woods visiting the feeders.
Blue Tit, Great Tit, and Reed Bunting by John and Mary Brazier©.
Having been in the North East last week, before any Common Terns or Arctic Terns had arrived, it was good to see five Common Terns sitting on one of the tern rafts and apparently a couple of Arctic Terns had been seen here as well. Today I spotted the Leucistic Gadwall that was spotted here a few weeks ago, and which looks like a pale version of a regular Gadwall. A few Swallows were feeding over the lake and on the way home we saw a small number of Swifts in the air. On Monday, while we were sitting in the main hide, a colourful Jay passed right in front of us, flying from right to left, and just a few minutes later a Buzzard flew by in the other direction, amazing! Today, from this hide, we had a brief view of a Reed Warbler before it disappeared into the bottom of the reeds again. Outside the hide we found a Reed Bunting and a Chiffchaff in the same tree and then, sadly, it was time to go. As I am typing this in our lounge at my Mum's house, I can hear a Blackbird singing it's lovely song in the garden, even though it is already dark. That reminds me, we saw a nice Thrush today when we called in at a garden centre. The bird was sitting on top of a lamp post and it looked quite large to me, suggesting that it might have been a Mistle Thrush, but we didn't get a good luck so we will never know. Click here to visit the Belvide blog Belvide Blog
Goldfinches and Robin by John and Mary Brazier©.
The species list for the last few days is as follows:- Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Pheasant, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Buzzard, Moorhen, Coot, Lapwing, Herring Gull, Common Tern, Woodpigeon, Swift, House Martin, Swallow, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Long tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Marsh/Willow Tit, Nuthatch, Jay, Magpie, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting.
We have just returned from a week in the North East of England, a favourite place of mine. This is mainly due to the fact that all my childhood family holidays were spent in Seaton Sluice where we used to stay with my Grandparents for two weeks every year. I have now introduced John to the area, and since we started birding we have discovered it is a great place to see birds! Highlights included our visit to the Farne Islands, which is always a brilliant experience and provides very close encounters with Puffin, Razorbill, Guillemot, Kittiwake and Shag.
Puffin, Guillemots, Razorbills and Shag by John and Mary Brazier©.
From our base in Craster, we had a walk along the cliffs towards Howick where plenty of Kittiwakes and a few Fulmars were nesting. Another walk in the other direction, towards Dunstanburgh Castle found more Kittiwakes, a few Razorbills and a Shag nesting near to the castle. Another day we drove down to Cresswell pool and worked our way back up the coast, calling at Druridge pools, Druridge Country Park and Hauxley Nature Reserve near Amble, which is always worth a visit. It is a wetland area with several good hides overlooking the lake and the island in the centre. During this day trip we found, amongst other things, Lapwing, Redshank, Greenshank, Curlew, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Shelduck, Mute Swan, Canada Goose and Grey Heron.
Kittiwake, Lapwing and Turnstones by John and Mary Brazier©.
From the window of our rented cottage we were able to watch Oystercatchers and Redshanks feeding in the harbour, and most days a pair of Eider Ducks came into the harbour with the high tide. We also watched scores of Gannets flying over the sea in a northerly direction, perhaps heading for the Bass Rock.
Eider Duck and Oystercatcher with Redshank by John and Mary Brazier©.
On one of our walks we were lucky to see a lovely Yellowhammer singing away and a Wheatear was a nice surprise too. We achieved a list of 73 species namely:- Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Shelduck, Wigeon, Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Shoveler, Eider Duck, Pheasant, Grey Partridge, Red legged Partridge, Little Grebe, Fulmar, Gannet, Cormorant, Shag, Grey Heron, Buzzard, Kestrel, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Turnstone, Sanderling, Redshank, Greenshank, Curlew, Whimbrel, Snipe, Black headed Gull, Kittiwake, Herring Gull, Great black backed Gull, Lesser black backed Gull, Sandwich Tern, Puffin, Guillemot, Razorbill, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Skylark, Swallow, House Martin, Rock Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Wheatear, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Starling, Magpie, Jackdaw, Crow, Rook, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Yellowhammer, Sparrowhawk.
I am still in the UK but Bryan (El Uno Amigo) sent me a message about an interesting birding trip he had the other day, so I thought I would pass it on. Bryan decided to have a final look around the Clot before leaving Spain to return to the Isles of Scilly for the summer. His 'Best bird' was definately an Azure winged Magpie which he managed to get a photo of. We don't usually see them in our area so that was a great bird. I wish I was there! Bryan says he heard a Sardinian Warbler singing so he started 'pishing' and a bird flew in from his left which he thought was a Southern Grey Shrike. He carried on 'pishing' for a while and then put his bins on it, " well I nearly fell off the bike", says Bryan, when he realised it was an Azure winged Magpie! He just had time to get a few shots off before it flew away. He also saw 4 Great Spotted Cuckoos in the same tree but was unable to get close enough for a photo. In addition he saw 3 Night Herons, 2 Squacco Herons, 6 Marsh (Black) Terns, 1 Garganey, 2 Marbled Duck, 10 Red Rumped Swallows, lots of Pallid Swifts, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, 4 Avocets and about 30 pairs of Black winged Stilts. He also found Black eared Wheatear at the woods behind Carrabasi Beach. Finally, a few days earlier on a trip to the garden centre at El Altet, he saw a Dunnock hopping round the flower pots, this is quite a rare bird for Spain. He went back a day or two later and it was still there. Many thanks to Bryan for the update, he has found some great birds and all on our 'local patch', it is just a pity I am in England! We have had not time for birding lately but hopefully we will find some good birds when we go to Northumberland next week.
Azure winged Magpie by Bryan Thomas©.
We paid a visit to our local patch in England on Sunday and it was such a glorious warm sunny day, I thought I was still in Spain! The birds were singing and it was great to get out again and see some birds. It was especially nice to see a few birds that we don't normally see in Spain, such as, Mute Swan, although for a couple of years, we did sometimes see a single bird on the Santa Pola Salinas, but I haven't seen it recently. There were a lot of Canada Geese and Tufted Duck on and around the reservoir and we had close views of Gadwall which looked very attractive whereas I have tended to regard them as a dull looking duck (sorry Gadwall!) These three species are not seen, or are scarce in Spain, although I did see a Tufted Duck at San Felipe recently. There were a few Goldeneye around, another attractive duck which I have never seen on the Costa Blanca. There were plenty of Pheasants around which are very rare in Spain, although CBBC Members were surprised to see one near Vistabella on one of the bird trips last year! We watched a Great Spotted Woodpecker moving around in a big tree and noisily drumming on the trunk and the branches. I have only seen this species when we have been at Mel and Wendy's B and B in the mountains of the Jaen Province, but never on the Costa Blanca. Another, sometimes underated, bird, not normally seen on the Costa Blanca is the common Dunnock, although Bryan got quite excited when he found one on the Clot recently! The highlight for me today was seeing a mixed flock of about 20 to 30 Fieldfare and Redwing sitting in some big trees and then flying away across the fields. I thought they might have left by now to return to their summer breeding grounds. I have never seen either of these birds in our part of Spain, although I have seen reports of them in other areas. It was nice to see the humble Blue Tit again, as we hardly ever see them in Spain as the only place where they are found in the Alicante area is up the mountain at Font Roja. Two other good birds for today were Wren and Nuthatch, which are not normally seen on the Costa Blanca. We had good views of a Common Starling a species which was in Spain in the winter, but they have now left to go back to their more northern breeding grounds, and this Starling, like all the birds we saw today, was looking in great condition.
Gadwall and Great Spotted Woodpecker by Mary Brazier© with apologies for the poor photos!
Species list - Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Pheasant, Great Crested Grebe, Buzzard, Moorhen, Coot, Lapwing, Woodpigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Redwing, Long tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Common Starling, Crow, Rook, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting.
Just a quick blog today as we are getting ready to return to England for a few weeks. We had a short walk round the Clot and enjoyed watching two Marsh Harriers hunting over the marshy area. I have included two photos of the main pool at the Clot, the first, with no water, was taken today, and the other one shows what it used to look like when the pool had water in it. Let's hope it returns to this state at some point in the future. As we are going to England the blog may go a bit quiet for a while. I will probably add a few notes about our English bird trips, and will be returning to Spain in May and hoping to catch up with all the summer visitors (birds that is)!
Southern Grey Shrike and Marsh Harrier by Mary Brazier©
The main pool at EL Clot, with and without water by Mary Brazier©
Species list:- Little Grebe,Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Pochard, Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle, Red legged Partridge, Coot, Moorhen, Black winged Stilt, Hoopoe, Swallow, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Great Tit, Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Serin, Reed Bunting, Subalpine Warbler.
Subalpine Warbler by Mary Brazier©
Today we were supposed to be getting ready to go back to England on Friday but following Mark's tip off about the Bee eaters we couldn't resist going to have a quick look at our known Bee eater site to see if they have arrived yet. Unfortunately, they haven't. However, on the way down the La Marina to Elche road I spotted a pigeon sized bird sitting in a tree, but unlike a pigeon it had an incredibly long tail. John turned the car round and we went back to have another look. Once we got the binoculars on the bird we were surprised and delighted to find it was a Great Spotted Cuckoo and there were two of them! We managed to see them long enough to note their crests and the yellow/cream colour of the throat before they flew off across the fields. Brilliant! We had just about given up on seeing this bird before we go back to the UK so we were very happy to see them and we are sure we can track down some Bee eaters when we get back in May!
Mark Etheridge sent me this message "This morning 19 March at 0830 local time (just as we were packing up at our house to fly back to the UK) I had at least 2, posssibly more, Bee-Eaters flying over and calling loudly at Calle Chipre, Gran Alacant. Typical - just as we were leaving too! I'll be back in May to see them properly.
Six of us set off from Gran Alacant today to visit the canyon at Crevillente. We were heading for Finca Bonelli's Eagle
Crevillente Canyon by Mary Brazier©
We carried on up to the finca and enjoyed a tasty lunch, including my favourite tomato and basil soup. After lunch we watched one of the Bonelli's Eagles sitting on the nest, and later the other bird flew in with some food and then settled on a nearby ledge. At one point this bird had it's back to us and it's wings open, and appeared to be sunning itself, rather like a Cormorant. Meanwhile the other eagle was standing on the side of the nest, tearing up food and feeding it to the chick, although the chick was not visible. While we were there we also saw Jackdaws, Blue Rock Thrush, and a small group of Alpine Swifts flying above the cliff top.
Bonelli's Eagles by Bryan Thomas©
Tonight our friends Dave and Linda drove us up to Escalona, primarily to have a look at all the blossom trees up there. We were hoping we might see a Great Spotted Cuckoo as Barry had seen two of them here last week, and possibly even an Eagle Owl which Barry had also seen during his visit. When we arrived I wandered off to take photos of the blossom trees and when I got back Mike Smith had joined us as arranged. We could hear a Green Woodpecker and Mike soon spotted it on the trunk of a dead tree behind us, and later Dave found it again sitting on the roof of an old house. John thought he could hear a Great Spotted Cuckoo so we listened and I scanned the area with my bins. I'm sure I saw one sitting in an almond tree with it's back to us but it was difficult to give directions and no-one else managed to get on it, so I won't be claiming it for my list and the search continues. By now we could hear Eagle Owls calling, in fact at one time, calls were coming from three different directions. We waited and watched until finally Dave shouted to tell us a bird had just landed on the old tree at the top of the ridge. We could see a shape with the naked eye and the owl sat on the perch for 5 to 10 minutes giving us all the chance to look at it through a scope. After I had run around hugging everyone, I returned to my scope to watch the owl again until it eventually flew, showing it's huge wings for just a few seconds, before it disappeared down the other side of the ridge. Amazing! Mike has seen it here before so maybe he was lucky for us! By now the light was falling, as was the temperature and we turned our attention briefly to the night sky where we could see Venus and Jupiter, and I was surprised to find we could see at least two of Jupiter's moons through our scopes. It was practically dark by now so we set off home, cold and hungry, but very satisfied with our achievement, after visiting this place at least six times with no luck, finally we had seen the elusive Eagle Owl! Hoorah!
Below is possibly the worst bird photo ever taken! It shows the sillouette of a bird on a dead tree, which perhaps you may be able to recognise as an Eagle Owl by it's shape!
Blossom Trees and Eagle Owl by Mary Brazier©
Bryan has sent me a couple of photos taken from his house. He tells me he has been watching two Blue Rock Thrushes on his roof, and a Black Wheatear was sitting on his neighbour's house this morning. The last photo is of 'Chunky Thomas' as we sometimes like to call him, although maybe it should be 'Coco the Clown'! Apparently he has badly chapped lips!
Blue Rock Thrush and Black Wheatear by Bryan Thomas©
Coco or Loco? - you decide!
It was another early start (early for me anyway) as we met old friends and new at the GA Centre at 9.30. A small convoy then set off towards San Felipe to meet the rest of the group. There were quite a few of us and it's possible that the people outnumbered the 40 bird species that I recorded! With such a large group it's inevitable that people spread out and some people see birds that other's do not. For example, Bryan says a Night Heron flew over when he was walking back from one of the hides, a bird I would like to have seen and added to my list. That will be 'the one that got away' for today. Another species I missed was Marbled Duck , although I understand from Graham Critchell's website that these could be birds which have been brought in by reserve staff, along with some Crested Coots, with a view to possibly starting new populations here. Spain Bird Watching
Now to the birds I did see which included the 3 Garganey that were sitting on one of the lakes, quite distant, but easy to see through a scope. They are a very attractive duck and quite rare here in Spain. A highlight for me today was watching Black necked Grebes giving a courting display, similar to that of Great Crested Grebes which I have seen, but I didn't know other grebes did a similar thing. There was a reasonable selection of ducks on the lakes, including Red crested Pochard and White headed Duck which came out in front of the hide after the main group had gone to walk round the far side of the lake, so I hope they managed to see them. Small birds seen in the area included Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Blackcap (f) and Zitting Cisticola but I also missed out on the Bluethroat and there were still no Swallows. A few Swallows have been seen around the area but not the large flocks that we have usually seen by this date. We relocated to an area near some football fields, although I don't think anyone has played football on them for some time as the pitches are largely covered with scrub! Here we saw three Buzzards which appeared to be mobbing each other and an early Purple Heron flew over. We didn't stay for lunch as John 'had to' get home to watch Cheltemhan Racing, so we missed out on some seawatching. Malcolm's field trip report provides more details of today's trip and other birds seen. Bryan has provided a photo of a Garganey, which was not take during the field trip, but it shows the duck well, which may be helpful given that the birds were quite distant today.
Garganey by Bryan Thomas©
Species list - Little Grebe, Black necked Grebe, Cormorant, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Greater Flamingo, Shelduck, Mallard, Garganey, Pochard, Red crested Pochard, White headed Duck, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Coot, Moorhen, Black winged Stilt, Avocet, Black headed Gull, Yellow legged Gull, Collared Dove, Crested Lark, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Blackcap, Southern Grey Shrike, Magpie, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Reed Bunting, Green Sandpiper, Stonechat.
Black necked Grebes 'dancing' by Bryan Thomas©
We have now returned from our short break in Mojacar where we went with my sister Rose and brother in law Colin. As I said previously this was not a 'birding' trip but we did manage to see a few birds while we were there. While sitting on our hotel balcony we saw Gannets flying over the sea as well as various gulls following the fishing boats back to port. On day one we took a drive down the coast visiting several little seaside villages along the way. At Las Negras, a lovely little place, we watched a Sandwich Tern sitting on a buoy while we had a drink at a beachside cafe. Our next stop was Los Escullos where we spotted a Black Wheatear sitting up on a small island just off shore. When it flew off I went to see if I could find it again but before I could do so I heard John calling me back. I thought he was saying "on the beach", but as I got nearer I could hear he was in fact saying "Trumpeter Finch"! I thought this must be too good to be true but on scanning the area John was pointing at with my binoculars, sure enough there were three Trumpeter Finches hopping about on the ground amongst the wild flowers. When Rose and Colin flushed the birds they flew back towards us giving great views, at fairly close range and seemed undisturbed by our being there. It was only then that I remembered the reason I had wanted to visit Los Escullos was because I had read in my book 'Where to see Birds in Spain' that Trumpeter Finches might be found here! On our final day we drove down to Cabo de Gata where we went to look at the lighthouse and the fantastic rocky coastline. On the way back along the road we spotted a Rock Bunting on the edge of the road. Overall our 'non birding' trip was very enjoyable with the added bonus of adding two 'hard to find' birds to my year list.
Trumpeter Finches and Rock Bunting by John Brazier©
Trumpeter Finch site and a view from there by Mary Brazier©
There will be no blog next week as I am going away to Mojacar and Cabo de Gato for a few days. It's not really a birding trip but I will report any interesting sightings when I get back.
We set off under grey skies with the threat of rain looming large on the horizon. Undeterred by the weather, well we are used to birding in the UK, we arrived at the 'little reserve' where we found several Great White Egrets, one standing in the stream and two others sitting on the canal walls, along with several Grey Herons and a Little Egret. Further along the road there were more herons and egrets and a Booted Eagle was sitting on a pylon. "I'll have him", says Bryan but as always, as soon as he sticks his lens out of the car window the bird flies away! Luckily, there were more Booted Eagles in the area, possibly two or three. We saw one fly into a tree and when we got nearer two flew out! We had a quick detour along a track where a farmer was watering his field and a scan of the area found good numbers of Cattle Egrets and White Wagtails and the odd Meadow Pipit. A quick check of the 'little owl' house found not one, but two Little Owls sitting on the roof and they seemed happy to pose for photos. A short stop at Vistabella found four more unidentified raptors, probably including Booted Eagles as there seem to be a lot of them about at the moment, perhaps passing through on migration. It was raining by now so we headed for San Felipe.
Booted Eagle by Bryan Thomas©
Noon found us sitting in the car, in the rain wondering what to do. We decided to have an early lunch and wait to see if the weather improved. While we were eating the rain eased so we soon set off to visit the two hides. While we were in the hides the sun broke through, which pleased us and also seemed to bring out a few birds. We stayed there a while seeing about 10 White headed Ducks, along with Shoveler, Pochard, 2 Great Crested Grebes and a few Little Grebes looking splendid in full breeding plumage. A Tufted Duck was an unusual sight as they are classed as 'scarce' in this area. A Glossy Ibis flew over the lagoon, the second one we have seen in two weeks. At last, I saw my first Swallow of the year and then we saw a small group of them feeding over the water.
White headed Duck and Little Grebe by Bryan Thomas©
We walked back around the boardwalk and when we were near the end I spotted a lovely male Hen Harrier flying over the reads near to where we had just been, isn't that always the way? Back at the car we were having a quick cuppa when Bryan called a Pied Flycatcher, I put my tea on top of the car and rushed around searching for my binoculars, I couldn't see the bird but I could feel a warm wet sensation on my back, John had unknowingly (I hope) tilted his cup of coffee all down my back! I was not happy, especially when the bird turned out to be a Stonechat! After a grey start the day had 'turned out nice again', isn't that the name of a sketch by some old comic? Not that I am old enough to remember who it was! We returned the way we had come and then drove back across the Salinas and home. We had seen 56 species, although no Great Spotted Cuckoo which remains on my 'wish list'.
Reed Bunting and Grey Heron by Bryan Thomas©
Species list - Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Cormorant, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Glossy Ibis, Greater Flamingo, Shelduck, Mallard, Shoveler, Pochard, White headed Duck, Tufted Duck, Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Red legged Partridge, Coot, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Black winged Stilt, Avocet, Green Sandpiper, Lapwing, Snipe, Black headed Gull, Slender billed Gull, Yellow legged Gull, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Little Owl, Crested Lark, Crag Martin, Swallow, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Cetti's Warbler (HO), Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, Magpie, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Serin, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting, Redshank.
Great White Egret and Southern Grey Shrike by Mary Brazier©
I thought I should offer some sort of explanation for Bryan's 'little outburst' last week. Imagine the scene, Bryan has been chasing round the scrub after a pair of Sardinian Warblers, trying to get 'that photo'. Finally, he has his camera lens locked on to one of the birds, nicely posed, on top of a bush, in great light. Suddenly a friendly Dutchman calls out "Buenos Dias" and the bird vanishes into the undergrowth! Bryan is understandably disappointed, upset even, and a little bit miffed! In reality he is a very friendly chap, just don't interupt him when he is taking a photo or you may set off a 'tourettes' episode!
I'm just giving a species list and a couple of photos today as I'm a bit busy! Species list - Shoveler, Teal, Coot, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Snipe, Little Owl, Hoopoe, Green Woodpecker, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Blackbird, Cetti's Warbler (HO), Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike, House Sparrow, Serin, Goldfinch, Linnet.
Little Owl by John Brazier© Black Redstart by Mary Brazier©
This week we decided to revisit the Cabo de Palos and other areas around the Mar Menor. At Cabo de Palos we went for a short walk round the lighthouse to see if anything interesting was hiding in the scrub here - it wasn't! It was very quiet birdwise with just a few Black Redstarts, Sardinian Warblers and Crested Larks in the area. We had a quick 'coffee stop' by the marina and a friendly House Sparrow came to see us. While we were sitting there we heard, then briefly saw, four noisy Parakeets before they disappeared behind some buildings. From here we moved on to the Cabo de Palos Salinas where we found Avocets, Slender billed Gulls, Black winged Stilts, a Redshank and a few Little Stints. By now we were wondering where all the birds were, so we headed on to the Calblanque Nature Reserve which none of us has visited before. We took the left turn at the fork in the road and stopped by the first salinas where a quick look from the hide revealed nothing. Moving on the the next salinas we had quite a pleasant surprise in the form of about 500 Audouin's Gulls. (Yes 500 - we counted them!) OK we weren't seeing a lot of different species but this was quite a sight as we normally only see these birds in ones or twos.
Avocet and Slender billed Gull by Bryan Thomas.©
After watching the birds for a while and taking a few photos, we drove to the end of the road where it reaches the beach. This is a really pretty area and we decided to have our picnic there. A few Sardinian Warblers, Crested Larks and other small birds were around so Bryan was off taking photos while eating his lunch! At one point he was interrupted by a passing stranger who called out a friendly "Buenos Dias". Bryan's response went something like this "p*** off you ****head" which I thought was a bit harsh, although you would think the guy might have noticed that Bryan had his long lens trained on a small bird on a bush, needless to say he didn't get that photo! He did, however, get nice shots of a fantastic Swallowtail butterfly which may have provided some compensation.
Collared Dove, Sardinian Warbler and Swallowtail butterfly by Bryan Thomas©
After lunch we returned the way we had come and took the right hand fork along another track, passing a few Stonechats and more Sardinian Warblers sitting up on top of the bushes, before we arrived at another beach. We stopped at the mirador to look at the rocky coastline finding fantastic views in both directions. Despite the lack of birds we were glad we had found this beautiful place. Our final destination was the salinas at San Pedro del Pinatar. Once again it was quiet here and it appeared that most of the winter ducks and waders had left, and the summer visitors had not yet arrived. We had good views of Greater Flamingos, along with various gull species, and Bryan found a couple of Black necked Grebes right next to the walkway he was standing on.
Yellow legged Gull by Mary Brazier© Black necked Grebe by Bryan Thomas©
It had been a very strange day, most notable for the birds we didn't see! For example, we didn't see any passing Gannets or Sandwich Terns at the Cabo, the only egret we saw was a single Little Egret at San Pedro, and the only duck species seen was Shelduck. We usually see quite a few raptors but today we saw only Kestrels in various places. I was hoping to see a Swallow but there were no hirundines at all, not ever Crag Martins, which is unusual. Other notable absences were Little Owl and Chiffchaff and we only saw Hoopoe and Southern Grey Shrike during the journey home. Despite the lack of birds we still had an enjoyable day out, the highlights for me being the hundreds of Audouin's Gulls, the Swallowtail butterfly and the discovery of this fantastic rocky coastline.
Calblanque coast and countryside by Mary Brazier©
Species list - Black necked Grebe, Cormorant, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Greater Flamingo, Shelduck, Kestrel, Black winged Stilt, Avocet, Little Stint, Redshank, Greenshank, Lapwing, Black headed Gull, Slender billed Gull, Audouin's Gull, Yellow legged Gull, Collared Dove, Crested Lark, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Sardinian Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Zittin Cisticola, Southern Grey Shrike, Hoopoe, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Serin, Linnet, Parakeet.
San Pedro del Pinatar, House Sparrow and Bryan by Mary Brazier©
It was a warm sunny day when we set off towards the Petrola area. After a drive of about 130km/80 miles, we reached the Bonete turn off. For a change we drove towards La Higueruela instead of our usual route towards Corral Rubio. We stopped near a bridge over the railway line and scanned the fields getting our first sight of a single Great Bustard flying away from us. Here we found Crested Lark, Calandra Lark, Magpies and Red legged Partridge, before we headed off towards the La Higueruela. Just before the town Bryan thought he saw a Mistle Thrush but it had gone by the time we managed to reverse back up the road to have a look. As soon as we entered the town we turned left and found ourselves on a reasonable track over the fields. Bryan was keen to get a photo of a Calandra Lark and found one bird which stayed long enough to get a shot. Further along the track we flushed three Black bellied Sandgrouse and watched them fly away. We also saw several flocks of linnets and Goldfinches, a single Lapwing in a field and a Kestrel flew by. Further along the track we came to another bridge over the railway with a small lagoon on our right. A few raptors were hunting over the readbeds and we thought we had found our 'hoped for' Red Kite, but after watching for a while and checking Bryan's photos, we concluded that the birds were all Marsh Harriers. We drove over the bridge and soon came onto a 'proper' road again. From here we drove to Petrola and turned down the road which runs along the right-hand side of the lagoon. As soon as we entered this track we spotted a large blackish bird standing in the road and were first surprised and then delighted to find it was a Glossy Ibis! The Ibis stayed on the road for quite a while, allowing us to get a few photos, before it flew away onto a nearby field. Further down the track we reached a point where there are pools on both sides of the road. On our right we found 40+ Ruff feeding in the shallow water and 3 or 4 Snipe were close to the road. On our left the main lagoon held maybe 100 Shovelers along with a Little Grebe and a Black necked Grebe. We parked here and ate our picnic while watching the birds.
Snipe by Mary Brazier© Lapwing by Bryan Thomas©
After lunch we travelled back to the main road, and passing the left hand turn to Corral Rubio, we took the next track on the left and bumped along here for quite a while, noticing a distinct lack of birds! Eventually we found a Little Owl sitting on top of an old building and then another on top of a rock pile. We decided to turn round and go back to another turn off which was now on our right. Here we found a pool which held 20+ Red crested Pochards, amongst other things. We were looking for a place where we had previously had good views of Great Bustards. A bit further along we took another left turn and realised we had found the right place, but not only that, we had found the Great Bustards too! As we entered the track they flew up from just behind some bushes. Neeless to say we were out of the car like a shot with binocluars and cameras on the birds. The Great Bustards flew away from us and settled on a ridge to the right of a farmhouse and we also noticed another group on the left of the building, giving us a total of about 20 birds. After a while they took flight and crossed the track towards a disused farmhouse on our left. We drove further along the track following the birds and finding another two groups of 20 and 22 respectively. After watching the bustards for a while we continued along the track towards an area with water on both sides of the road. Here we found various ducks and good numbers of Greater Flamingos in another pool behind some reeds. Suddenly, John spotted a small flock of large birds flying in and we were all surprised and delighted to find they were Common Cranes! There were 6 or 7 of them and they landed at the far edge of the pool. We had thought we would continue to the end of this track into Corral Rubio but we could see the road was covered with water so we decided not to risk it. John turned the car round and we went back past the Bustards where we stopped to have another look. As usual they started walking slowly away from us and after a while took flight giving us great view of them flying, which is always an amazing sight!
Glossy Ibis and Little Owl by Bryan Thomas©
Finally, we rejoined the road from Petrola to Corral Rubio and found another Little Owl on a signpost and a Kestrel on another. We were now parallel to the track we had been on and we could see the Cranes were now standing in a little group in the deeper water. On leaving Corral Rubio we checked the two pools there and found Teal, Mallard, Shelduck, Shoveler and Yellow legged Gulls, a few Lapwings were on the wet fields and a nice group of 20+ Corn Buntings were sitting on the wires. On the road to Bonete we continued to scan the fields and saw a group of 7 Great Bustards and another smaller group further on. We had a brief stop by some farm buildings where we found House Sparrows but sadly no Rock Sparrows. Further along the road there was a flock of about 10 Magpies flying between the trees. Finally, we got back on the Motorway and set off home after another great day out.
Great Bustard and Common Cranes by Bryan Thomas©
Species List - Little Grebe, Black necked Grebe, Cormorant, Crane, Greater Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Shelduck, Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Red crested Pochard, Marsh Harrier, Kestrel, Red legged Partridge, Coot, Great Bustard, Black winged Stilt, Ruff, Lapwing, Snipe, Yellow legged Gull, Black bellied Sandgrouse, Little Owl, Crested Lark, Calandra Lark, Water Pipit, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Chiffchaff, Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, Magpie, Crow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Corn Bunting, Serin.
General views by Mary Brazier©
I have received a number of reports about sightings of Great Spotted Cuckoos in and around our area. Kathy and Rob recorded the earliest sighting on 18th February at the edge of a reservoir near Roldan, which is is somewhere between San Javier and Murcia. Bryan and Trevor had a trip down to the Guadalentin valley on Monday 20th and saw five of these birds! Finally, Els and Stephan reported seeing them in the El Hondo area. I let Malcolm know about all these sightings and asked him whether they are likely to stay in our area. He says 'they arrive early, and leave early, but stick around until summer, parasitising Magpies - have become much commoner recently'. Many thanks to everyone for the notifications and to Malcolm for the extra information. I have never seen one yet but maybe this could be my year! Having seen Bryan's photo, I really have to see one of these birds!
Great Spotted Cuckoo by Bryan Thomas©
We have been busy painting since last week so it was good to get out for a while yesterday. We went with Bryan and Trish to have a meal at Finca Bonelli's Eagle. It was not really a birding trip but obviously, we were hoping to see the eagles. When we got there Jane took us on a walk up the mountain behind the finca. I have been part way up this path but never as far as we went today. The views were great and I was quite surprised to find fields of olive and almond trees, a little house and another track leading into this end of the canyon! As we set off we saw one of the Bonelli's Eagles flying around before it landed somewhere out of sight. On the way back down Bryan spotted a Black Wheatear sitting on top of a big rock. What looked like a Blackbird flew into view but a quick view through the binoculars showed it to have a bluish tinge, it was a Blue Rock Thrush. There were plenty of Serins, Meadow Pipits, Black Redstarts and a few Thekla Larks. After a great lunch we had a look for the eagle and could just see the head of one of the Bonelli's Eagles sitting on the nest. Visit Colin and Jane's Website for more information.
Views from around Finca Bonelli's Eagle, in the Sierra de Crevillente, by Mary Brazier©
It was a very early start for me when we met two more carloads of birders at the GA Centre at 8am. Our small convoy set off and, after a brief hold up on the motorway and a quick comfort stop, we arrived at the Pego marshes meeting point at 10am exactly, to meet the rest of the group. It was a cold morning but the skies were clear promising a good days birding. We all set off along the track between the flooded rice fields and soon realised that there were hundreds of birds around, albeit many of the same species. On our right hand side there were Cattle Egrets, Little Egrets, Grey Herons and an impressive Great White Egret enabling us to see just how large this bird is when compared to it's smaller relatives. On our right there were lots of Chiffchaffs, White Wagails and Reed Buntings (mainly female but I did see two males with their distinctive black heads). We also had a few Meadow Pipits and the odd Water Pipit. Regular blog readers may recall that I missed out on seeing a Bluethroat last week while I was in the UK, well today there was an abundance of Bluethroats, brilliant!. Further away in the next field, there were Lapwings, a few Golden Plovers and a single Ruff.
CBBC and Pego Marshes by Mary Brazier©. Audouin's Gull by Bryan Thomas©
By now the weather was warming up and a few of us were removing some layers of clothing, but not Malcolm's Spanish wife, Juani, who kept her coat firmly on! Someone spotted a lovely Yellow Wagtail, the Iberian blue headed form, and we managed to watch this bird for a while. Further along the path we were lucky again finding a Spotted Crake, a lifer for me, and then a Squacco Heron appeared. At one point I had both birds in the same view through my scope, great! Crag Martins flew around but there was no sign of a Swallow today. We followed the track round in a big circuit and on the other side of the fields, Bryan heard Penduline Tits calling. In an attempt to call the birds out he started 'pishing' and this proved so successful that we had eight Penuline Tits sitting up on the tall grasses giving great views of these lovely little birds. Bryan became something of a 'hero' with the members due to his 'pishing' skills and someone even nicknamed him 'The Tit Whisperer'! During our walk we had sightings of a few raptors, namely Booted Eagle, Buzzard and Marsh Harrier. By now it was time for lunch and we headed to the lovely little village of Forna and the Nautillus restaurant. Here we had a good meal and I enjoyed catching up with our friend Rosemary and getting to know new member Gail from South Africa.
Penduline Tits by Bryan Thomas©, Forna village and Pego Marshes view by Mary Brazier©
After lunch we returned to the meeting place but this time we drove along the track to the right hand side of the road, between more rice fields. From here we saw more of the species already seen, plus a small group of Little Ringed Plovers, and a Kingfisher was flushed by our car. A few ducks were feeding on the far side of the water including, Mallard, Pintail, Shoveler and a single Red crested Pochard. By now it was a beautiful afternoon with great light and Bryan gave me a quick 'masterclass' in photographing Cattle Egrets before we reluctantly decided it was time to go home. We all agreed it had been a great day out with my species list (including a few birds seen on the way) looking like this - Little Grebe, Cormorant, Squacco Heron, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret (50+), Grey Heron (10+), Mallard, Shoveler, Pintail (10+), Pochard, Red crested Pochard, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Spotted Crake, Moorhen, Little Ringed Plover (6+), Water Rail (HO), Green Sandpiper, Ruff, Golden Plover, Lapwing (20+), Snipe (6+), Black headed Gull, Audouin's Gull, Collared Dove, Kingfisher, Hoopoe, Green Woodpecker, Crag Martin, Meadow Pipit, Water Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail (Iberian blue headed), White Wagtail (30+), Robin, Bluethroat (20+), Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Cetti's Warbler (HO), Chiffchaff (50+), Sardinian Warbler, Penuline Tit (8+), Southern Grey Shrike, Common Starling, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting (20+) (52 species).
Great White Egret, Cattle Egret and Penduline Tit by Bryan Thomas©
After the recent cold snap in Spain the weather had warmed up considerably today so we decided to have a quick visit to El Clot to check out the birds and also to try out the new camera. A visit to the hide found the pool to be very quiet and most of the wintering Teal seemed to have left. A few White Wagtails, Chiffchaffs and Crag Martins were around and a Snipe flew up and away as we arrived. As usual there were Black Redstarts everywhere, mostly females but we did see one nice male. A group of five Stone Curlew flew over and landed somewhere out of sight. We bumbed into CBBC Member Trevor, who had just arrived in Spain and was straight down to the Clot! While we were chatting, we saw a Booted Eagle with a Marsh Harrier flying below it. Most of the attempted photos have been deleted but these ones were the best of the bunch! Still need to read the instruction manual! Species list -Little Grebe, Teal, Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle, Coot, Moorhen, Hoopoe, Crag Martin, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike, Stone Curlew, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Serin, Green Woodpecker, Crested Lark.
Black Redstarts (female) and Crag Martin by Mary Brazier©
While John and Bryan were enjoying a bit of Spanish birding I only managed a quick trip to my local reserve in England. Saturday brought a bright sunny day so I thought I would take a quick trip to Belvide to see what was about. It was not too cold despite the fact that there was still some snow and ice on the ground. Wrapped up warm and donning my wellies I set off to the feeders where I found all the usual species, including a few that we never, or rarely see in Spain, including Blue Tit, Great Tit and Nuthatch. I might have stayed here longer but there was a working party developing the area. Surprisingly, the birds didn't seem too disturbed by the two men working there and at one point a Nuthatch landed on a perch withn a few feet of them. I had intended to try out my new camera here but the birds were not willing to come to the good perches close to the hide so I gave up and just took scenic views.
Belvide Reservoir and Canal Bridge near Brewood by Mary Brazier©
Moving on to the hide overlooking the reservoir there were plenty of waterfowl gathered together where the ice had melted or attempting to walk across the icy lake! It was nice to see Wigeon again as I don't often see them in Spain. I found it took a while to 'get my eye' in for British birds, when I spotted a big white bird in the distance my first thought was Great White Egret, but of course it was a Mute Swan! Although I said it wasn't cold, by now my hands and face were getting frostbite so I set off home, stopping on the way to check on our caravan where a Grey Heron flew over my head! Finally, I headed back to my Mum's lovely warm central heated house. Species list - Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Wigeon, Mallard, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Buzzard, Coot, Black headed Gull, Woodpigeon, Robin, Blackbird, Long tailed Tit, Marsh/Willow Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Crow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Magpie.
This week I was in England so John and Bryan went out without me on a similar tour to the one we all did last week. As I wasn't there I am not going to write much here except to say that they saw much the same birds as last week with the highlights being a male Hen Harrier a Bluethroat, which I was hoping to see last week but didn't, and about 6 or 7 sightings of Booted Eagle. They also had a single Swallow, perhaps an early spring migrant. Species list - Little Grebe, Black necked Grebe, Cormorant, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Greater Flamingo, Shelduck, Shoveler, Pochard, White headed Duck, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Booted Eagle, Hen Harrier (male) Kestrel, Coot, Moorhen, Black winged Stilt, Avocet, Lapwing, Slender billed Gull, Yellow legged Gull, Kingfisher, Hoopoe, Crag Martin, Swallow, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Bluethroat, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike, Magpie, Jackdaw, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Serin, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting.
White headed Duck and Hoopoe by Bryan Thomas©
There was an icy wind blowing as 'The Three Amigos' set off on another of our regular outings. We had a quick stop by the Salinas but it is a very exposed place so after taking in the usual groups of Greater Flamingos etc., we were soon back in the car and off across the countryside. We drove around our usual route, agreeing that birding from the car was the best plan. A Kingfisher proved impossible to photograph as it kept flying out of the ditch and landing further along the channel, until we got closer when it flew away again. We had quite good views of a raptor which needed closer inspection, and after being 'told off' by Malcolm last week for getting a bird i/d wrong, I took some time to examine the bird and compare it to my fieldguide. Eventually, we concluded that it was a Booted Eagle, dark phase. I have seen dark phase Booted before but have never had views as good as this. A walk along what I call 'the long road' where we normally see Swallows arriving in the spring, failed to add much to our list and certainly no Swallows. We had a quick look around the Vistabella area and then decided to try driving along the track that runs down the side of the old house. At the end of the track we turned right towards a flooded field we had seen from the road, and which appeared to be full of birds. Observing from the car, we found 40-50 Lapwings (my favourite bird) along with a handful of Golden Plovers and Water Pipits, a single Black tailed Godwit and more White Wagtails than I have ever seen! A nice addition to our list was a Wood Sandpiper as two of these were feeding near the field edges.
Lapwing and Black tailed Godwit by Bryan Thomas©
Just past the village of San Felipe, on our way to the reserve, we spotted a raptor sitting in a field. We had great views of this Booted Eagle, pale phase, as it sat there for quite a while and appeared to be eating something. After eating our lunch in the car we set off around the edge of the reserve and Bryan spotted a large raptor in the distance. We all watched this bird being mobbed by a Booted Eagle and the general shape of the larger bird and the size difference between the two convinced us all that this was one of the wintering Great Spotted Eagles, great! Bryan also spotted our first three House Martins of the year and a Great White Egret flew close by as we walked back to visit the two hides. I have been advised that a few House Martins overwinter here and that this is an early date for them to arrive, however as we can't ask the birds whether they have just arrived or if they have been here all year, I am going to leave it in the Spring Migration Report! Although the left hand lake showed little, the other lagoon had plenty of duck species, including Shoveler, Pochard and a group of eight White headed Ducks. Grebes were represented by Little Grebe and Black necked Grebe and the usual Cormorants and Little Egrets were also present. A Water Rail was 'heard only' and several Marsh Harriers were hunting around the area.
Wood Sandpiper and Booted Eagle by Bryan Thomas©
On our way home we re-visited the 'Lapwing' fields where hundreds of Common Starlings had joined the other birds and Bryan was able to get some more photos. We made a short detour down another new track with flooded fields, and saw several Little Egrets and Cattle Egrets along with numerous small birds, including even more White Wagtails, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Robin, Reed Bunting, Serin and Corn Bunting. During the day we must have seen hundreds of Chiffchaffs and more than 20 Stonechats. Driving back across the Salinas, we added a few more species to our list which looks like this - Little Grebe, Black necked Grebe, Cormorant, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Greater Flamingo, Shelduck, Shoveler, Pochard, White headed Duck, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Booted Eagle (pale and dark phase), Great spotted Eagle, Kestrel, Water Rail (HO), Coot, Purple Swamphen, Moorhen, Black winged Stilt, Avocet, Wood Sandpiper, Golden Plover, Black tailed Godwit, Lapwing, Snipe, Little ringed Plover, Little Stint, Slender billed Gull, Yellow legged Gull, Little Owl, Kingfisher, Hoopoe, Crag Martin, House Martin, Water Pipit, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike, Common Starling, Magpie, Jackdaw, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Serin, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting.
Flooded fields by Mary Brazier©
John and I decided to have a walk by the Segura River today and hoped to see the Kingfisher which Mary Kerr had told me about on the Facebook Group. We followed the directions and ended up on the North side of the river, near the campsite. There is actually another smaller channel of water here, running alongside the main river. We followed Mary's directions and, sure enough, the Kingfisher flew across the smaller river and disappeared under the path just where Mary had said it might be. John missed it! We continued along the path and very soon the bird flew out and back across to the other side of the river and was once again hidden behind some tall reeds. This time John saw it, and although they were only brief views, at least we had seen our target bird. Walking on towards the river mouth we found a Little Grebe, Little Egret, Coot and Moorhen and a small heron flew into the reeds on the opposite bank and quickly disappeared. I'm not sure what it was, it looked to me like a 'miniature heron', so I will need to seek advice. Close to the mouth of the river there is a small sandback, which unfortunately was covered with rubbish, but this did not appear to bother the Common Sandpiper and Little Stint which were feeding there. Walking back along the path we saw a group of small waders, probably Sanderling feeding at the edge of the main Segura river and we heard, but didn't see a Cetti's Warbler. I have been advised that my 'mystery heron' was probably a Squacco Heron as Barry has seen one in this area recently and Malcolm says a few do stay here in the winter. Thanks Barry and Malcolm!
Segura River views and Little Egret by Mary Brazier©
We left this area and drove back to El Pinet where we ate our picnic lunch on the beach. Afterwards we had a quick look at the lakes where we found six Shelduck, a few Black winged Stilts and a Redshank. I expect the Avocets will move in to nest soon, along with Slender billed Gulls, and later the noisy Common Terns will arrive to shatter their peace! We will have to wait a while to see all this nesting activity. A nice little Serin was feeding on the ground as we left El Pinet, and a Buzzard flew overhead as we drove along the N332 near to Gran Alacant. Species list:- Little Grebe, Cormorant, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Greater Flamingo, Shelduck, Buzzard, Coot, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Black winged Stilt, Sanderling, Little Stint, Common Sandpiper, Redshank, Black headed Gull, Slender billed Gull, Audouin's Gull, Kingfisher, Hoopoe, Crag Martin, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Cetti's Warbler (HO), Chiffchaff, Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Serin and a mystery small heron!
Mike Smith contacted me to say he, along with Malcolm, Barry, Paul and Linda, had seen the Eagle Owl showing well on Tuesday evening. Mike agreed to meet us to show us where the bird had been seen, so we went up to meet him at the usual parking place at about 4.30. We waited and watched, and at about 5.45 we first heard the 'oo - hu' of the bird and remained hopeful of a sighting. Unfortunately it was not to be, and as it was getting dark we gave up and returned home. Mike showed us a record shot he had taken of the bird on Tuesday and we had to console ourselves with a 'heard only' bird. Maybe we will venture up there again one evening, surely one day we will be lucky? Thanks to Mike for meeting us and showing us where the bird was seen previously.
We set off from Gran Alacant at about 9am and left the motorway at junction 627 near Alhama de Murcia at around 10.30. As soon as we joined the service road, which runs alongside the Guadalentin river, we saw a Corn Bunting sitting up on some long grass and 2 or 3 Stone Curlews were on the ground. We followed this road, stopping to have a look in all the small reservoirs, finding 1 Lapwing, 1 Snipe, Little Grebes and Black winged Stilts in the various pools. Driving along this road we saw loads of small birds, including Greenfinch, Serin, Stonechat and Linnet. We stopped at the end of the road and looked down into the river valley where we glimpsed a Hen Harrier before it disappeared out of sight and a Song Thrush flew by. We could see the high sandy river banks where Beeeaters are known to nest in summer but only noisy Jackdaws were present today. The river was more of a stream but the valley looked promising for spring migrants and summer visitors, having plenty of reeds and scrub. We could hear Cetti's Warbler but as usual with this bird it didn't show itself. Whilst scanning the area I spotted a black rabbit, something I haven't seen before. From here we retraced our steps and then turned right driving along many small roads and tracks which run through miles of flat open land, some of it cultivated and some scrubland, with a few trees and buildings scattered around.
Corn Bunting and Spectacled Warbler by Bryan Thomas©
The cultivated land held huge quanities of cabbages and onions at the time of our visit and there was evidence of brocolli having being picked recently. Together with the scrubland, the area provides a good range of habitats for birds, and is relatively undisturbed. Driving around we encountered several Magpies, some in a group of 5 or 6, lots of Red legged Partridge, 1 or 2 Little Owls on the roofs of small run down buildings, and lots more small birds in the cultivated fields including, Blackcap, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Black Redstart and Southern Grey Shrike were seen in various places. A 'top' bird for us was a beautiful Spectacled Warbler which perched on top of a scrubby bush for a few seconds giving us all a good view before it flew away. This was a good area for larks, although we saw mainly Crested Lark with possible sightings of Thekla Lark and Lesser short toed Lark. Driving a bit further along I spotted a large raptor sitting on top of a pylon and we moved in for a closer look. It looked golden brown in colour to me but the light was behind it, Bryan took a few photos before it took off and we all jumped out of the car to get a closer look. Yes, you guessed it, we had a Golden Eagle! Fantastic and a great view too! I think this could be 'bird of the day'!
Crested Lark, Golden Eagle and (very dirty) Cattle Egret by Bryan Thomas©
We were getting a bit hungry by now so started looking round for a place to picnic. We wanted to move out of the agricultural area for lunch but this took a while as the fields here seem to go on for miles. We were watching a herd of goats being moved when Bryan spotted a large flock of birds in the distance. On closer inspection we were amazed to find they were Little Bustards, we had hoped to see some of these birds today but we didn't think they could be found in such large numbers, there must have been over 100! While we were looking at these birds a flock of 20+ Stone Curlew flew up close by and I didn't know which way to look! We watched the Little Bustards for a while until they went down somewhere in the distance. The next half hour was spent trying to find them on the ground but this proved impossible so we decided to have lunch. As we entered a suitable pull-in, 4 Black bellied Sandgrouse flew up and we added another 'target bird' to our list.
Little Bustards by Bryan Thomas©.
After lunch we drove around a bit more but, apart from seeing more of the numerous small birds that seemed to be everywhere, we added only a Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk to the list. We did spot a mystery raptor and watched it flying around for quite a while but still couldn't be sure of it's identity. This bird has now been identified by Malcolm (and also by Mike Smith) as a 2nd year male Western Marsh Harrier.
Marsh Harrier by Bryan Thomas©
All in all, we had a great day out and saw all the birds that I was hoping to see as well as the bonus of the brilliant Golden Eagle. The species list is as follows:- Little Grebe, Cormorant, Cattle Egret, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Kestrel, Red legged Partridge, Coot, Moorhen, Little Bustard, Stone Curlew, Black winged Stilt, Lapwing, Snipe, Black bellied Sandgrouse, Little Owl, Hoopoe, Green Woodpecker, Crested Lark, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Cetti's Warbler (HO), Whitethroat, Sardinian Warbler, Blackcap, Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, Magpie, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Serin, Linnet, Corn Bunting.
Views of the area by Mary Brazier©. Goats by Bryan Thomas©
It was a glorious day today so we went for a walk along the boardwalk at the far end of Arenales and on to the beach. We sat on the sand for a while and watched a single Gannet slowly flying by, and later three Sandwich Terns were fishing, demonstrating their amazing plunge diving technique. Later we parked at the top of the hill next to the viewpoint which overlooks the Clot. We found we could enter the Clot here via a broken fence so we walked to the Mirador. John spotted a bird when it flew up and said it had a bluish tinge to it. When it landed on a nearby rock we identified it as a Blue Rock Thrush. You could say 'it does exaclty what it says on the tin', to coin a phrase! We have never seen one in the Clot before but, no doubt, all the 'Clot watchers' out there have seen loads. There were a lot of people walking in the Clot, it being Sunday, but the usual birds were in evidence, such as, Little Grebe, Coot, Moorhen, Chiffchaff, Black Redstart, Sardinian Warbler, Linnet and a single Cattle Egret.
Arenales Beach and overlooking El Clot by Mary Brazier©
We had a quick trip to look at the 'smelly pool' today and found that, unlike last week when it was completely dry, today the pool had quite a lot of water in it. There were not too many birds around, but we did see a Green Sandpiperand a Grey Wagtail, plus lots of White Wagtails, and a Buzzard flew overhead. We moved on to the Clot where we found plenty of Linnets and Black Redstarts, and a Purple Swamphen was moving about in the reeds opposite the hide. A small Tamarisk tree in front and just to the left of the hide was proving popular with Chiffchaffs and up to three were feeding in the same tree.
I had a message from Jane at 'Finca Bonelli's Eagle yesterday', she says "the latest is, the birds have built another nest and seem to be sitting and spending time there, it's over to the right of the cliff face, I think this is the one". It could be worth a visit up there anytime from now on to see the Bonelli's Eagles performing.
Buzzard and Linnet by Bryan Thomas© 'The Smelly Pool' by Mary Brazier©
Species list:- Little Grebe, Cattle Egret, Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Buzzard, Kestrel, Coot, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Green Sandpiper, Crag Martin, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Serin, Goldinch, Linnet, Hoopoe.
We joined other members of the Costa Blanca Bird Club today, for our annual trip to the Mar Menor. Malcolm's report is on the Field Trips page, Field Trips so this is just my personal view of the day. We arrived at San Pedro del Pinatar at 10am and a quick scan of the lagoon found a number of Pintail and Shelduck along with the usual Greater Flamingo. A short walk to the beach added only a few gulls and small scrubland birds to our list, so we moved on to Los Urritias where there is a big open area of land, which may be a disused airfield. Here we spotted two Marsh Harriers flying over the distant reedbeds and a Green Woodpecker perched for a while on top of a bush, despite some of our number walking quite close to it. More small birds were seen here, including, Linnet and Crested Lark.
Greater Flamingo and Pintails by Bryan Thomas©
Moving on, we drove towards the Cabo de Palos, seeing two Booted Eagles from the car on the way. Our next stop was at the salinas, where a brief roadside stop found us looking at Avocet and Greenshank, and after a bit of a debate we identified the small group of redshanks as Spotted Redshank. Photos of both Redshank and Spotted Redshank are included here for comparison.
Spotted Redshank and Redshank by Bryan Thomas©
Our next stop was near the lighthouse at Cabo de Palos where we did some 'seawatching'. This turned up Sandwich Tern, Gannet and Audouin's Gull. The scrubby area on the hill where the lighthouse is can apparently, be a good spot for migrants when they come in. The marina, the rocky coastline and the lighthouse make this a very pleasant place for a visit, even without the birds. We didn't stay for the meal but set off back towards home, visiting the lagoons at San Pedro again to see if anything new had turned up. The light was better now and good numbers of Greater Flamingo had arrived. We parked in a small lay-by and Bryan was able to take a few photos from the car, including Redshank, Little Stint, Turnstone, Avocet, Black winged Stilt, Greater Flamingo and Slender billed Gull. By this time I was 'frozen solid' so we set off for home having enjoyed a good day's birding, despite the cold.
Black winged Stilt, Turnstone and Slender billed Gull by Bryan Thomas©
My species list may differ slightly from Malcolm's which is included with the Field Trip Report. My list is a follows:- Black headed Grebe, Gannet, Cormorant, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Greater Flamingo, Shelduck, Pintail, Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Moorhen, Black winged Stilt, Avocet, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Little Stint, Turnstone, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Slender billed Gull, Audouin's Gull, Yellow legged Gull, Sandwich Tern, Collared Dove, Hoopoe, Green Woodpecker, Crested Lark, Crag Martin, Water Pipit, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Blue Rock Thrush, Blackbird, Sardinian Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Southern Grey Shrike, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Serin, Dunlin.
The Lighthouse at Cabo de Palos by Mary Brazier©
We had a quick visit to 'the smelly pool' today but found it dry so there were no waders around, just the usual small birds and a group of Cattle Egrets. A few days ago we saw a flock of about 40 Golden Plover flying around here but they were not here today. We moved on the the Clot where most of the normal suspects were seen, including two Great Grey Shrikes, which seem to be everywhere at the moment. I added Dartford Warbler, Crested Lark and a lovely Grey Wagtail,which was feeding in front of the hide, to my list before returning home for lunch. Species List:- Little Grebe, Cattle Egret, Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Pochard, Kestrel, Coot, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Black winged Stilt, Snipe, Hoopoe, Crested Lark, Crag Martin, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Great Tit, Southern Grey Shrike, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Serin, Goldfinch, Linnet, Reed Bunting and Golden Plover seen on Tuesday 10th.
Grey Wagtail by Mary Brazier©
For our first trip of the year 'Los Tres Amigos' travelled across the Santa Pola Salinas and around the El Hondo area. At our first stop, by the big rocks, on the Salinas, we found, amongst other things; Little Egret, Greater Flamingo, Grey Heron and Great Crested Grebe. A Great White Egret was feeding in a pool on the other side of the road. From here we took the La Marina to Elche road and turned left across country stopping near what I call the 'Little Reserve'. There has never been much to see here but this time there were at least some signs of life in the forms of Coot and Little Grebe. While we were surveying the surrounding fields two Great White Egrets flew over. We turned right along a little track and Bryan set off to try to get a photo. Meanwhile, John and I watched a flock of small birds, mostly Serins and while we were there, a Kingfisher appeared and shot along a small canal and later flew up and over Bryan's head, although he didn't see it!
We continued along the road, passing, 'the Little Owl house' until we came to another track alongside a field that has recently been planted and which was being flooded with water. This had attracted plenty of White Wagtails along with a few Meadow Pipits and Water Pipits, and a Little Ringed Plover. Two Snipe dropped in briefly but soon flew off again. We sat in the car watching the birds feeding and spotted a Robin hopping about at the edge of the field. Then, one of us spotted another bird at the edge of the field and on closer inspection it turned out to be a Bluethroat! I was very happy to see this bird as I haven't had a good view of one for several years. It showed well for quite a while giving us plenty of time to admire the lovely blue and red throat markings. Brilliant! Could this be my 'bird of the day'?
Little Ringed Plover, Water Pipit and Bluethroat - Photos by Bryan Thomas©
Moving on from here we continued along the road past the 'one eyed dog site', but there was no sign of the dog, just some nice little pigs! At the end of this road we turned right and stopped at 'Vistabella' which is a derelict house opposite the back gate of El Hondo. Unfortunately, the banks we used to stand on to look over the lakes have been flattened and there were workers and cranes (the machines, not the birds) in the area. We parked further on, crossed the little bridge over the canal and visited the little hide on stilts over the lagoon. Once again, the prescence of workers in the area meant the usual array of ducks were not around.
Great White Egret and Pig photos by Bryan Thomas©. The hide on stilts at El Hondo, featuring the 'late, great Brian Conduit' in 2009 - by Mary Brazier©
Undeterred, we moved on to San Felipe and enjoyed our lunch in the picnic area, before setting off around the board walk, and on to the first of the two hides. From here we watched Chiffchaffs and Stonechats moving about in the reeds in front of the hide. At the far side of the reeds we saw five Purple Swamphens, the most I've seen together. On the lake were several Little Grebes and hundreds of Coots, 318 of them according to Bryan! Moving on to the second hide we found this lake contained more Little Grebe , a few Black necked Grebe, Mallard, Shoveler and yet more Coot. A few Chiffchaffs were moving about in the reeds and then Bryan first heard, and then spotted a Penduline Tit. Amazingly, the bird stayed in view long enough for John and I to have a good look at it which was great as this was a 'lifer' for me! There have been many bird trips when someone has called 'Penduline Tit', but everytime the bird has quickly disappeared before I have had chance to get a look at it, so I was delighted. Maybe this should be my 'bird of the day'?
Penduline Tit and Chiffchaff photos by Bryan Thomas©.
I haven't mentioned any raptors yet, but during the day we had good views of several ' Booted Eagles and Marsh Harriers, and as we were walking back from the hide to the car I spotted a male Hen Harrier before it quickly vanished behind the trees. We met a Geordie birder who was looking for 'Tonn', the Great Spotted Eagle that is here again this winter, but unfortunately we hadn't seen it today. We made a quick stop on the way back to look at the local rubbish dump, where we saw the usual hoards of Jackdaws, Cattle Egrets, Black headed Gulls and Yellow legged Gulls, along with a nice Reed Bunting showing well. On the way back across the Salinas we finished off the day with a few Avocets and a Redshank, before , heading home.
The species list for the day is as follows:- Great Crested Grebe, Black necked Grebe, Little Grebe, Cormorant, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Greater Flamingo, Mallard, Shoveler, Pochard, Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Coot, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Avocet, Black winged Stilt, Little Ringed Plover, Redshank, Snipe, Black headed Gull, Yellow legged Gull, Collared Dove, Hoopoe, Kingfisher, Skylark, Crag Martin, Meadow Pipit, Water Pipit, White Wagtail, Robin, Bluethroat, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Blackcap, Penduline Tit, Southern Grey Shrike, Reed Bunting.
We can walk from our house to the cliffs close to Santa Pola Lighthouse and we often do this walk on a Sunday. This week we were hoping to see a Blue Rock Thrush but we were unlucky on this occasion. I remarked to John that we always used to see Black Wheatears when we came here but that they never seem to be around any more. Within minutes of saying this a Black Wheatear appeared as if to say "yes we are"! I was happy with this as it is another bird to help get my 2012 bird list going.
Black Wheatear by Bryan Thomas©
Having returned to Spain on Tuesday I was desperate to go out and see some birds and start my 2012 list. My first bird of the year was a Southern Grey Shrike seen from the car on the way home from the airport! On Wednesday we needed to shop for food so I had to content myself with some 'drive by' birding. It's surprising how may species you can see while driving across the Santa Pola Salinas, and I managed to spot Greater Flamingo, Avocet, Black winged Stilt, Dunlin, Hoopoe, Little Grebe, Black necked Grebe, Slender billed Gull and Yellow legged Gull without even trying. Today we had a short walk along the beach followed by a quick look at the Clot. The usual characters were in attendance, including Black Redstart, Sardinian Warbler, Linnet, Teal, Pochard, Southern Grey Shrike, Coot, Moorhen, White Wagtail, Crag Martin, Spotless Starling and Blackbird, and a Purple Swamphen even made an appearance. A good, if modest, start to the year.
El Clot and Purple Swamphen by Mary Brazier©
With Christmas out of the way we took advantage of some bright winter sunshine and took another trip over to Stansley Wood and the other side of the lake. We were just leaving the farmyard when I spotted a Little Owl sitting in a nearby tree. Although we see these regularly in Spain, and I know there is at least one at our local Belvide reserve, I haven't seen one in England for quite a while so I was quite happy. It was a lovely bright day and not even cold, for a change! We walked past the feeders, where not much was happening, along the side of the lake and ended up in one of the hides overlooking the reservoir. From here we had good views of large numbers of ducks, geese and waders. My 'favourite' duck the Wigeon was well represented, along with many Teal and a single Pintail. Greylag Geese and Canada Geese were both in view and must have been one to two hundred Lapwing, another favourite of mine, along with good numbers of Golden Plover and a few dunlin. A variety of gulls were around and a Buzzard was in one of the nearby trees.
Lapwings and Golden Plovers by Mary Brazier©
On our way back we stopped to have a look at the feeders and added Great Spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch to our list, as well as the usual tits and finches. On the drive back to the cottage we flushed a mixed flock of Fieldfares and Redwings which always seem to be in this area at this time of year. All in all a good day out with our species list looking like this:- Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Shelduck, Wigeon, Mallard, Shoveler, Pintail, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Pheasant, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Buzzard, Coot, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Dunlin, Black headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser black backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Little Owl, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, Fieldfare, Redwing, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Starling, Magpie, Jackdaw, Crow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Blackbird.
Well we are back in the UK for Christmas and I have had a very hectic week. We managed a one hour trip to Belvide on Wednesday and we are now settled in our rented cottage which overlooks Blithfield Reservoir. It is so lovely and peaceful here. During our visit to Belvide we checked out the new hide overlooking the feeders and found the usual visitors including, Pheasant, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Marsh/Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Reed Bunting and Bullfinch. A short walk brought us to the next hide which overlooks the lake which contained, Mute Swan, Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe, Coot and Moorhen. On the way back to the car we saw and heard large flocks of Fieldfare and Redwing which are always a welcome sight.
Yesterday when we arrived at the cottage we found a Buzzard sitting in a tree next to the lake. It sat there for over an hour and we had great views with the scope. At one point John saw it swoop down to catch some prey and, through the scope he could see it was eating a frog! The cottage is so well placed that we could watch the Buzzard while sitting on our bed which faces the window. This morning when we opened the curtains there were Fieldfares and Redwings feeding on berries in the trees outside our window, brilliant!
(Dodgy) Buzzard photos by Mary Brazier©
Today we took a short drive to nearby Stansley Wood and visited a woodland hide there. Here we added Great Spotted Woodpecker to our existing list of woodland birds. We walked to another hide, which provided welcome shelter from the rain. From here we could see a good selection of ducks and geese, including Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Shelduck, Wigeon, Mallard, 1 Pintail, and Teal. We also saw Cormorant, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Pied Wagtail, Woodpigeon, Crow and Black headed Gulls.
Buzzard and Pheasant photos by Mary Brazier©
The December field trip was as enjoyable as ever, not just for the birds, but also for the chance it provided to catch up with other members who we only see on the bird trips. Malcolm has written a report about the trip which can be found on the 'Field Trips' page.
Booted Eagle photo by Bryan Thomas©
It wasn’t really a 'birding day' today but eight of us set off up to Finca Bonelli’s Eagle for, what has become, our annual Christmas ‘do’. Colin and Jane did us a lovely meal with wine and little Xmas gifts, and we provided the crackers and mince pies. When we arrived we spotted one of the Bonelli’s Eagles sitting on a ledge high up on the cliff and all had a look at this before moving inside to eat lunch.
Group Photo by Mary Brazier
After lunch we went outside for the ‘group photo’ and someone spotted one of the Bonelli's Eagles flying in front of the cliff face. While we all watched the second Bonelli’s appeared and we watched both of them flying above, and in front of the cliff face for about ten minutes before one disappeared from view and the other landed on a high point at the top of the cliff. We had some of the best views we have had of these birds flying, and Jane told us they see them almost every day. Jane also said that an Eagle Owl calls each night, just as it is getting dark, although they have not seen the bird.
Bonelli's Eagle photos by Bryan Thomas©
This week ‘Los tres Amigos’ travelled across the Salinas, on our way to La Mata. We noted that the 10+ Great White Egrets were still around, before we moved on towards La Mata. At La Mata we set off from the visitor centre car park and I spotted something on a distant post which I thought, and hoped, was an Osprey. Once we all had our binoculars trained on the post we were able to confirm it was in fact an Osprey, which had been my target bird for the day! CBBC Member, Rod Loveday had told me that an Osprey often sits on a post near the island, so thanks to Rod for the tip off! We walked down the path towards the lake seeing many small birds, such as, Greenfinches, Skylarks, Crested Larks and Black Redstarts, which seemed to be everywhere. We went straight to the hide to get a good look at the Osprey, and happily it was still on the post directly in front of the hide, although a little way away. The bird stayed there the whole time we were in the hide allowing Bryan to get a few pictures, although he seemed more interested in taking photos of the Dartford Warblers which kept appearing in the surrounding scrubby areas! While we were in the hide we examined the gulls and waders on the edge of the lake adding Avocet, Slender billed Gull, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Little Stint, Sanderling and Kentish Plover to our list.
Great White Egret and Osprey photos by Bryan Thomas©
We left the hide and set off further along the path hoping to see Stone Curlew, which we had seen during last month’s bird trip, but sadly none showed themselves today. Finally, our circular walk brought us back to the visitor centre where we ate lunch on a bench overlooking the fields where many small birds kept us entertained.
House Sparrow and Black Redstart (Male and Female) photos by Bryan Thomas©
After lunch we relocated to the cemetery car park and walked through the woods towards the picnic area. On route we spotted a Zitting Cisticola and Bryan stopped to photograph a Squirrel as it ran around between the trees. Passing through the picnic area, where a Chaffinch was feeding on the ground, we climbed up the tall viewing tower to look over the lake. From here we could see the Osprey again sitting on another post next to the solar panel. A few small waders were feeding at the water‘s edge and more Dartford Warblers were moving about in the bushes near the lake.
Squirrel and Dartford Warbler photos by Bryan Thomas©
A large raft of grebes, which we had only had distant views of from the first hide, were a little closer here and appeared to be all Black necked Grebes. A rough count put there numbers at over 300 birds which I thought was quite an impressive sight, especially as we normally only see grebes in ones and twos. While we were in the tower a Kestrel swooped down on some prey and flew to a nearby tree to eat whatever it had caught. On the way back along the boardwalk towards the car park, we had great views of, not one, but two Zitting Cisticolas sitting up on top of the tall grasses for quite a while and were able to study and really appreciate the markings of this attractive little bird. A Green Woodpecker flew overhead and when we arrived back at the car park two Hoopoes were feeding on the grass nearby. They seemed undisturbed by our presence allowing us to watch them for about 15 minutes. CBBC Member, Mike Smith had sent me some photos of a Richards’ Pipit, taken at La Mata, but unfortunately we didn’t see any here today. Then it was time to leave having enjoyed another great day’s birding.
Zitting Cisticola and Hoopoe photos by Bryan Thomas©
The total number of species for the day was 44, namely:- Great Crested Grebe, Black necked Grebe, Cormorant, Greater Flamingo, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Shelduck, Osprey, Kestrel, Red legged Partridge, Black winged Stilt, Avocet, Kentish Plover, Little Stint, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Sanderling, Black headed Gull, Slender billed Gull, Yellow legged Gull, Hoopoe, Green Woodpecker, Crested Lark, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Serin, Linnet.
Black necked Grebes photo by Bryan Thomas©
Having enjoyed our birding trip yesterday John and I decided to have a short walk around El Clot. This is our local patch but for some reason we have not been here for quite a while, whereas we used to come here at least once a week. Walking around this morning I had ‘a bit of a moment’ when I remembered just how happy this place makes me feel. We really must try to visit here a lot more often!
After finding a suitable hole in the fence to climb through we set off along a path to one of the viewing platforms. From here we could see that the large pool in the distance appeared to contain some water and a few ducks, possibly Teal, whereas it has been quite dry for a long time. Lots of small birds were moving about including, Sardinian Warblers, Black Redstarts and a flock of Linnets. John spotted a Little Owl which is a regular here and Southern Grey Shrikes were easy to spot, sitting as they do at the top of trees for long periods of time. A trip to the Mirador provided only a Coot and a Teal, but as the wardens were doing maintenance work in the reed beds this had presumably scared away most of the birds. We did, however, see a Buzzard flying overhead while we were here.
Walking back along the path we met another birder we know, called Eddie and he was with two friends called Steve and Deb, who hail from the Orihuela area, and when in England, the Isle of Wight. While chatting and comparing bird news Bryan and Trisha appeared and came to join in the conversation, and Steve alerted us all to a Song Thrush flying over. Eddie told us we couldn’t get to the main hide as the warden’s van was in the way so when he and his party set off up the hill, the rest of us went to another hide which we thought might give views over the water where the ducks were. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see the water from there but we did have good views of a number of Dartford Warblers, possibly the best views I have ever had of this bird and certainly better than the view I had yesterday. From here we also spotted a Kestrel, a Green Woodpecker and a Hoopoe and small flocks of Linnets and Serins were flying around.All in all a very enjoyable short morning walk. The species list is as follows:- Teal, Buzzard, Kestrel, Coot, Little Owl, Hoopoe, Green Woodpecker, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Sardinian Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Serin, Linnet.
Dartford Warbler Photos by Bryan Thomas©
Green Woodpecker by Bryan Thomas©
This week’s expedition took us first across the Santa Pola Salinas where we saw the usual species including; Greater Flamingo, Little Egret and an impressive 10+ Great White Egrets, amongst other things. Moving inland we drove to Escalona in the hope of seeing Golden Eagles which we had ‘dipped out’ on during the last CBBC Field trip. We saw a Booted Eagle from the car on the way there, but unfortunately no eagles showed themselves and the only raptors we saw were two Sparrowhawks. We had a pleasant walk in the woods and although we could hear plenty of birdsong seeing the birds required some patience. We added a few species to our list including Great Tit, Long tailed Tit, Sardinian Warbler and Dartford Warbler, and John and Bryan saw two Firecrests which I missed. I’m so relieved that we saw Firecrest last week at Maigmo or I would have been a bit put out! As we drove away from the area we had close views of a Buzzard as it flew out of a tree near the road, and we watched a Little Owl flying around in the small trees and landing on the ground close enough for Bryan to get a photo.
Long tailed Tit and Little Owl by Bryan Thomas©
From here we headed towards the coast to the Salinas at San Pedro Del Pinatar on the Mar Menor. It was a lovely sunny day so we enjoyed our lunch in the picnic area and watched two Crested Larks wandering around the picnic tables. After lunch we walked along the boardwalk towards the beach where we spotted Stonechats and Linnets in the scrubby area on our left. The beach was quiet with just Black headed Gulls on the water. Back at the first lagoon we found Greater Flamingos, two Pintail and a Shelduck before working our way back along the road, stopping at various points to check each lagoon. At one lagoon we had close views of a Slender billed Gull, and a Kingfisher flew across in front of us travelling at speed. There were a few waders in the form of Redshank, Little Stint, Kentish Plover and also Godwits, although as they were quite distant on the other side of the lagoon we couldn’t tell whether they were Bar tailed or Black tailed. The Black necked Grebes were easier to see as were the Avocets and Black winged Stilts, there being small numbers of all these species feeding on the lagoons. At our final stop near the start of the Salinas road we noticed around 20 Cattle Egrets gathered on a small island and spilling over onto the grassy bank at the side of the pool.
Slender billed Gull and Black necked Grebe by Bryan Thomas©
Another good day was had by all, although I have come to the conclusion that the three of us all have different ideas about what makes a good day’s birding. Bryan is always hoping for a rarity or that special photo opportunity! John likes to see lots of different species but for me, it is just about seeing a good number of species, one or two 'top birds' and having a nice day out in pleasant surroundings. The species total for the day was 48, namely:- Great Crested Grebe, Black necked Grebe, Cormorant, Greater Flamingo, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Shelduck, Mallard, Pintail, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Red legged Partridge, Black winged Stilt, Avocet, Kentish Plover, Little Stint, Redshank, Ruff, Bar/Black tailed Godwit, Black headed Gull, Slender billed Gull, Yellow legged Gull, Little Owl, Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker, Crested Lark, Water Pipit, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Sardinian Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Firecrest, Long tailed Tit, Southern Grey Shrike, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Linnet.
Greater Flamingo and Little Stint by Bryan Thomas©
This week’s bird trip was put back a day due to the heavy rain and storms. On Thursday, however, 'normal service had been resumed' and we set off on a bright, sunny day to visit the Maigmo mountains. Before we got to the mountain road we saw a Blackcap having a bath in a puddle and Bryan managed to get a photo. On the way up the mountain we saw lots of Chaffinches and other small birds and John spotted a Green Woodpecker on a small tree about a metre from the road. We had a good, but brief view of it before the bird took off. After a brief stop near the school recreation area, where nothing was either moving or calling, we headed up ‘the long and winding road’ to the ‘Balcon de Alicante’ viewpoint and picnic area.
Maigmo views
Initially, while Bryan took a short walk round, John and I set up camp at a picnic table and waited for the birds to come to us. We cheated a bit by putting some bird seed on another picnic table and I also experimented by playing Crested Tit and Crossbill calls on my MP3 player. Within minutes we had great views of two Crested Tits eating the bird seed! Bryan soon came back and told us he had seen up to 3 Firecrests so we set off to see if we could find one. We heard some noisy Jays, which we later saw, and a Short toed Treecreeper was flitting between the tree trunks. It was not long before Bryan spotted a Firecrest, and after a little watching and searching we all managed to get a reasonable view of one of these lovely little birds. Firecrest is a new bird for John and I so we were highly delighted! We climbed further up the path and enjoyed great views towards Castalla in one direction and Alicante in the other before we set off back down the hill to have our picnic lunch. Bryan and John did a spot of furniture removal in order to position a picnic table in an ideal place for Bryan to take photos of the Crested Tits, which were now all around us, having been tempted by the bird seed and bits of bread put out for them. Bryan also did some ‘essential pruning’ as he called it, to remove some inconveniently placed branches!
Firecrest and Crested Tit by Bryan Thomas©
While eating lunch we watched the Crested Tits and also had good views of another Short toed Treecreeper flying from tree to tree. Afterwards, Bryan settled down in a picnic chair, camera at the ready and waited for the birds to arrive. During the afternoon we added Coal Tit and Long tailed Tit to our list. John and I walked over to the Balcon to look for Crossbills, as we had seen them here before, on the tree and at the little pool in front of the viewpoint, but sadly no luck today. Eventually, we set off down the mountain and had another quick stop near the school site. It still seemed very quiet here but after a short while we heard Crossbills calling as they moved through the trees and although we followed the sound, they were moving away from us and I resigned myself to recording Crossbill as a ‘heard only’ bird. We continued slowly down the mountain, and I soon spotted a bird perched at the top of a tree. On closer inspection we could clearly see the famous crossed bill; we had found our Crossbill! It’s funny how that sometimes happens when out birding, just when you have given up on a particular bird, there it is!
Furniture moving and photography
When visiting Maigmo, I never expect to see a high volume of bird species although we usually manage to see either a Crested Tit, or a Crossbill. I have never seen both species on the same visit, until now, that is. Today’s ‘star bird’ has to be the Firecrest, being one of those birds I never expected to see and a ‘lifer’ for me. The total number of species seen was just 15 but we all agreed that the quality of the birds made up for the lack of numbers. The full species list is as follows:- Blackcap, Green Woodpecker, Magpie, Chaffinch, White Wagtail, Crag Martin, Crested Tit, Firecrest, Jay, Long tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Short toed Treecreeper, Blackbird, Robin, Crossbill.
Blackcap and Crossbill by Bryan Thomas©
We had a short walk from our house over to the lighthouse today and saw not a lot really. The 'usual suspects' were around, that is, Sardinian Warbler, Black Redstart and Crested Lark. When we got to the cliff edge we saw a single Cormorant on the sea and two Magpies were flying around. We never used to see Magpies around here but nowadays we see them quite often, especially down by the N332.
My husband John, Bryan Thomas and myself set off on a bright sunny morning to visit some of our local birding sites. The first stop was Santa Pola Salinas where we saw 8 to 10 Spoonbills along with a few Little Egrets and Grey Herons on a bank not far from where we were standing. There were plenty of gulls around and I enjoyed watching 5 or 6 Sandwich Terns plunge diving for fish. The gulls and Great Crested Grebes sitting on the water seemed to be in danger of being dive bombed by these birds! A count of the Great Crested Grebes on the water found there to be around 100 of these birds within view! Amongst other things, we saw the usual Greater Flamingos, a Marsh Harrier hunting over the reeds and 3 Redshank feeding in a pool on the other side of the road.
We moved on from here to the Nature Reserve and Visitor Centre at San Felipe where we headed towards the ‘newish’ hides which overlook two of the lagoons. At the first hide we saw plenty of Little Grebes, Coots and various ducks, including Mallard, Pochard and Wigeon. There was a Purple Swamphen moving in and out of the reeds to our left and John spotted a Kingfisher zooming out of the reeds and away again. Soon after Bryan saw this, or another Kingfisher speeding past in front of the hide, but I managed to miss both of them! We sat here for quite a while watching two Marsh Harriers hunting over the reeds at the other side of the lake and when one came towards the hide Bryan was off outside trying to get a photo. It was very peaceful sitting there and the view of the distant mountains was lovely, it being a very clear day. After the Marsh Harriers had gone Bryan got a bit bored and started to count the Coots on the lake, but gave up at about 100!
Marsh Harrier and Zitting Cisticola by Bryan Thomas©
Next we visited the second hide which looks over another large lagoon, although at the time we were there the sun was shining towards us making it quite difficult to get a good look at some of the distant ducks. Bryan saw a Pintail but it took off and disappeared before we could all get a good look at it. There were, however, quite a few Shovelers, along with more Coot and Little Grebes, and I found a single Black necked Grebe by looking through the slats in the fence at the side of the hide. There was not much to add to our list here so we walked back towards the Visitor Centre, seeing various small birds, including Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Stonechat, Greenfinch and Zitting Cisticola on the way.
At the picnic area, we enjoyed our lunch whilst watching a Little Egret feeding in the small lake nearby and another Purple Swamphen also put in an appearance. This lake is in the process of being fenced off so we may not get those views again. However, once the fence is in place, perhaps more birds will come to the lake which can be viewed from inside the Visitor Centre. After lunch we could have gone back to the track and walked round to the other side of the lake, as the reserve has been developed quite a lot in recent times to provide access to a much larger area than before. This makes up in some way for the current lack of access to the main area of El Hondo.
We decided to move on to Vista Bella, otherwise known as the back gate of El Hondo. On our way to Vista Bella we had to follow a diversion round the village of San Felipe and on this route we noticed a flooded field which was full of White Wagtails (photo), there must have been at least 50 of them, along with quite a few Meadow Pipits (photo). Bryan was able to take a few shots from the car without disturbing the birds. We passed the sheep pens on the way to Vista Bella and noticed that the usual Cattle Egrets were not around, we soon found them however, sitting on the crash barriers on the road to Vista Bella and also on the walls of the water channels.
Water Pipit and White Wagtail by Bryan Thomas©
Initially, there did not appear to be much going on here but within a few minutes the birds we were looking for had appeared. I spotted a flock of large birds flying over the pools of El Hondo and as they moved closer circling towards us, we confirmed it as a flock of about 19 Common Cranes (photo). We had excellent views of them through binoculars and the scope until they flew right over our heads calling loudly, brilliant! Bryan and John continued to watch them until they disappeared below the tree line apparently landing somewhere not far away. While they were watching to see where the Cranes were going to land, I was having a quick look through the back gate, and saw a Kingfisher dart past meaning I could also claim to have seen this species on the day! A Booted Eagle flew over as we returned to the car and there were numerous pretty butterflies around (photo), some feeding on figs which had fallen from the trees.
Common Cranes and Plain Tiger Butterfly by Bryan Thomas©
We left here on a mission to find out where the Cranes had landed and drove round a bit before heading back up the road to Vista Bella where we parked and spotted a group of four coming across the road from El Hondo. We drove towards where the birds had landed and a rough track eventually led us to them, giving a distant view. From there we came back to the road and headed towards Vista Bella until Bryan spotted a larger group of Cranes in a field on our left. These birds tend to feed at the far edge of the fields, well away from the road, but we had good views of them through binoculars and the scope. After watching the birds for a while we decided to head off for a quick look at El Pinet, but this proved a little disappointing as there appeared to be no birds around at all, until we eventually spotted two Grey Herons!
Altogether we had 50 species and all agreed it had been a good day out, with Bryan even managing to get a few photos, including a Mistle Thrush on a wire which he seemed quite pleased about!
Mistle Thrush by Bryan Thomas©
The full species list is as follows:- Great Crested Grebe (100+), Little Grebe, Black necked Grebe, Cormorant, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Spoonbill, Grey Heron, Common Crane, Greater Flamingo, Shelduck, Wigeon, Mallard, Pintail, Shoveler, Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Coot (100+), Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Black winged Stilt, Avocet, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Redshank, Lapwing, Slender billed Gull, Yellow legged Gull, Sandwich Tern, Kingfisher, Crested Lark, Crag Martin, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Mistle Thrush, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, Magpie, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Serin, Goldfinch, Zitting Cisticola.