Going back to Saturday, we walked all round El Clot, but only added Snipe to what we had seen previously, plus John saw a Little Bittern fly into the reeds at the old scrape. Sadly, I missed it. A pair of Iberian Grey Shrike were chasing each other around the trees.
Today (Tuesday) was our last day so we headed to Santa Pola del Este and worked our way back along the beach road. We used to see Whimbrel and Little Egret here but not today.
My target bird was an Audouin’s Gull which are pretty easy to find along here and a very attractive Gull. As we got towards the end of the route there were a couple of Audouin’s, one hanging out with a couple of Cormorants. While getting my photos I also saw Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail and Black Redstart. Another regular species in this area also appeared; a couple of Turnstones, although there used to be more of these.
We spent a bit of time at Arenales beach not birding but paddling (me) and having coffee. We also had lunch at Urbanova.
After lunch, we had our last visit to El Clot, visiting all the hides and finding a couple of birder mates in the form of Bryan and Trevor. There was a bit to catch up and some comparing of notes while watching the ducks on the pool. Bryan put me onto a small bird singing loudly, which we didn’t see, but Bryan identified as a Bonelli’s Warbler. It was a ‘heard only’ bird but is a lifer for me. See Bryan’s blog for more about their birding exploits.
Birding Costa Blanca – A Blog by Bryan Thomas
All the usual suspects were around so we headed back to our base right opposite the Clot to prepare for going home.
Species list – Little Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Cormorant, Cattle Egret, Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveler, Teal, Pochard, Red-crested Pochard, White-headed Duck, Coot, Red-knobbed Coot, Moorhen, Turnstone, Black-headed Gull, Yellow-Legged Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Hoopoe, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Bonelli’s Warbler (HO), Great Tit, House Sparrow.