A quick visit to El Pinet today and I was happy to find a few of the Collared Pratincoles Mark Jarrett had reported previously; about eight of them. There were also loads of Sandwich Terns and Slender-billed Gulls as we had seen yesterday. Flamingos, Avocets, Black-winged Stilt and Mediterranean Gulls were again present.
We had a coffee by the beach then had a quick drive round the monastery tracks seeing two Little Owls, a Kestrel, an Iberian Green Woodpecker on a wire but sadly no Great Spotted Cuckoo. We headed back towards Santa Pola to clean the car etc, then moved on to Urbanova for lunch.
After a break we had a last walk around the Clot. A Cattle Egret and a Magpie were new for the Clot this trip. As it was raining now, we sat in the main hide watching Marbled Duck, White-headed Duck, Pochard, Red Crested Pochard, Little Grebe and a Night Heron was in the reeds again. Two Audouin’s Gulls flew in for a drink before we left to pack ready to go home.
Top birds for our week were probably Great Bustard and Bonelli’s Eagle. We missed out on a few species but got some we weren’t expecting, so all in all a good trip.
Trip species list – Little Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Cormorant, Little Bittern, Night Heron, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveler, Teal, Marbled Duck, Pochard, Red Crested Pochard, White-headed Duck, Tufted Duck, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Bonelli’s Eagle, Kestrel, Red-legged Partridge, Coot, Red-knobbed Coot, Western Swamphen, Moorhen, Great Bustard, Collared Pratincole, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Kentish Plover, Common Sandpiper, Redshank, Lapwing, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Little Owl, Swift, Pallid Swift, Hoopoe, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Crested Lark, Calandra Lark, Swallow, House Martin, Water Pipit, White Wagtail, Black Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Blackbird, Cetti’s Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Blackcap, Iberian Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, Magpie, Azure-winged Magpie, Chough, Raven, Crow, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Greenfinch, Serin, Goldfinch, Corn Bunting, Monk Parakeet. (81 species).