It’s been a long time since I have written anything in my blog so I thought I ought to bring it up to date. The last thing I wrote about was our Extremadura trip so I will take it from there.
In May, we had a quick trip into the Carrabassi woods to look for a Rufous Bush Robin but no luck, maybe it was too early. I’m not sure if anyone here has seen that bird in that location this year. We did add a Spotted Flycatcher to our list though so not a wasted trip. They are always reliable in that location.
In June, we headed up to Northumberland as usual and ticked a few good birds, such as, Skylark, Siskin, Gannet, Fulmar, Sand Martin, Eider Duck, Goosander, Oystercatcher, Kittiwake, Great Black backed Gull, Arctic Tern, Roseate Tern, Puffin and Guillemot. Unfortunately the sea was too rough for a trip to the Farne Islands so we missed out on Shag and Razorbill this year.
July saw us on a river cruise along the Danube, which did not involve any bird watching other than from the coach and the ship. It is amazing how many birds I spotted while traveling on the coach through France, Belgium, Germany and Austria. For example, Purple Heron (France), White Stork (Germany) Red Kites and Hooded Crows in various places, to name but a few. We saw several Goosanders along the riverside from our ship and one evening a flock of Bee eaters flew overhead somewhere in Austria I think!
In August we paid a visit to Belvide Reservoir where we enjoyed seeing a Hobby flying over and added a few new birds to our year list, including, Song Thrush, Wren, Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler.
September saw us back in Spain where my first task was to find a Spoonbill, a bird we hadn’t yet seen this year. We found a small flock of these on the Santa Pola Salinas so that was another bird added to our list.