Our garden list has expanded lately, since the arrival of Siskins for the first time in seventeen years we now have regular visits to the seed bowl of some delightful Crested Tits. We have seen them previously in the pine trees near our house but this is the first time they have actually come onto the terrace and taken seeds. The one on the right here appears to be offering or at least showing a seed to his companion but I didn't see any acceptance of the proffered gift, in fact the bird on the left looks a bit taken aback by it. Great Tits are another regular species attracted to the feeders at this time of year, this one looking quite imperious on the perch. It is however a long time since we have seen any Blue Tits, they used to visit infrequently but now not at all. Also the number of House Sparrows has declined drastically to virtually none, strange. Greenfinches on the other hand are prolific, the most numerous of all the birds on our terrace. I suspect Elena's restaurant supports the entire local population which has increased year-on-year with the ready supply of food on demand. Another notable visitor to the pine trees just beyond our boundary is the Long-tailed Tit. A sizable flock passed through one morning this week and I managed a couple of hurried shots, this little bird is always on the move and is hard to get a bead on. It is a great pleasure to observe the continuing presence of Siskins amongst the feeding flocks. As I said earlier this is the first year this species has shown up here.
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This week saw the arrival on our seed bowl of our first ever Siskins. We have also spotted quite a few while out and about on country roads and I note reports from other birders seeing more of them here in Andalucia this year. No idea why but something of an "invasion" albeit a very pleasant one. Not much else of note, a trip up Sierra Loja would have been good except for the thick fog on the higher reaches. Through the gloom we could make out a lot of Ring Ouzels and Redwings on the hawthorn bushes but photography was futile I did snap this fine looking Black Redstart at the base of the mountain. I post another shot here of one of my least favourite birds the Red-knobbed Coot. It is an extremely aggressive species which I believe drives other species away and eats their eggs. In fact it is even highly aggressive towards its own offspring which is why so few of them survive into adulthood. Apart from the Coots the Charca de Suarez has been very quiet lately. I did spot a Little Bittern flying across one of the ponds, a Bluethroat has been seen quite frequently and there is a party of six or so Ferruginous Ducks which is always nice to see. This bird is classified as Near Threatened as it faces so many threats from hunters, climate change and habitat loss so it's good to see them safe and sound here, except for the red-knobbed coots which will harass anything around.
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AuthorRetired seafarer living in Frigiliana, a white village in Malaga Province in southern Spain. Married to Elena. Keen bird and wildlife watchers. Archives
November 2022
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