During November there are progressively fewer birds about but one bright note is the increasing numbers of Hoopoes around. Harsher weather drives inland birds down to milder weather on the coasts. Some continue on to Africa but many will stay, brightening up our winter months with their exotic beauty. I was particularly impressed with the plumage of this one below seen at the Rio Velez, it has a superb tartan back in black, white and peach, and wonderfully distinct black crest plumes.
Hoopoe - upupa epops
Hoopoe - upupa epops The Rio Velez is still choked up with a veritable jungle which sucked the river almost dry during the drought.Recent rains have improved the picture somewhat but we need much more to restore this site to its former self as the river is still not flowing out to sea. There are no waders present because the mud banks are now reedbeds, and few fishing birds are about as any fish will have died by now. The muddy track has however kept human traffic down, so Hoopoes and other small birds are left fairly undisturbed.
Turtle Dove Alley outside the Charca de Suarez was also bristling with Hoopoes. Here's a couple of shots of some of them. The Charca itself was extremely dead, very few birds present at all. Not even many Chiffchaffs, I would have expected more by now.
Turtle Dove Alley outside the Charca de Suarez was also bristling with Hoopoes. Here's a couple of shots of some of them. The Charca itself was extremely dead, very few birds present at all. Not even many Chiffchaffs, I would have expected more by now.
 Hoopoes - upupa epops It was good to see lots of Red Avadavats in the tall grasses outside the Reserve. They are a wondrously colourful addition to the native fauna and appear to be doing just fine here. |  Hoopoe - upupa epops |
Red Avadavat - amandava amandava
 Plain Tiger (Archive shot) | It was nice to spot a late PlainTiger butterfly. The recent summery weather seems to have revived quite a few insects as there were lots of butterflies and dragonflies about. Migrant Hawker dragons for example were very active over the ponds. There were also plenty of Barn Swallows around making the most of the insect food available. The shot below shows adult and juvenile swallows, both taken today, 7th November at the Charca. |
Adult and juvenile Barn Swallows - hirundo rustica
 Crag Martin - ptyonoprogne rupestris | Another sign of harder weather in the Sierras was the presence of a large colony of Crag Martins roosting under the road bridge over the Rio Velez. I always enjoy watching these superb arial acrobats. This shot was taken using flash as the sun was almost gone and it was very dark under the bridge. |
Reed Warbler To the right is a poor record shot of a Reed Warbler, posted because this species normally migrates to Africa. However some remained here all last winter and I expect the same will happen again this year. Finally another shot from the Rio Velez of a very common but attractive little Zitting Cisticola, one of the easiest birds to photograph but it makes such a nice image I will post it for the aesthetic pleasure.
Zitting Cisticola - cisticola juncidis
