Back in Spain again & after Florida my appetite is whetted for colourful birds, so after dropping Elena at the airport to visit her daughter in London I decided to look for the Superb Starling that was living around the Parador Golf Course near the Airport. Sure enough there it was, exactly where my friend Bob Wright had spotted it a few days ago, enjoying a breakfast of worms (the bird, not Bob) from the freshly watered 18th green.
Splendid Starling - lamprotornis superbus
Splendid Starling - lamprotornis superbus
This very colourful and handsome bird is of course an escapee from a collection somewhere, but it has been around for at least two years now and seems to survive quite successfully on the golf course. It´s natural home is in East Africa so there is no real chance of it finding a mate & breeding.
Sighting of the day was a very unexpected Hen Harrier that flew low across the golf course and out of sight behind some buildings before I had a chance to line the camera up on it. Nice to see though and it gave me the incentive to drive over to the Guadalhorce Reserve to see what else might be about.
Sighting of the day was a very unexpected Hen Harrier that flew low across the golf course and out of sight behind some buildings before I had a chance to line the camera up on it. Nice to see though and it gave me the incentive to drive over to the Guadalhorce Reserve to see what else might be about.
Booted Eagle - hieraaetus pennatus
The first birds I saw as I left the car & walked towards the river were a number of Booted Eagles wheeling and quartering the Reserve. There were of course all the usual waders on the lagoons including a solitary young Flamingo, a pair of Black-tailed Godwits, Red and Green-shanks, Common Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Sanderling and Black-Winged Stilts. Wildfowl included a party of Teal, some Gadwall, Shoveler, White Headed Duck but no Wigeon, which had been present a couple of days previously at the Charca de Suarez. Cormorants were prolific and a Marsh harrier sat still in the bushes, probably digesting its breakfast.
I was more interested however in the appearance of a Bonellis Eagle which I was not expecting. Neither by the looks of things, were its Booted cousins, who took a dim view of a larger raptor appearing on their patch, and so a bit of an aerial dogfight ensued. The smaller Booted guys were somewhat nimbler in flight, and given that he was outnumbered four to one, it is perhaps not surprising that Bonelli beat a hasty retreat. And after a couple of pleasant hours birding, so did I.
I was more interested however in the appearance of a Bonellis Eagle which I was not expecting. Neither by the looks of things, were its Booted cousins, who took a dim view of a larger raptor appearing on their patch, and so a bit of an aerial dogfight ensued. The smaller Booted guys were somewhat nimbler in flight, and given that he was outnumbered four to one, it is perhaps not surprising that Bonelli beat a hasty retreat. And after a couple of pleasant hours birding, so did I.
 Booted and Bonellis (aguila fasciata) Eagles |  Booted Eagle mobbing a Bonellis Eagle |
