Bolonia, Tarifa & Straights of Gibralata to Morocco
We started at some water meadows behind the sewage works on the road to Barbate. On arrival we met Stephen Daly who warned us that "Hunters" were out shooting indescriminently. They were licensed to shoot duck but there weren´t any so they were apparently shooting anything else in sight. It was not a pleasant start. The light was bad and it soon started to drizzle, and because of the weather and the shooting there was not much to photograph.
Strange Horse
We were all quite intrigued by this strange horse however which varied in colour between shades of grey and pink with black and brown spots. If anyone has any information about this breed or type I would be very interested to hear.
We spotted three warblers together which helped to illustrate differences that I might not pick-up on when seeing them in isolation. The willow warbler is much cleaner and neater than the chiffchaff and the reed warbler has a longer bill and flatter head than the other two.
We spotted three warblers together which helped to illustrate differences that I might not pick-up on when seeing them in isolation. The willow warbler is much cleaner and neater than the chiffchaff and the reed warbler has a longer bill and flatter head than the other two.
 Chiffchaff |  Willow Warbler |  Reed Warbler |
Black- Shouldered Kite
From here we moved on to La Janda which is a low lying area, formerly wetland but no drained and irrigated for rice and cotton growing. It is a productive area for birding and one of our first sightings was of a Black-shouldered Kite. We saw several of these wonderful raptors throughout the afternoon but the light was very poor and getting close enough for good photographs was impossible, I would dearly love to have something better but this is the best of a bad bunch. I look forward to more opportunities in the future.
As we moved along in convoy we came across a buzzard perched on an electricity pylon. I photographed it from a distance as it took flight from the approaching cars but the light was still bad, it was actually raining at the time. I am very pleased that I did though because later analysis shows the very white underwing and tail, pale legs and typical black carpal patches of a Long Legged Buzzard, another first for me, and in fact for most if not all of our group.
As we moved along in convoy we came across a buzzard perched on an electricity pylon. I photographed it from a distance as it took flight from the approaching cars but the light was still bad, it was actually raining at the time. I am very pleased that I did though because later analysis shows the very white underwing and tail, pale legs and typical black carpal patches of a Long Legged Buzzard, another first for me, and in fact for most if not all of our group.
 Long Legged Buzzard - buteo rufinus This particular bird is described in Collins as a "Rufous" example. I remember thinking at the time that is was very large and long winged for a common buzzard, it was actually quite majestic and golden eagle-like. Bird of the day for sure. |  Long Legged Buzzard - buteo rufinus  Long Legged Buzzard - buteo rufinus |
