After a long, hot August with family visitors we finally got back some birding. We joined Derek and Barbara Etherton at their local patch in Zapata and along the Rio Grande, followed by Teba Rock and Fuente de Piedra. Although the latter was very dry we had a surprisingly successful morning.
Honey Buzzard - pernus apivcornus
For example we spotted eight different raptors, Honey Buzzard, Montagu's Harrier, Short-toed and Booted Eagles, Peregrine, Common Buzzard, Kestrel and Griffon Vulture.
Peregrine Falcon - falco peregrinus
The most unusual of these was the Montagu's Harrier, well done to Barbara for spotting it, I thought Elena was a good spotter but Barbara really does have hawk-eyes.
Montagu's Harrier - circus pygargus
Kestrel - falco tinnunculus
The biggest surprise of the day for me were the nine Black Storks on the Rio Grande. I normally associate this bird with Central & South West of Spain. These nine birds apparently were here from Poland, one did have a ring and I expect they had been identified from that.
Black Storks - ciconia nigra
In total we picked up 66 species which I thought was quite outstanding given the time of year and how dry it had been recently.
Woodchat Shrike - lanius senator
Fuente de Piedra for example has very little water and is quite sad at the moment. We were very pleased though to pick up both Bonellis and Olivaceous Warblers in the shrubs near the Visitor Centre. Very nice sightings.
Olivaceous Warbler - iduna pallida
Waders were very few apart from the ubiquitous Flamingos. The scrape on the left of the entrance driveway is bone dry unfortunately, due to a dispute with a local olive farmer who claims it floods and damages his adjacent olive trees. It seems that farmers always get their own way, often to the detriment of the environment and wildlife. I would suggest the reserve advises him to plant something else which might benefit from free irrigation & continue to keep the scrape wet to attract more birds. That is after all what they are there for..
Greater Flamingo - phoenicopterus roseus
100 species "Birdathon"
After such a good morning and having seen 66 different species quite easily I expressed an interest in one of Derek's "Birdathons". That is to try to reach 100 species or more in a single day. So about a week later, Derek, Barbara, Bob Wright and I stood in a moonlit glade up in the Montes de Malaga listening to a noisy Tawny Owl calling from a tree right next to us. As dawn slowly crept up we heard and saw more, including Green Woodpecker, Jay, Blackcap, Hawfinch and Crossbill. However Derek made the observation that we were about ten birds short of what he had hoped for and had picked up on past attempts here.
After a very hearty breakfast we moved on to El Torcal where it was already busy with tourist buses. Again we dipped on a number of expected birds here such as Rock and Cirl Buntings but the unexpected Rock Thrush was a bonus. Well done Barbara again for spotting it.
After such a good morning and having seen 66 different species quite easily I expressed an interest in one of Derek's "Birdathons". That is to try to reach 100 species or more in a single day. So about a week later, Derek, Barbara, Bob Wright and I stood in a moonlit glade up in the Montes de Malaga listening to a noisy Tawny Owl calling from a tree right next to us. As dawn slowly crept up we heard and saw more, including Green Woodpecker, Jay, Blackcap, Hawfinch and Crossbill. However Derek made the observation that we were about ten birds short of what he had hoped for and had picked up on past attempts here.
After a very hearty breakfast we moved on to El Torcal where it was already busy with tourist buses. Again we dipped on a number of expected birds here such as Rock and Cirl Buntings but the unexpected Rock Thrush was a bonus. Well done Barbara again for spotting it.
Rock Thrush - monticola saxitilis
Other birds here included Blue Rock Thrush, Black Redstart, Griffon Vulture, Black Wheatear, Sardinian and two excellent sightings - Subalpine and Spectacled Warblers.
Subalpine Warbler - silvia cantillans
Our list was building slowly but it became increasingly obvious that we were not getting the numbers we had hoped for. For one thing it was too hot today. In such heat birds are less active, prefering to stay cool and conserve energy. If we were to have any chance of reaching our target we would need to extend our search area. So it was off to Fuente de Piedra to make up for the lack of bird numbers seen.
Greater Flamingos - phoenicopterus roseus
Flamingo and Lapwing were easy. Olivaceous Warbler took a bit longer but it was still flitting around in the same bush as last week. A few waders were present including Snipe, Green Sandpiper and Black-winged Stilt. Linnets and Serins were seen and finally we started seeing all the Hirundines that had eluded us until now, Barn and Red-Rumped Swallows & House Martin.
Serin - serinus serinus
Linnet - carduelis cannabina
From Fuente we drove across country to Teba Rock, picking up along the way a beautiful Common Redstart, probably the best looking bird of the day. I did not have my camera ready unfortunately, this was not a day for photography, it was all about seeing as many birds as we could in 24 hours. We also picked up Northern Wheatear and a couple more Lark species, Raven, Common Buzzard and a Kestrel finally put in appearances and things were looking up.
By the time we reached the Rio Grande however we were still a long way short of our target and it was now the hottest time of the day so all pretty quiet on the birding front and not a Black Stork to be seen. We did pick up a couple of Wagtails and Egrets before moving on to Zapata. Perhaps to make up for the lack of Black Storks a lone White Stork gave us a flypast, and a solitary Black Kite made an appearance. We also added Little Grebe and Turtle Dove, but we were still 28 species short of 100. Our only hope was to proceed on to the Guadalhorce and hope for the best.
As we entered the reserve the first birds we saw were some noisy Monk Parakeets. Another tick. A Cormorant in the riverside trees and both Common and Pallid Swifts and the deficit was coming down. We were all delighted to see a Pied Flycatcher, the first of the year for all of us. From the main hide we picked up some new birds, Kentish Plover, Greenshank, Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls and best of all a magnificent Osprey eating its fish in a tree on the far side.
As we entered the reserve the first birds we saw were some noisy Monk Parakeets. Another tick. A Cormorant in the riverside trees and both Common and Pallid Swifts and the deficit was coming down. We were all delighted to see a Pied Flycatcher, the first of the year for all of us. From the main hide we picked up some new birds, Kentish Plover, Greenshank, Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls and best of all a magnificent Osprey eating its fish in a tree on the far side.
Mediterranean Gull - larus melanocephalus
We moved on to the Laguna Escondida and found White Headed Duck, Shoveler, Pochard and had excellent views of a Kingfisher.
Kingfisher - alcedo atthis
On the way to Laguna Casillas we spotted a Booted Eagle overhead. This left us needing another 14 birds and Derek identified an overhead Short-toed Lark, I found the first of several Whitethroats and with a Blue-headed Wagtail we were down to a target of 11. At the Wader Hide we picked out a Wood Sandpiper and a Sanderling and finally a small flock of Jackdaws, incredibly the first of the day. Just nine to go and on the "Old River" was a large gull roost within which the telescope revealed a pair of Caspian Terns, a couple of Slender-billed Gulls and at least one Audouins Gull. Only six required now and I called the others to check out a Warbler I had been following in the bushes on the other side of the track, we finally all had excellent views of a lovely Orphean Warbler. Bird of the day for me as it was a "Lifer". Pity I wasn't carrying a camera.
Audouins Gull - larus audouinii
More scoping on the Old River revealed a couple of Little Stints, and then a small flock of Curlew Sandpipers flew in. Just two to go and although we were all very tired at this point we trecked down to the seawatch in the hope of perhaps a Tern, Gannet or Turnstone. As it happened the first bird we saw was a Balearic Shearwater flying quite close in, shortly followed by many more. Then another shearwater appeared but much smaller. The others agreed it must be a Yelkuan Shearwater. I acceded to their superior knowledge gratefully as I had no idea and was delighted to have reached 100 at last. We then retreated to a bar in SanJulien to celebrate with a long, cool drink. As it happened our recorders had forgotten to write down Ringed Plover so our final total was 101 species.
I decided to name this blog The Story of "O"s because we made double O, and three of the best birds of the day were the Olivaceous and Orphean Warblers plus the magnificent Osprey. I have been told The Story of O has other connotations. I wouldn't know.
I decided to name this blog The Story of "O"s because we made double O, and three of the best birds of the day were the Olivaceous and Orphean Warblers plus the magnificent Osprey. I have been told The Story of O has other connotations. I wouldn't know.
100+ Day Tally – 12 September 2017-09-14
Montes de Malaga, El Torcal, Fuente de Piedra, Teba Rock, Rio Grande North, Zapata and Guadalhorce
- Bee-eater
- Blackbird
- Blackcap
- Bluetit
- Buzzard -Common
- Chaffinch
- Chiffchaff
- Coot
- Cormorant
- Corn Bunting
- Crossbill
- Dove - Collared
- Dove - Turtle
- Duck - White-headed
- Dunlin
- Eagle -Booted
- Egret - Cattle
- Egret - Little
- Flamingo - Greater
- Flycatcher - Pied
- Flycatcher - Spotted
- Goldfinch
- Grebe - Black-necked
- Grebe - Great Crested
- Grebe - Little
- Greenfinch
- Greenshank
- Gull - Audouin's
- Gull - Black-headed
- Gull - Lesser Black-backed
- Gull - Mediterranean
- Gull - Slender-billed
- Gull - Yellow-legged
- Hawfinch
- Heron - Grey
- Hoopoe
- Jackdaw
- Jay
- Kestrel - Common
- Kingfisher
- Kite - Black
- Lapwing
- Lark - Crested
- Lark - Short-toed
- Lark - Thekla
- Linnet
- Little Stint
- Mallard
- Martin - Crag
- Martin - House
- Moorhen
- Osprey
- Owl - Tawny
- Parakeet - Monk
- Pigeon - Wood
- Plover - Kentish
- Plover - Litte-ringed
- Plover - Ringed
- Pochard
- Raven
- Redstart - Black
- Redstart - Common
- Rockthrush - Blue
- Rockthrush - Rufous Tailed
- Sanderling
- Sandpiper - Common
- Sandpiper - Curlew
- Sandpiper - Green
- Sandpiper - Wood
- Serin
- Shearwater - Balearic
- Shearwater - Yelkouan
- Shoveler
- Shrike - Woodchat
- Snipe
- Sparrow - House
- Starling - Spotless
- Stilt - Black-winged
- Stonechat
- Stork - White
- Swallow - Barn
- Swallow - Red-rumped
- Swift - Common
- Swift - Pallid
- Tern - Caspian
- Vulture - Griffon
- Wagtail - Grey
- Wagtail - White
- Wagtail - Yellow
- Warbler - Cetti's
- Warbler - Olivaceous
- Warbler - Orphean
- Warbler - Sardinian
- Warbler - Spectacled
- Warbler - Subalpine
- Warbler - Willow
- Wheatear - Black
- Wheatear - Northern
- Whitethroat
- Woodpecker - Green
- Zitting Cisticola
