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ANDALUCIA AMAZING MIGRANTS TOUR REPORT
SEPTEMBER 13TH - 20TH 2011
General
This 7 day birding tour was based just inland of Tarifa in the Genal river calley.
We witnessed a wonderful raptor & stork migration & also an excellent range of wetland species & passerine as well.
The main emphasis was on seeing good numbers of migrants & raptor/stork migration in beautiful surroundings.
The distances travelled were relatively small, & therefore rather than spending long journey times heading off for 1-2 species. We spent more time watching birds & we still recorded 153 species!
From our base we were able to explore a variety of birding localities & had easy access via minibus to the Tarifa area, which is the main flight path for the raptors & storks as they pass south over “The Straits” to Morocco.
Accommodation
We were based at Cortijo el Papudo, here we had everything we needed, with excellent continental breakfasts, nearby shops in the village for lunch or packed lunches & several restaurants to choose from for evening meals
The beautifully converted farmhouse set in a 27 hectare farm overlooks orange groves, 8 km inland from the sea at Sotogrande, this unique old "cortijo" was recently restored with great care to retain all the original features and charm.
All rooms had en-suite bathrooms, bath with shower over, and tea and coffee facilities. The rooms were wonderfully & tastefully renovated retaining their natural aesthetics with modern comfort.
There was an 11 metre pool for our guests to use set in an exotic garden which has plants collected from all over the world and propagated in the nursery on the farm
Getting There
Getting to Southern Spain is easy & served by a variety of options, departures via the cheaper airlines are available from Gatwick, Luton, Stanstead, East Midlands & Manchester & you can choose from Malaga, Gibraltar & Jerez.
Clients all arrived via flights from Luton or Heathrow at Gibraltar.
Gibraltar is a nice small airport & you simply show your passport & cross the border on foot into Spain (the border is 200m from the airport). The advantage of Gibraltar was the speed & ease of getting in and out of the airport, much smaller queues compared with Malaga.
Our Flights cost £125 inclusive of all the taxes - we booked with Monarch airlines - simple but comfortable & the flight is around 2.5 hours.
13th September 2011
The journey from the airport was aborted halfway, as we noted good numbers of raptors overhead. We pulled into a schoolyard (creating some interest from the staff!) & watched for 20 minutes as 150 Booted Eagle, 2 Griffon Vulture & several Black Kite moved overhead.
Nearby we stopped for water & noted good numbers of Red-rumped Swallow & 2 Monk Parakeets.
We arrived at the accommodation just after 2.30pm.
After a light brunch & coffee we headed off into the Rio Genal, an area we were to visit several times during our stay.
This is a river valley running north to south and eventually running into the sea at Sotogrande some 10Km north of La Linea (Gibraltar). The river was much wetter than last year - and there was plenty of water & pools.
We had nice overhead passage of raptors with a few Honey Buzzard, 5 Short-toed eagle, 30+ Booted eagle, Black Kite plus Bee-eater passed high, overhead!
In the fields we noted 10+ Cattle Egret, 20+ Spotless Starling, 4 Fan-tailed Warbler, 30 Corn Bunting & lots of Crested Lark.
Down in the valley we had time for a quick search of the river bed & found Kingfisher, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, 5+ Grey Wagtail, White wagtail, Cetti’s Warbler, Willow Warbler, an Iberian Chiff-chaff showed well, lots of Sardinian Warbler & great views of an Osprey fishing
Slightly tired we headed back to the Cortijo, showered & then enjoyed a lovely evening meal in the local town.
14th September 2011
For those willing to set their alarms there was the opportunity of pre-breakfast birding up the valley, leaving the Cortijo at 7.15am
As we drove down the driveway, it was still dark & the headlights picked out a bird roosting on the ground. It was a Red-necked Nightjar! It was seen several times after this, both evening & mornings, but always in the dark.
In the valley we had a similar mix of birds, but also had another Nightjar, 1 Redstart, 40 perched Bee-eaters several Short-toed Eagle, Tree Pipit overhead & 2 Kestrel sp.
After a breakfast we headed off to Tarifa, although the conditions were unsuitable for migrant raptors to cross to Africa, we had good close up views of small numbers of birds as they wandered around the headland. It was great for the group & prepared them fro the really amazing push of birds that followed over the next two days! This morning; 30 Egyptian Vulture, 20 Griffon Vulture, 250 Booted Eagle, 20+ Short-toed Eagle, 25 Black Kite, 5 Honey Buzzard, 1 Black Stork, 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard, 10+ Lesser Kestrel
We had lunch & a break on the east side of Palmones, then set off for the West side of the Palmones estuary, a great vantage point, but not the easiest to find, through the side streets of Algeciras!
Having eventually located the watchpoint, we had great views over the whole marsh, we spent 2-3 hours scoping from here, as birds arrived & departed on the high tide. Roosting out on the marsh were c150 White Stork, 1 Greater Flamingo, 1 Spoonbill, several Black-winged Stilt, Greenshank, Ringed Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Curlew, 3 Sandwich tern, plus a big flockl of Yellow-legged Gulls, accompanied by 10+ Mediterranean Gulls.
Overhead we had great views of Pallid Swift & Red-rumped Swallow.
The walk back to the car also produced a migrant Pied Flycatcher in the bushes, Common Sandpiper & Green Sandpiper also flushed from the nearby channels
15th September 2011
We had an early breakfast at 7.45 & hit the road heading for Sierra Crestallina, a high mountain valley with good cork oak woodland.
Here we found 12 Firecrest, 6 Short-toed Treecreeper, 10 Crested Tit, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Nuthatch, lots of 3+ Pied Flycatcher, 4 Redstart, lots of Sardinian warbler, Garden Warbler, Blackcap & the Iberian race of Jay plus a mix of commoner woodland birds.
Over the valley we also had 12 Griffon Vulture, 2 Egyptian Vulture, Black Kite, 1 Peregrine, Buzzard & Booted Eagle. Moving fast down the valley we also noted migrant swallows & martins, plus a tight flock of c35 Bee-eater.
En-route back a quick stop produced 2 obliging Blue Rock Thrush.
With a very full day planned for the next day & the heat rising over 30c we headed back to the accommodation for lunch & a break until late afternoon when we again explored some other areas of the Rio Genal valley.
We added Spectacled Warbler, Woodchat Shrike, Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat, Hoopoe, Wheatear, Great White Egret, c20 Serin & there appeared to be more migrants around with over c200 Yellow Wagtails c25 Red-rumped Swallow in the recently cut fields & 2 Black Stork passed down the valley.
16th September 2011
Another early start we left at 7.15 am, complete with packed breakfast. The wind had suddenly dropped from a strong easterly & I was confident we should witness some excellent aerial migration.
As the sun started to rise we arrived at watch-point.
It wasn't too long before a nice flock of 250+ Black Kites were swirling around just in front of us, this continued steadily with birds getting higher as the temperature rose, these were soon joined by eagles & Honey buzzards.
Over the next 3 hours a steady stream of both raptors & other migrants passed overhead, 1000+ Black Kite, 500+ Honey Buzzard, 1000+ Short-toed eagle, 300+ Booted Eagle, 70 Griffon Vulture, 1 Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture, 200+ Egyptian Vulture, 1 Marsh Harrier, 300+ Black Stork, 30 Cattle Egret, flock of high Bee-eater, 10 Sparrowhawk.
It was exciting & great fun watching many of the birds gain height & then start to head out over the sea & straits bound for the northern shores of Morocco.
Satisfied with our mornings haul we headed into Tarifa for coffee, where we sat still watching 100’s of Short-toed Eagle overhead, plus several flocks of 200+ White Stork whilst sipping coffee!
We then headed to the reserve at Playa de los Lances - there was a nice mix of waders & seabirds. Birds here included, 5+ Kentish Plover, 1 White Stork, 50 Spotless Starling, 25 Audoins Gull, 100’s Yellow-legged Gull, 20 Sandwich Tern, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 30 Sanderling, 3 Redshank, 2 Knot & 5+ Fan-tailed warbler.
The passage overhead continued with 1 Alpine Swift, several Pallid Swift, & many groups of White & some Black Stork.
It was very hot so we lunched early afternoon then headed off to La Janda.
We had a wonderful bird filled afternoon here right the way through till dark. We started off with a fantastic Ortolan Bunting, Wheatear & Whinchat soon followed, then an amazing flock of 450+ Glossy Ibis flew over. We had constant views of several hunting Montagu's harrier & numerous Marsh harrier. The fields held 1000's of finches & sparrow, huge swathes of flocks taking to the air was great to witness. Eventually we located 3+ Spanish Sparrow amongst the flocks & a Purple Heron in the fields.
I had been told the Black-shouldered Kites were difficult this year, but we found two beautiful Black-shouldered Kite in the same location as last year. A real nice surprise unfolded shortly after this, when we were stopped by 3 Belgian birders, peering through there scopes we were soon staring at 5 Little Bustards!
A Nightingale flew across the track in front of us, & we then located a migrant Black-eared Wheatear & Wheatear in the same field.
As the light faded we continued along the track, the day drew to a close with a fantastic finale of 250+ roosting Lesser Kestrel, 20 Stone Curlew & 2 Little Owls.
It was a long day & we arrived back at the accommodation around 10.30PM. We agreed on a later breakfast for the morning
17th September 2011
After so many raptors yesterday, we decided after a late breakfast to drop into the watchpoint en-route to Tarifa, where we planned a light lunch before heading out on a Cetacean watching trip.
As it was a Saturday & word had clearly gone around about the passage of birds the previous day, the watchpoint was very well attended with 50+ birders!
There was a similar mix of birds, but generally they were higher. There was however much closer & prolonged views of the Ruppells Griffon Vulture.
We boarded the whale watching boat around 2.45 PM.
The trip started slowly as we headed out into the bay, 2 Cory’s Shearwaters & several Gannets passed by distantly & then 1 Storm Petrel, some distant cetaceans disappeared. Then suddenly not faraway a fin broke the surface. Several people called “shark”! It disappeared then reappeared close to the boat, it was a shark, maybe 4m long, but which species - it came up closer to the surface & suddenly there was no mistake, the head profile was a giveaway - a Hammerhead Shark! Brilliant & amazing, only the 2nd one to be seen by the crew in 10 years!
After this we had steady action with more Cory’s Shearwater, a Balearic Shearwater, 5+ Storm Petrel with 2 at closer range. But the cetaceans stole the show, with amazing close ups of 20+ Pilot Whales just 6’0 off the stern, Bottle nosed Dolphins, & good if distant views of a huge Fin Whale. Several Sunfish were also noted, plus a Black Tern was the only one of the trip.
We returned to shore & headed up to an Eagle Owl site, the Eagle Owl was heard calling regularly for around an hour, but unfortunately did not cross the ravine & we were unable to see it.
18th September 2011
Today we arrived early in the area of Sierra de las Nieves for some of the higher level specialities.
Here we had lovely views of Griffon Vulture, 2 Raven, 2 Booted Eagle, 1 Lesser Kestrel, 35 Chough, 10+ Black Wheatear, 5 Dartford Warbler, 2 Woodlark, 20 Crag Martin, 2 Northern Wheatear, 1 Redstart, 3+ Black Redstart, 1 Grey wagtail, 3 Spectacled Warbler, 1 Mistle Thrush & 4+ Rock Bunting.
On the drive out we also came across a family of 3 Southern Grey Shrike.
We had lunch & then explored a local river valley that had White-rumped Swift just a few weeks before, but they seemed to have departed.
We did note a perched & hunting Sparrowhawk, plus 2 Cirl Bunting, 5 Grey Wagtail, 2+ Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Blackcap, Garden warbler, Serin & Woodchat Shrike.
19th September 2011
After a 7.45 breakfast we headed to Laguna de Medina.
The lake held less birds than previous years, probably due to the greater amount of water generally, but still gave us a good selection of new & interesting birds.
The highlights were:- 10+ Black-necked Grebe, 50 Shoveler, 7 Red-crested Pochard, 2 White-headed Duck, 6 Stone Curlew & great views of 2 Purple Gallinule.
The vegetation & reed-bed bordering the boardwalk also provided 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Pied Flycatcher, numerous Sardinian Warbler & Zitting Cisticila, Willow Warbler, Nightingale Reed warbler & 1 Garden warbler.
After a rather fraught half an hour, with a 9 seater minibus that refused to start (Mercedes as well!) we managed to start the vehicle. I decided to return the vehicle to the rental company & after an extended lunch break we were supplied with another vehcle. We decided on a return visit to Palmones to watch birds coming iinto roost. This decision looked a good one by dusk, as we added several new birds! At Palmones we had 2 Grey Plover, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Little Tern, 1 Purple Heron, 2 Osprey, 2 Avocet, several Whimbrel, Greenshank, Mediterranean Gull, 2 Snipe & 2 very well picked out Bluethroats!
Also overhead near the town a noticeable passage of Alpine Swift, 50+ passed by, plus a migrant Black-eared Wheatear was a very nice addition.
We were again stopped in our tracks at the entrance to the accommodation as the Red-necked Nightjar, showed down to 1.8m in the car headlights, allowing some nice images to be taken of it.
20th September 2011
A quick early morning walk around the grounds of our accommodation for some of the group, before departing for flights back to the UK.
4 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Redstart, 1 Woodchat Shrike, 1 Short-toed Treecreeper (a surprise here!), a male Cirl Bunting & the usual selection of mixed finches.
Midday we said our goodbyes & boarded our flights at Gibraltar.
A wonderful trip, with 153 species of bird recorded, most memorable for the migrant raptors & Storks plus a sprinkling of butterflies, dragonflies & some fantastic cetacean watching.
This trip will run again in 2012 if you are interested in joining us then please let us know, maximum group size is 7 persons plus guide.
Return to homepage
SEPTEMBER 13TH - 20TH 2011
General
This 7 day birding tour was based just inland of Tarifa in the Genal river calley.
We witnessed a wonderful raptor & stork migration & also an excellent range of wetland species & passerine as well.
The main emphasis was on seeing good numbers of migrants & raptor/stork migration in beautiful surroundings.
The distances travelled were relatively small, & therefore rather than spending long journey times heading off for 1-2 species. We spent more time watching birds & we still recorded 153 species!
From our base we were able to explore a variety of birding localities & had easy access via minibus to the Tarifa area, which is the main flight path for the raptors & storks as they pass south over “The Straits” to Morocco.
Accommodation
We were based at Cortijo el Papudo, here we had everything we needed, with excellent continental breakfasts, nearby shops in the village for lunch or packed lunches & several restaurants to choose from for evening meals
The beautifully converted farmhouse set in a 27 hectare farm overlooks orange groves, 8 km inland from the sea at Sotogrande, this unique old "cortijo" was recently restored with great care to retain all the original features and charm.
All rooms had en-suite bathrooms, bath with shower over, and tea and coffee facilities. The rooms were wonderfully & tastefully renovated retaining their natural aesthetics with modern comfort.
There was an 11 metre pool for our guests to use set in an exotic garden which has plants collected from all over the world and propagated in the nursery on the farm
Getting There
Getting to Southern Spain is easy & served by a variety of options, departures via the cheaper airlines are available from Gatwick, Luton, Stanstead, East Midlands & Manchester & you can choose from Malaga, Gibraltar & Jerez.
Clients all arrived via flights from Luton or Heathrow at Gibraltar.
Gibraltar is a nice small airport & you simply show your passport & cross the border on foot into Spain (the border is 200m from the airport). The advantage of Gibraltar was the speed & ease of getting in and out of the airport, much smaller queues compared with Malaga.
Our Flights cost £125 inclusive of all the taxes - we booked with Monarch airlines - simple but comfortable & the flight is around 2.5 hours.
13th September 2011
The journey from the airport was aborted halfway, as we noted good numbers of raptors overhead. We pulled into a schoolyard (creating some interest from the staff!) & watched for 20 minutes as 150 Booted Eagle, 2 Griffon Vulture & several Black Kite moved overhead.
Nearby we stopped for water & noted good numbers of Red-rumped Swallow & 2 Monk Parakeets.
We arrived at the accommodation just after 2.30pm.
After a light brunch & coffee we headed off into the Rio Genal, an area we were to visit several times during our stay.
This is a river valley running north to south and eventually running into the sea at Sotogrande some 10Km north of La Linea (Gibraltar). The river was much wetter than last year - and there was plenty of water & pools.
We had nice overhead passage of raptors with a few Honey Buzzard, 5 Short-toed eagle, 30+ Booted eagle, Black Kite plus Bee-eater passed high, overhead!
In the fields we noted 10+ Cattle Egret, 20+ Spotless Starling, 4 Fan-tailed Warbler, 30 Corn Bunting & lots of Crested Lark.
Down in the valley we had time for a quick search of the river bed & found Kingfisher, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, 5+ Grey Wagtail, White wagtail, Cetti’s Warbler, Willow Warbler, an Iberian Chiff-chaff showed well, lots of Sardinian Warbler & great views of an Osprey fishing
Slightly tired we headed back to the Cortijo, showered & then enjoyed a lovely evening meal in the local town.
14th September 2011
For those willing to set their alarms there was the opportunity of pre-breakfast birding up the valley, leaving the Cortijo at 7.15am
As we drove down the driveway, it was still dark & the headlights picked out a bird roosting on the ground. It was a Red-necked Nightjar! It was seen several times after this, both evening & mornings, but always in the dark.
In the valley we had a similar mix of birds, but also had another Nightjar, 1 Redstart, 40 perched Bee-eaters several Short-toed Eagle, Tree Pipit overhead & 2 Kestrel sp.
After a breakfast we headed off to Tarifa, although the conditions were unsuitable for migrant raptors to cross to Africa, we had good close up views of small numbers of birds as they wandered around the headland. It was great for the group & prepared them fro the really amazing push of birds that followed over the next two days! This morning; 30 Egyptian Vulture, 20 Griffon Vulture, 250 Booted Eagle, 20+ Short-toed Eagle, 25 Black Kite, 5 Honey Buzzard, 1 Black Stork, 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard, 10+ Lesser Kestrel
We had lunch & a break on the east side of Palmones, then set off for the West side of the Palmones estuary, a great vantage point, but not the easiest to find, through the side streets of Algeciras!
Having eventually located the watchpoint, we had great views over the whole marsh, we spent 2-3 hours scoping from here, as birds arrived & departed on the high tide. Roosting out on the marsh were c150 White Stork, 1 Greater Flamingo, 1 Spoonbill, several Black-winged Stilt, Greenshank, Ringed Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Curlew, 3 Sandwich tern, plus a big flockl of Yellow-legged Gulls, accompanied by 10+ Mediterranean Gulls.
Overhead we had great views of Pallid Swift & Red-rumped Swallow.
The walk back to the car also produced a migrant Pied Flycatcher in the bushes, Common Sandpiper & Green Sandpiper also flushed from the nearby channels
15th September 2011
We had an early breakfast at 7.45 & hit the road heading for Sierra Crestallina, a high mountain valley with good cork oak woodland.
Here we found 12 Firecrest, 6 Short-toed Treecreeper, 10 Crested Tit, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Nuthatch, lots of 3+ Pied Flycatcher, 4 Redstart, lots of Sardinian warbler, Garden Warbler, Blackcap & the Iberian race of Jay plus a mix of commoner woodland birds.
Over the valley we also had 12 Griffon Vulture, 2 Egyptian Vulture, Black Kite, 1 Peregrine, Buzzard & Booted Eagle. Moving fast down the valley we also noted migrant swallows & martins, plus a tight flock of c35 Bee-eater.
En-route back a quick stop produced 2 obliging Blue Rock Thrush.
With a very full day planned for the next day & the heat rising over 30c we headed back to the accommodation for lunch & a break until late afternoon when we again explored some other areas of the Rio Genal valley.
We added Spectacled Warbler, Woodchat Shrike, Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat, Hoopoe, Wheatear, Great White Egret, c20 Serin & there appeared to be more migrants around with over c200 Yellow Wagtails c25 Red-rumped Swallow in the recently cut fields & 2 Black Stork passed down the valley.
16th September 2011
Another early start we left at 7.15 am, complete with packed breakfast. The wind had suddenly dropped from a strong easterly & I was confident we should witness some excellent aerial migration.
As the sun started to rise we arrived at watch-point.
It wasn't too long before a nice flock of 250+ Black Kites were swirling around just in front of us, this continued steadily with birds getting higher as the temperature rose, these were soon joined by eagles & Honey buzzards.
Over the next 3 hours a steady stream of both raptors & other migrants passed overhead, 1000+ Black Kite, 500+ Honey Buzzard, 1000+ Short-toed eagle, 300+ Booted Eagle, 70 Griffon Vulture, 1 Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture, 200+ Egyptian Vulture, 1 Marsh Harrier, 300+ Black Stork, 30 Cattle Egret, flock of high Bee-eater, 10 Sparrowhawk.
It was exciting & great fun watching many of the birds gain height & then start to head out over the sea & straits bound for the northern shores of Morocco.
Satisfied with our mornings haul we headed into Tarifa for coffee, where we sat still watching 100’s of Short-toed Eagle overhead, plus several flocks of 200+ White Stork whilst sipping coffee!
We then headed to the reserve at Playa de los Lances - there was a nice mix of waders & seabirds. Birds here included, 5+ Kentish Plover, 1 White Stork, 50 Spotless Starling, 25 Audoins Gull, 100’s Yellow-legged Gull, 20 Sandwich Tern, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 30 Sanderling, 3 Redshank, 2 Knot & 5+ Fan-tailed warbler.
The passage overhead continued with 1 Alpine Swift, several Pallid Swift, & many groups of White & some Black Stork.
It was very hot so we lunched early afternoon then headed off to La Janda.
We had a wonderful bird filled afternoon here right the way through till dark. We started off with a fantastic Ortolan Bunting, Wheatear & Whinchat soon followed, then an amazing flock of 450+ Glossy Ibis flew over. We had constant views of several hunting Montagu's harrier & numerous Marsh harrier. The fields held 1000's of finches & sparrow, huge swathes of flocks taking to the air was great to witness. Eventually we located 3+ Spanish Sparrow amongst the flocks & a Purple Heron in the fields.
I had been told the Black-shouldered Kites were difficult this year, but we found two beautiful Black-shouldered Kite in the same location as last year. A real nice surprise unfolded shortly after this, when we were stopped by 3 Belgian birders, peering through there scopes we were soon staring at 5 Little Bustards!
A Nightingale flew across the track in front of us, & we then located a migrant Black-eared Wheatear & Wheatear in the same field.
As the light faded we continued along the track, the day drew to a close with a fantastic finale of 250+ roosting Lesser Kestrel, 20 Stone Curlew & 2 Little Owls.
It was a long day & we arrived back at the accommodation around 10.30PM. We agreed on a later breakfast for the morning
17th September 2011
After so many raptors yesterday, we decided after a late breakfast to drop into the watchpoint en-route to Tarifa, where we planned a light lunch before heading out on a Cetacean watching trip.
As it was a Saturday & word had clearly gone around about the passage of birds the previous day, the watchpoint was very well attended with 50+ birders!
There was a similar mix of birds, but generally they were higher. There was however much closer & prolonged views of the Ruppells Griffon Vulture.
We boarded the whale watching boat around 2.45 PM.
The trip started slowly as we headed out into the bay, 2 Cory’s Shearwaters & several Gannets passed by distantly & then 1 Storm Petrel, some distant cetaceans disappeared. Then suddenly not faraway a fin broke the surface. Several people called “shark”! It disappeared then reappeared close to the boat, it was a shark, maybe 4m long, but which species - it came up closer to the surface & suddenly there was no mistake, the head profile was a giveaway - a Hammerhead Shark! Brilliant & amazing, only the 2nd one to be seen by the crew in 10 years!
After this we had steady action with more Cory’s Shearwater, a Balearic Shearwater, 5+ Storm Petrel with 2 at closer range. But the cetaceans stole the show, with amazing close ups of 20+ Pilot Whales just 6’0 off the stern, Bottle nosed Dolphins, & good if distant views of a huge Fin Whale. Several Sunfish were also noted, plus a Black Tern was the only one of the trip.
We returned to shore & headed up to an Eagle Owl site, the Eagle Owl was heard calling regularly for around an hour, but unfortunately did not cross the ravine & we were unable to see it.
18th September 2011
Today we arrived early in the area of Sierra de las Nieves for some of the higher level specialities.
Here we had lovely views of Griffon Vulture, 2 Raven, 2 Booted Eagle, 1 Lesser Kestrel, 35 Chough, 10+ Black Wheatear, 5 Dartford Warbler, 2 Woodlark, 20 Crag Martin, 2 Northern Wheatear, 1 Redstart, 3+ Black Redstart, 1 Grey wagtail, 3 Spectacled Warbler, 1 Mistle Thrush & 4+ Rock Bunting.
On the drive out we also came across a family of 3 Southern Grey Shrike.
We had lunch & then explored a local river valley that had White-rumped Swift just a few weeks before, but they seemed to have departed.
We did note a perched & hunting Sparrowhawk, plus 2 Cirl Bunting, 5 Grey Wagtail, 2+ Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Blackcap, Garden warbler, Serin & Woodchat Shrike.
19th September 2011
After a 7.45 breakfast we headed to Laguna de Medina.
The lake held less birds than previous years, probably due to the greater amount of water generally, but still gave us a good selection of new & interesting birds.
The highlights were:- 10+ Black-necked Grebe, 50 Shoveler, 7 Red-crested Pochard, 2 White-headed Duck, 6 Stone Curlew & great views of 2 Purple Gallinule.
The vegetation & reed-bed bordering the boardwalk also provided 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Pied Flycatcher, numerous Sardinian Warbler & Zitting Cisticila, Willow Warbler, Nightingale Reed warbler & 1 Garden warbler.
After a rather fraught half an hour, with a 9 seater minibus that refused to start (Mercedes as well!) we managed to start the vehicle. I decided to return the vehicle to the rental company & after an extended lunch break we were supplied with another vehcle. We decided on a return visit to Palmones to watch birds coming iinto roost. This decision looked a good one by dusk, as we added several new birds! At Palmones we had 2 Grey Plover, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Little Tern, 1 Purple Heron, 2 Osprey, 2 Avocet, several Whimbrel, Greenshank, Mediterranean Gull, 2 Snipe & 2 very well picked out Bluethroats!
Also overhead near the town a noticeable passage of Alpine Swift, 50+ passed by, plus a migrant Black-eared Wheatear was a very nice addition.
We were again stopped in our tracks at the entrance to the accommodation as the Red-necked Nightjar, showed down to 1.8m in the car headlights, allowing some nice images to be taken of it.
20th September 2011
A quick early morning walk around the grounds of our accommodation for some of the group, before departing for flights back to the UK.
4 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Redstart, 1 Woodchat Shrike, 1 Short-toed Treecreeper (a surprise here!), a male Cirl Bunting & the usual selection of mixed finches.
Midday we said our goodbyes & boarded our flights at Gibraltar.
A wonderful trip, with 153 species of bird recorded, most memorable for the migrant raptors & Storks plus a sprinkling of butterflies, dragonflies & some fantastic cetacean watching.
This trip will run again in 2012 if you are interested in joining us then please let us know, maximum group size is 7 persons plus guide.
Return to homepage
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________________________
Contact: Chris Mills
Tel: 07876 357677 or 01362 683520
Lilac Cottage, Foxley Road,
Themelthorpe,
Norfolk NR20 5PU
chrismills@norfolkbirding.com
Contact: Chris Mills
Tel: 07876 357677 or 01362 683520
Lilac Cottage, Foxley Road,
Themelthorpe,
Norfolk NR20 5PU
chrismills@norfolkbirding.com
Image gallery will follow