Cazalla September 12th Day 5

 

Cazalla

8.45am – 12.50pm



The day had started off quite well in the grounds of our Cabin, where we added some very welcome ticks in the garden and beyond.

I never would never have thought that we could add 4 additions to the list before we headed off to Cazalla, but this was the case.

These were Short Toed Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Peregrine and a little gem in the shape of an Iberian Chiffchaff.

The Iberian Chiffy call stopped me and Lee dead, it eventually gave itself up with brief but good views, checking the call was spot on.

These 4 birds had rounded the trip list up to 132 and they were our final additions to the trip list, buoyed on by a good start, we headed off to the Watchpoint.

Again, the winds weren’t right for in-your-face migration, but it was pretty constant, it was also obvious that Honey Buzzards were on the move.

With several flocks seen I arrived at a total of 170 for the morning, some were very high, but a few individuals provided our best views yet.

Egyptian Vulture was another in numbers, I recorded 66 with a few flocks of 8+, we also had a small flock on the deck of 13 birds having a rest.

The totals for the morning were as follows:

Booted Eagle – 13
Short Toed Eagle – 49
Black Stork – 10, a flock of 7 + 3 singles
Bee Eater – 29
Sparrowhawk – 3 individuals
Common Kestrel – 2
Cattle Egret – 2
Black Kite – 14
Marsh Harrier – 2
Griffon Vulture - 4

                                                     13 Egyptian Vultures on the deck

A good morning and a fitting end to our trip, the 2 days with Birding the Strait had been the highlight for me and very memorable, there is no doubt I will be using them again, 1st class.

A big thanks to my mates Lee, Russ and Steve for their great company in making it such an enjoyable trip, I can hear the Pyrenees calling for the next one.