Barbate Marshes September 10th - Day 3 afternoon

 

Barbate Marshes etc

September 10th Day 3 - Afternoon



This was to be another good venue, not a classic Marsh as the name suggests but a great site producing no less than 6 new trip list ticks.

It was quite teeming with birds, on arrival, we checked the cattle pens for Northern Bald Ibis, the info was that 2 had been seen amongst the cattle quite recently. This proved negative so we turned our attention to the ‘marsh’, after scanning we picked up a Wagtail, this provided some photo taking and consideration as it didn’t look like the usual Yellow/Grey we see in the UK.

I had noticed over here that with the heat, everything seems to be taller/longer, this was a well marked Wagtail that was eventually decided on as a Yellow.

Moving we drove round and scanned the islands, no less than 14 Stone Curlews were seen along with around 50 odd Audouins Gulls.

Plenty of birds on show, all the normal waders, Greater Flamingo etc and we added Stone Curlew, Montagu’s Harrier, Shelduck, Little Owl, Red Legged Partridge and Audouins Gull to the trip list, bringing us up to a nice 122 species.

Other birds seen was a flock of around 40+ Calandra Larks, Crested and Thekla as well along with Woodchat Shrike, 2 Short Toed Eagles and a couple of Waxbills. A very good site again and we left here to go in search of Northern Bald Ibis.

                                                                       Calandra Larks

Pablo had a site up his sleeve, the worm farm at Vejerde Frontera and this proved positive for the big Ibis, in fact there was around 11 of them.

We watched these for a good while, not the most attractive of birds I have to say, but a tick for most of us none the less and another addition to the trip list – we were now on 123.

                                                                 Northern Bald Ibis

Obsevatorio Del Estrecho Watchpoint

We were here from 3.35 – 4.10pm, it is a Raptor Coastal Watchpoint that offers fantastic views across to Africa, very windy but for the 35 minutes we were here, we had some good birds and quite a lot of activity.

To be honest, this late in the day I wasn’t expecting mass Raptor/Stork migration but was pleasantly surprised in what we saw.

First up was a very high flock of around 350 White Storks heading over to Africa, not one of them flapping, all on glide mode having gained the height for the crossing. I must admit it was quite an impressive sight even that high, we searched the flock for Black’s, but none present.

We gained an unexpected tick in the shape of White Rumped Swift (124 for the trip list) it was also a lifer for us and a bit of a surprise.2 were seen, and I managed to get a couple of snaps as they headed along the coastline.

We also saw a couple of Gannets out at sea which provided the final addition to the trip list with 2 individuals seen.

Other birds of note were Black Kite (2), Booted Eagle (5), Short Toed Eagle (4), Red Rumped Swallow (8), Pallid/Common Swift and 52 Bee Eaters.

                                                                White Rumped Swift

                                   Not a flapper amongst them - White Storks gliding to Africa

                                                                       Booted Eagle

                                                                       Pallid Swift

                                                        Bee Eaters powering across to Africa

                                                                     Short Toed Eagle

                                                      Hanging in the wind hunting

With the Gannet we finished the day on 125 species for the trip, Pablo and Birding the Strait had given us a great few days and were worth every penny, highly recommended.

I know we all found Pablo an excellent guide, but also a very nice approachable chap, his patience was endless.

Next day was to be our first day of Raptor watching at the watchpoints, more to come.

La Janda - September 10th Day 3 - Morning

 

La Janda

September 10th Day 3 - Morning



This was another place for me that had been on the periscope for a number of years, as with Coto Donana you read about these places, but not sure what to expect.

Even though we didn’t get into the vast true Marsh of Donana the day before, the birding was still fantastic amidst a vast variety of habitats teeming with birds.

Consequently, I kept a bit of an open mind as we approached La Janda at first light, turning down a Farm track however and birds were absolutely everywhere.

From this it never stopped, greeting us as we moved down the track was a vast flock of Corn Buntings from roost, a couple of Crested Larks and a Zitting Ciscola.

A grounded Griffon Vulture was seen walking down a fence line, it appeared unharmed unless it had hit a turbine. I would presume that it was not capable of flight this time of morning.

As we moved down the track, we noted distant raptors sitting on some of the pylons, one of these on size and head shape was definitely a Short-Toed Eagle but the other was smaller. On checking with the scope, Pablo confirmed a Black Winged Kite, 2nd to a Peregrine for me and one of my favourite Raptors. Moving closer and further down the track we got great views, it was then joined by a 2nd bird, and I most definitely got the best views I have ever had of one, superb.

Other birds showed and we added in total 3 Short Toed Eagles, 2 Common Buzzards, a fly through Turtle Dove, 5 White Stork, 3 Hoopoe, 2 Marsh Harriers, Calandra and Thekla Lark all from this track.

Also caught up with Spanish Sparrow, a couple of Cattle Egrets, flyover calling Yellow Wagtails and Stonechat seemed to be numerous with 5 seen.

                                                                 Black Winged Kite

                                                                 Short Toed Eagle

                                                                     Grounded Griffon

I really enjoyed it down here, it was the sort of place that you never know what is round the corner, I would say we likely spent around 90 minutes here and was great birding.

From here we moved onto

The fields of Tahivilla



This was basically a straight road to start, with fields either side, this turned out to be another great place, we frequently stopped and exited the vehicle, and the birding was really good.

We had made the choice of picking a 9-seat vehicle which gave lots of space for the 4 of us, we needed it for all the camera gear etc. Pablo was great as there was constantly cries of “stop” as one of us spotted something, the 9-seater gave us so much room wielding 400 – 500m lenses around inside as well.

We stopped and went on walkabout down the road also, and I have to say, another fantastic area.

Pablo picked out an Eagle and bingo, this was our first Bonelli’s, with 2 supporting Short Toed Eagles and Lesser Kestrels you could have left me here all day, I loved it. The Eagles were initially mobbed by 3 Ravens that had split from a flock of around 40, just don’t see this is in the UK.

The Bonelli’s departed for pastures new but one of the Short Toed landed on one of the roadside pylons, from this we got some decent photos and images as it posed on the pylon.

I had come to realise that Short Toed Eagles liked pylons for resting/hunting, if a distant big raptor was on a pylon, it was likely a S T Eagle.

Scanning around and we picked up a flock of around 20 Alpine Swifts, these kept the cameras warm for a while and a bugger to stay with. We also picked up our first Lesser Kestrels and a single Woodchat Shrike on a fence bringing the trip list up to 116.

A flyover flock of 11 Yellow Wagtails + a Northern Wheatear on a fenceline,2 Cattle Egrets, 3 Stonechat completed the birds seen along the road.

                                                                     Bonelli's Eagle

                                                                     Short Toed Eagle

3 distant raptors eventually gave better views, and these were confirmed as Honey Buzzards.

Another excellent place.

Donana - Sept 9th - Afternoon

 

Afternoon session

Initially we visited a track with the vast Marshes viewable beyond, but with Farmland on one side and a large pool on the other. The usual culprits were present, and we searched a treeline and crops for birds, good numbers of Willow Warblers were around. A very green chunky Warbler aloft may have been Melodious but didn’t get good enough views to clinch it.

The vast Marsh we couldn’t access, you could see it was teeming with birds and a couple of largish distant Raptors.

We moved on and headed to the Salt Pans, a vast massive area next to a very wide river, I would presume this was the Guadalquivir.

These Salt Pans were alive with birds of all shapes and sizes, Greater Flamingo and White Stork dominated the big boys but the whole area of pans was teeming with waders of all sorts.

We spent quite a bit of time here, the heat was pretty impressive, as we had now sussed, you get a lot of shimmering which didn’t make for sharp photos but just seeing them was good enough.

Big flocks of Dunlin, smaller numbers of Curlew Sandpiper, occasional Little Stint, Redshank/Avocet everywhere, Little Ringed/Kentish Plover and fantastic to see good numbers of Slender Billed Gulls.

Sanderling was also seen along with a very big flock mainly made up of Bar Tailed but also a few Black Tailed Godwit mixed in, we also added Whimbrel and Ruff.

Raptors present were Booted Eagle, Common Buzzard, Marsh Harrier and the best of all, an Osprey sitting on a post.

We also saw Crested /Calandra Lark, Red Rumped Swallow, Bee Eater, Hoopoe and Griffon Vulture.

After time spent here, we moved on to another area favoured by Rufous Bush Robin, not a common bird now in Spain, they were known to favour this area. Despite a thorough good look around, we couldn’t locate one, but we did connect with our only Cirl Bunting of the trip.

Whilst also watching a pair of Red Rumped Swallows, I looked up and there was a dot, obviously a big Raptor, initial thought was Black Vulture and Pablo confirmed, another superb bird and one we didn’t expect in this neck of the woods. Grabbed a couple of distant photos of it, enough to confirm the ‘white feet’ and darker underwing.

                                                                 Slender Billed Gull

                                                                Red Rumped Swallow

                                                                       Black Vulture

It was time to call it a day, we were all pretty tuckered out with the heat, Pablo our guide had pulled out all the stops, shown us some stunning birds and he was worth every penny, it had been a fantastic day.

We finished the day on 104 species so going well.

Our next day was again with Pablo, this was La Janda and Barbate Marshes……., hopefully for one of my favourite raptors Black Winged Kite!