Day 2 - 14th Feb 2009

Saturday 14th February
As usual Lesser Kestrels were in evidence first thing - awake and chattering as we woke up. Given that they nip off hunting much later than we got out birding, I’m not quite sure why they fly round so early – sometimes when it’s still dark. Either way they do make a brilliant alarm clock! Since we left early every morning and returned after dusk, we didn’t spend enough time watching these fabulous little falcons which can be very obliging here. In fact, so obliging that in 2007 a group Spaniards from Madrid turned up outside the house one spring specifically to see them. They told me it was the “best place in Spain” to see them ….. until they were invited onto the terrace to watch from there!

It’s only a short detour on the way to La Janda to take the by-way past the presa (dam) for the Embalse de Barbate. It’s often a good spot to see Spanish Imperial Eagles and although the purists might complain that most birds here come from a re-introduction scheme, they still look damn (im-PRESA-ive?) handsome. Pity they didn’t show! We did, though, have an Osprey – probably a wild bird although this species has also been re-introduced here. Less expected was a flock of 28 Common Cranes were found feeding in nearby fields.

So it was on to La Janda. Since the track was expensively repaired in spring 2008, this is no longer the bumpy, suspension threatening drive it once was, but it was shocking to see how quickly the heavy winter rains had already degraded parts of the track. Naturally nobody has considered doing the minimal repairs that would keep the surface intact.

As we drove in towards La Janda from Benalup, we had some distant Purple Gallinules and Tony did brilliantly to get some record shots. Unfortunately, most of the wetter fields here were well out of sight of the main track so relatively few waders (particularly the smaller ones) were seen; many Lapwings, 200+ Golden Plovers, 2 Green Sandpipers and 2 Snipe. However, larger “wading” birds – egrets (including another Great White Egret), both Black and White Stork, Common Cranes (150+) and Spoonbills (50+) - were less elusive. Raptors seen included Griffon Vulture (7), Black Kite (c10), Hen Harriers (c20) and numerous Marsh Harriers. Black Kites were clearly just starting to arrive so were only present in relatively small numbers; in the autumn I've had 2,000+ kites here. Disappointingly, there were no Black-shouldered Kites which I saw in good numbers in February last year – was it too wet? Larks here included a party of five Woodlarks, numerous Crested Larks (of course!) and a few Calandra Larks. No matter how often I come here in winter it's still something of a surprise to see Cranes - a bird I associate with Scandinavia. Yet until the early 1960s this species bred here:sadly La Janda was finally drained before the conservation movement in Spain came of age. There are usually lots of White Stork here and Tony's portrait of the species is top notch; luckily it wasn't one of the dirtier birds whose grotty plumage reflects the time this handsome species spends on local rubbish tips. It may be global warming, but I suspect the increasing numbers of storks that winter have more to do with the large rubbish dumps in the area!

A drive along the beach road near Barbate failed to produce the hoped for the introduced population of Bald Ibis (again!) and none of us fancied a drive round the local golf courses (evidently a favoured retreat). However, the woods along the coastal road north of the town had a fine display of Sawfly Orchids (and a fly-over Crossbill). In February these woods are carpeted with these gorgeous orchids. The regular spacing of the trees give away the fact that Barbate Pine forest is not natural. I'm told the trees were planted both to stabilise the dunes and to provide work for the unemployed during a bygone financial slump; perhaps they'll be planting more soon!

Our planned visit to Trafalgar was aborted as it was packed with wind surfers – we’d forgotten it was Saturday! From Vejer we drove along the Medina Sidonia road turning off left towards Los Naveros and then, after several kilometres, left along a well marked track. Here we found at least 2 Black-shouldered Kites, 20 Buzzards and 2 Short-toed Eagles. Our only Barn Owl of the trip was fortuitously flushed from its roost by Jack and soon thereafter Tony found a calling Quail. Here too was our first Hoopoe and only Common Starlings of the trip (but we didn’t look too hard!). In retrospect, it would have been quicker to get here via the new coastal motorway, but at the time we didn’t realise that this great track links up with the motorway near Conil.

Since the Molinos valley is right next to the village this seemed to be a good place to close the day – the expected Blue Rock Thrush finally appeared as did a meagre number of Griffons (c20). A big bonus here came in the form of five Egyptian Vultures drifting high over the Griffon roost.

Another good day with the twin highlights of the superb display of Sawfly Orchids and an obliging Black-shouldered Kite. Incidentally, if you’re reading this in anticipation of a trip out to Cadiz then contact me for my detailed birding notes for the area,

John

ALL photos © Tony Morris
For more of Tony’s excellent photos see :-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonymorris/collections/72157614157792303/