GR - My final day - and still there were birds to see. Only a single Short-toed Eagle was on view from the Tarifa raptor migration centre, but behind the beach at Playa de los Lances (the other end from where we were on Tuesday), where people were everywhere, even flying kites on the reserve itself - we found a couple of Tawny Pipits walking and chasing on the sandy grassland, and there was also briefly a pair of Kentish Plovers. This was a very fitting end to an amazing week in which I saw no fewer than 43 new birds out of a total of 166 and 5 new butterflies out of a total of 19 - thanks to John's knowledge, skill, driving ability and good cooking!
JC - I’m sure that all 
of my Kent birding friends would heartily contest every one of Robin’s final points! It was certainly a great trip. Not only did Robin and I see some good birds and rather fewer butterflies, we even managed to slot in a little tourism with visits to Arcos, Baelo Claudia and the obligatory sherry & tapas in Jerez. Robin missed one final, if somewhat dubious tick, a trio of Monk Parakeets that barrelled ove La Linea shortly after dropping him at Gibraltar airport.
of my Kent birding friends would heartily contest every one of Robin’s final points! It was certainly a great trip. Not only did Robin and I see some good birds and rather fewer butterflies, we even managed to slot in a little tourism with visits to Arcos, Baelo Claudia and the obligatory sherry & tapas in Jerez. Robin missed one final, if somewhat dubious tick, a trio of Monk Parakeets that barrelled ove La Linea shortly after dropping him at Gibraltar airport. Although Liz and I stayed on until the 17th, poor weather and the need to be a tolerably attentive husband meant that few further birds were added to the list. However, this did give me the chance to try to bump up the terrace list which I managed to do when a immature Golden Eagle came over; my 18th BoP from the terrace and a rather unexpected one as they breed no nearer than Grazalema. Despite the weather I did manage to add a few more birds to the trip tally - Great-spotted Woodpecker, Black Redstart and, serenading us just before we left the house, a magnificent male Golden Oriole making the grand total of 171 species for the trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment