April Birding Trip - Day 2 - 3rd April

Day 2 - Friday 3rd April: The Tickfest Begins!
RG - A totally mind-blowing day for me producing the amazing total of seventeen new birds! First to the mouth of the River Guadalquivir where we found a really obliging couple of Little Swifts, flying over the beach and repeatedly just above our heads! With paddle-shaped wings, square tails, fluttering flight and Wilson's Petrel-like white rumps, they were absolutely distinctive. Next to Bonanza beside the Guadalquivir where John knew of little ponds (these are what I call ‘Bonanza Pools’ – JC) set among market gardens. These held White-headed Ducks, an ear-shattering singing Great Reed Warbler right by the road and two Purple Gallinules. The latter are extraordinary creatures with huge pink bills and legs and the habit of erupting out of the reeds only to drop down again very soon. Also here was a female Little Bittern - the only one of the week - and the sound (but not sight) of the first migrating Bee-eaters.

At the nearby salt-pans the sheer quantity and quality of the water birds was staggering to someone not used to birding abroad - lots of Greater Flamingos (I had to pinch myself to realise that they were wild) and equally lots of Black-winged Stilts on unbelievably long legs plus about a hundred immaculate Slender-billed Gulls (they really should be called “long-billed”), c25 Glossy Ibises, Spoonbill, Avocets, c20 Kentish Plovers, c10 Gull-billed Terns, a Little Tern, 3 Little Stints, c5 Curlew Sandpipers, Greenshank, and the first sight of migrating Bee-eaters - the first of many. The best bird of all was probably a very confiding Short-toed Eagle perched on a pylon, which flew ahead of us and gave some stunning close-up views, a terrific bird. (This species proved to have the knack of appearing at very close range only when my camera card was full or the camera itself wasn’t to hand! - JC)

Also here were Sardinian and Fan-tailed Warblers ("zitting cisticolas"), probably South Spain's commonest warblers - the former seems to be everywhere. At the salt marshes of La Portugueses we were treated to no fewer than four species of Lark - the common one being Crested, accompanied by, in descending order of frequency, Short-toed Larks beside the tracks, wonderful Calandra Larks, large larks with long wings, black below like Green Sandpipers', singing beautifully over the salt marshes, and a few grey, rather sparrow-like Lesser Short-toed Larks, which we didn't hear singing. (Thekla Lark is supposed to be present in the area, but I’ve never personally had them here – JC). When we visited the Trebujena marshes the Short-toed Larks became much commoner, flying around in flocks in front of the car. The raptors included 3 Marsh Harriers, both species of Kite, and Booted Eagles, the pale phase birds stunning with black and white wings, the dark phase more difficult to identify, sometimes slightly resembling the common Black Kites. At the Trebujena Marshes there were also 3 Great White Egrets, a male Hen Harrier and Stone Curlews.

At the Laguna Tarelo heronry on the edge of Algaida Pine Woods there were c15 Night Herons, a wonderful pair of Spoonbills, White-headed Duck and Purple Gallinule among the many Cattle and Little Egrets, but no sign of Squacco Heron. Serin were singing among the pines. (The White-headed Ducks were missing here a week later when I tried to show them to a Belgian birder – which suggests that ‘Bonanza Pools’ are important site – and apparently an unprotected one – for this species – JC)

At Algaida pinewoods we did not find Azure-winged Magpie, but I had my first Griffon Vultures, superb great birds soaring over the trees, also more Booted Eagles and a Swallowtail butterfly - the only one of the week. (Azure –winged Magpies now seem very hard to find hear with most visitors failing to find them – in many visits over the last few years I’ve only seen them twice! JC)

At another of John's sites is a small marsh near Mesas de Asta which is set among rolling farmland. Here there was a wonderful male Montagu's Harrier was floating nearby - just fantastic. A Whiskered Tern appeared for a brief while over the lake, which had plentiful stilts and Avocets, also a flock of Ruffs and Black-tailed Godwits. (Later in the spring there are numerous Gull-billed Terns here – a somewhat incongruous sight hawking over the surrounding wheat fields! - JC).

The final venue of a mega-day's birding was Laguna de Medina, where John decided it was time I had another tick, so on cue he found a distant Collared Pratincole (which I didn't see), but soon thereafter found three more flying over the path. As we walked back to the car we found about 500 more (!), hawking for insects over the lake in the failing light: they resemble marsh terns but with a hint of plover about them too. Also here I heard, but didn't see, my first Savi's Warbler, and there were more stilts. New for the day were two or three Black-necked Grebes, Nightingales seemed to sing from every bush, and a couple of Great Reed Warblers "crunched" away from the crunched" away from the reeds around the lake. What a day!

It was a great day, made all the better for Robin's company. I should add that whilst Robin may have a 'Ford Model T' life list (i.e. well below 300 in the UK), he's actually more of a Ford Mustang birder. His recall of bird songs and calls is superb and far better than mine. He also insisted that, whilst I was 'allowed' to alert him if I found something good, he'd much prefer to do the actual identification for himself. This did cause me a few anxious moments, but was a terrific way for Robin to learn the birds. He always got the ID right, even on relatively poor views, usually hesitantly commenting something like "It looks like a ******!" and my usual reply "There's a reason for that ..." quickly became the catch phrase of the week!