Sunday 19 April 2009

Day 8 - Back to UK

DAY 8 - Thursday 19th February
Naturally the local Lesser Kestrels serenaded our departure from the village this morning. Since we had get to Gibraltar before 10:00 for our flight we had little time for birding today. A quick investigation of the Valdeinfierno produced Raven, but little else.

Overview
Although it was sunny and often pleasantly warm during the day, it was distinctly chilly at night. Despite being pretty much as far south as you can get in Europe, a thick jumper is a must at this time of the year. This sunny weather was fortunate as rain had been forecast before we went and even our day in Grazalema was dry. It was a great trip bettering the total attained in February 2007 by 22 species (135 vs 157 - although we did have two more whole days birding this year). Yet we still managed to miss ten species seen on the earlier trip - some of which we saw several times in 2007 (e.g. Squacco Heron, Peregrine, Long-tailed Tit & Cirl Bunting). This higher figure is also partly due to the better weather, improved local knowledge and the heavy rain earlier in the winter rainfall which provided plenty of good habitats. The latter meant that, for the first time in years, Espera was in excellent condition and not virtually dry so after many attempts I finally got to see a ‘real’ Crested Coot there. It also accounted for the large number of shallow “lagoons” on Trebujena Marshes which made them so good for Glossy Ibis and such like. However, this welcome wetness probably undermined our hopes of seeing any sandgrouse at this site. Had we opted for a earlier start each morning, then a target of c170 would have been quite feasible.

Birding highlights included a superb male white-spotted Bluethroat on Trebujena Marshes, an obliging Alpine Accentor at Llanos de Libar, finally nailing two un-neck collared Crested Coot at Espera and, above all, some superb views of Little Swift at Chipiona (at last!). Also very pleasing was the sense that I’m finally getting to know some of the sites. Finding both an additional route into and around the Trebujena marshes and the ‘settling pans’ near Sanlucar was also a big plus. It was also evident that Great White Egret has increased markedly in recent years (although the extensive flooding may have brought more birds out into the open). Glossy Ibis also seem to be doing very well. On the downside I was surprised to see no Black-shouldered Kite on La Janda although, having seen them elsewhere, we didn’t look very hard.

John Cantelo - February 2009

For photos of the trip see :-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonymorris/collections/72157614157792303/

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