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/

Day 1 - Birding Trip Feb '09 - Friday 13th

Well, after a long absence I decided that my recent trip out to Spain really needed to be written up here - in a slightly more irreverant style than elsewhere. My intentions were further boosted by the suggestion that this blog appear on a GoogleMaps Bird Blogger map - thanks to 'Pop' for setting it up. There's another seven days of this drivel to come .... assuming I can keep up the enthusiasm! Then there's a couple of birding trips planned for April & May!

We arrived on 12th Feb at dusk and thus too late to do any birding - although my pleas to visit Los Barrios rubish tip, admittedly the smelliest place in the known universe, to look for Eagle Owl were vetoed in favour of getting something to eat. However, as you're about to discover, despite starting birding on Friday 13th this was a great birding trip.

In February 2007 a trio of us enjoyed a pleasant week birding in Cadiz province. Our little group were described by a friend, somewhat harshly I thought, as ‘Victor Meldrew’ meets ‘Last of the Summer Wine.’ With other two unavailable this February, I went out with two retired reprobates;Tony Morris (our team photographer) and Jack Chantler. Despite the rest of the team’s obsession with something called ‘cricket’, a great time was had by all!

With Tony wanting to get shots of White-headed Duck, we opted to take a look at a site I variously call Algaida or Bonanza Pools. Previous guests to Chez Cantelo had reported finding some good pools near Algaida by which, mistakenly, I had assumed meant the backside (!) of Laguna de Tarelo. However, a quick search on GoogleEarth turned up a couple of small pools just off the Algaida road which I subsequently investigated and found to be far better than elsewhere for getting good views of this rare duck. Fortunately, for my reputation as the ‘local’ guide, the White-headed Ducks performed brilliantly. Despite a typical photographer’s complaint that the light was “wrong”, our team photographer got some excellent shots of the species. Also present was a a Purple Gallinule and the first of many Chiffchaffs. Chiffchaffs were abundant in all good habitats throughout the trip – few were in song and those that were trotted out the familiar little ditty so presumably most, if not all, were Common rather than Iberian Chiffchaff (although this species does start to arrive in February).

Returning to the main Bonanza – Algaida road we quickly encountered a group of 30+ Slender-billed Gulls on the saltpans beside the road. Most were adults although not all were sporting the blackish bill of high summer nor the full blush of pink that they later attain.

As they are just up the road the next logical step was a stop at Bonanza Saltpans. However, it quickly became apparent that the pans were exceptionally wet with relatively little exposed mud – which doubtless accounts for the poor numbers of waders here; c150 Black-winged Stilts, 3 Snipe, 1 Little Stint, 3 Sanderlings, 2 Dunlins, 1 Greenshank, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 6 Common Sandpipers & a Curlew. This was by far my lowest total at Bonanza, but at least we saw the site’s No1 speciality – Shelduck! Also of note were a couple of Caspian Terns, two each of Common Buzzard, Red Kite and Short-toed Eagle plus a single Booted Eagle. Most unexpected, and seemingly entirely out-of-place, were 3 Kittiwakes – Mediterranean salt pans hardly being typical habitat for this largely marine gull (but see anon!) We also had our first Great White Egret here – this species turned out to have spread somewhat since earlier visits and we kept bumping into them when in suitable habitat.

It may be a pretty hackneyed route, but from Bonanza we went on to Laguna de Tarelo & Pinar de Algaida. The laguna produced a further 49 White-headed Ducks, a Purple Gallinule, Red-crested Pochards, Common Pochards, Gadwalls, 6 Black-necked Grebes, 48 Night Herons (but not Squaccos which are often present even in February). The hide here – which was pretty tatty – has now been removed which I suspect may account for the greater distance of the ducks & herons. We did get two species I hadn’t seen here before - a Penduline Tit and 4 Common Waxbills. Despite extensive searching the pines successfully concealed Azure-winged Magpie although not Serins, Crested Tits and Short-toed Treecreepers.

Heading out towards the Guadalquivir, we turned south along the river towards the Salinas de Monte Algaida (i.e. the‘back’ of Bonanza saltpans). As expected we quickly picked up several Lesser Short-toed Larks here plus another Booted Eagle and an Osprey. Heading back north towards Trebujena at the flooded salt pans about a kilometre beyond the sluice we found a large flock of waterbirds which included 250+ Pochards, c30 Red-crested Pochards and at least 10 Marbled Ducks. Although this was the site where I first saw Marbled Duck in August 2006, this species can be very elusive so it was excellent to catch up with them in winter. More raptors followed with two Booted Eagles, a single Griffon Vulture, a fine adult male Hen Harrier and a good number of Marsh Harriers. Amongst the Flamingos here one caught our attention as it was both distinctly smaller and a brighter orange-red. However, when it uncurled its neck the head and bill were typical of the common European version! With relatively high waters waders remained scarce with only Greenshanks and Black-winged Stilts being noted. As usual, despite careful scanning and this being a ‘known’ site’, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse remained elusive to the point of invisibility here. However, one stop proved very worthwhile as a couple of Bluethroats – one a fine white-spotted adult male – showed very well in a drainage ditch. (The reed fringes at both Algaida Pools & Laguna de Tarelo certainly hold this species, but you probably have a better chance of seeing them along drainage ditches on the marshes).

At the end of the day we called in at Laguna de Medina which harboured c50 White-headed Ducks plus 10+ Black-necked Grebes plus all the usual waterfowl. However, numbers of Coots were well down on last autumn (and no Crested Coot were seen in their favoured spot) which may reflect the very high water level here. A Sedge Warbler was singing in the reeds and, as usual, the scrub held many small passerines – predominantly Blackcaps. We never did allow enough time to walk down to the WWH (the World’s Worst Hide) here which was probably no great loss, but the failure to investigate the new boardwalk at the far end of the reserve was a disappointment.

A good day without too much talk from the other two about this mysterious thing called C-R-I-C-K-E-T which seems to have some totemic relevance for the other two poor old fellows!

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

Alcala in February

OK, so it's the driest winter in Spain since nobody knows when and we manage to go out for a week in February when it rained every day! Even so it was good to get out from England for a week.

Amongst the wintering species was a small balbo of Crane on La Janda and a penduline Tit at Laguna de Medina. The latter site also had a 100+ White-headed Duck, a few dozen Black-necked Grebe, a single Flamingo and a pair of Garganey. Although it was only mid-month, there were still a good few migrants arriving although it's a moot point how many were migrants and how many had overintered. Amongst the migrants were groups of Black Kite - flocks of up to 30-40 - drifting in from Africa. Arguably the odd Booted Eagle may have wintered, but a brace of Short-toed Eagles and a single Egyptian Vulture at Bolonia were certainly migrants judging by the way they were heading north. At least some of Swallows must have wintered and maybe the single Red-rumped Swallow did so, but the flocks of House Martins that appeared at the end of the week looked to be newly arrived. As always, the highlight were the Lesser Kestrels over the house. It's hard to be sure, but there were at least 30 over the terrace and, by my rough rule of thumb, that means 60 odd over the village. It doesn't matter how many times I see them, the Lesser Kestrels are a source of endless fascination. They were also remarkably tame. Hopefully both the birds and the weather will be better when we go out again in April.

Griffons!

As often as not when in Spain I awake with every intention to go off birding somewhere, but this resolve frequently lasts only as long as it takes me to investigate the view from the terrace. To a large degree this is because it is simply the most convenient spot from which to see raptors. To date I’ve seen seventeen bird of prey species from the terrace (Griffon & Egyptian Vultures, Osprey, Short-toed & Booted Eagles, Red and Black Kite, Marsh and Montagu’s Harriers, Common and Honey Buzzards, Goshawk, Sparrowhawk, Common and Lesser Kestrels, Hobby and Peregrine). Frustratingly I’ve had Hen Harrier fly over the edge of the village plus Black-winged Kite, Bonelli’s Eagle and Merlin within a few minutes drive Although my maximum species total for any one day has been “only” 12 species, the numbers of birds seen must run into hundreds. Lesser Kestrels often provide much of the entertainment and the chance of good views of this charismatic little falcon that draw me to the terrace and the lure of passing migrant birds of prey that keeps me there.

Being big broad winged birds vultures don’t tend to be early risers (another advantage!) and generally drift into sight mid or late morning. This isn’t always the case as one memorable morning on 10th April 2007 demonstrated. I padded up to the terrace at about 8:00 without any expectation of seeing much more than Spotless Starlings and Lesser Kestrels particularly since the early morning mist had yet to dissipate. Both the expected birds were sitting in the trees opposite, but I was astonished to see Griffons circling round beneath the low cloud and even some sitting in trees below. In all some 200 birds were loafing about around the house. Even when the sun came out they stayed around to fly low over – and below – the terrace. It was a bizarre experience to look out of the downstairs windows and see one of these huge birds pass by at eye level!

In most birds in flight the head is held more or less level with the body, but with Griffon Vulture the long neck allows it to be carried well below the body line. This clear adaptation to their lifestyle isn’t obvious on most views since you tend to see them as they sail effortlessly above. That morning as they paraded past the terrace not only did they demonstrate the extraordinarily good view they had of what passed below them, but also, somewhat disconcertingly, swivelled their head and neck to get a better look at what was behind them! They might look big in most circumstances, but at that range they were damn enormous! It was a relief to reflect that they prefer their food to be dead before they move in!

Although this encounter with such a large number of low flying vultures was remarkable, seeing them glide low over the house isn’t too unusual. In fact, I’ve never seen them so close anywhere else. This is another reason to stay put along with the fact that one of the earliest records of Rüppell’s Vulture in Spain was from Alcala. Naturally, it helps that there’s a constant supply of food and drink nearby!

The Molinos Valley

The Molinos valley stretches east from the edge of the village into the Alcornocales Natural park. Although the drover’s road here once went all the way to Jimena, it now only takes you to the head of the valley (about an hour’s walk from the village). Here a path continues path up into the hills to the old ruined mills that give the valley its name. There’s a sizable vulture roost in the rocky peaks at the far end of the valley. This makes it a good place to see Griffons all year round, but particularly when numbers are low elsewhere. As may be expected these low mountains are good for other raptors; Egyptian Vulture, Booted, Short-toed Eagle, Buzzard, Peregrine, etc. However, the real prize here is Bonelli’s Eagle. Although they can be elusive I’ve had more sightings here than anywhere else locally. It also holds Barn, Tawny and Little Owl whilst it’d hard to imagine some of those rocky bluffs don’t harbour the odd Eagle Owl! The valley also seems to be a natural funnel for migrants. Flocks of Bee-eaters, hirundines and various small passerines certainly seem to channel through here in good numbers. Indeed my only local records of Tawny Pipit, Great-spotted Cuckoo and Rock Sparrow have been here. In spring and summer Woodchat Shrike are abundant and Southern Grey Shrike occasional. Look out too for Black-eared Wheatear at the entrance to the valley as this is the most regular site that I’ve found for them in the area. Sardinian Warblers and Black Redstarts are common and Stonechat ubiquitous.

At the far end there’s a small venta which, despite serving indifferent coffee, is always packed at the weekends so might be worth exploring for lunch. (There’s also a large camp site here). Beyond the venta, the road rapidly degenerates into a rough track before it reaches an old gate and the track gives way to a footpath. After heavy rain the claggy clay here makes it almost impassable, but when dry this is a terrific walk. Look extra carefully at those Crested Larks here as some of them are actually Theklas! The path is tightly hemmed in by rocky extrusions to the left and a stream to the right, but fortunately the path is sandy here. The rocks to the left usually hold Blue Rock Thrush although they nest below the castle in the village, the birds here are often easier to see. As you reach an open area the clayey subsoil returns to make progress difficult after heavy rain. This isn’t a bad spot to stop for a picnic if you don’t want to walk any further. Look out for Cirl Buntings here.

However, if you want to go further then bear to the left of a large, incongruous Scots Pine and follow a narrowing path towards craggy topped hills. When you get high on the flanks of the hillside the path seems to be a dead-end, but if you look closely the path corkscrews and squeezes between rocks to take you to the narrowest of clefts in the rocks. This is a terrific spot to pause and admire the view. It’s also a place to ponder how many past generations have walked this way. Look carefully at the crags as I’ve had ibex here. The path then drops down towards the old water mills. This is an even better spot for a picnic! The path crosses the stream and continues upwards towards a forest road, but it becomes much less distinct here and this is as far as I’ve gone.

Not just birds!

OK I'll admit that I'm not the all-round naturalist that I'd like to be, but every so often I do look at other kinds of wildlife! Admitedly the mammal list from the terrace is pretty feeble compared to the bird list - three "species" of bat (pipistrelle sp., noctule sp. and that big low flying one) and, if I can count dead animals, one shrew sp (it was dangling from a Lesser Kestrel's bill!).

However, if you look there are things to see. That said, a good few of the wild rabbits I've seen here have been on large plates next to a pile of chips (Venta Puerto de Gallis is reknown for its game). Still, it's good to see them about since, after all, it's the animal that gave Spain it's name. Hares are a bit less frequent, but as most authorities reckon they're a seperate species, Iberian Hare, worth catching up with if your fanatical lister. Predators I've seen include Fox (much less easily seen than in the UK), Otter (once) and Mongoose (three times), but the mountains are supposed to harbour Genet & Beech Martin. One surprise recently was seeing some Ibex at the far end of the Molinos valley - according to the relevant Spanish atlas they shouldn't be there! With the nearest population over in the Grazelema Natural park.

The mammilian highlight, though, is a trip out into the straits from Tarifa for cetaceans - Bottle-nosed & Common & Dolphins, Pilot and Killer Whales.

Boring bits about the the house ....

Above left is an incomplete view of the terrace - there were a table and four chairs behind me when I took the photo. Whenever possible (which is most days) we eat here enjoying a cool breakfastin the morning and fabulous sunset views in the evening. To the right (above) and to the left are two views of the the downstairs room. One looks towards the stairs and the other towards the kitchen area. The kitchen has a hob with four gas rings, a toaster and a microwave. There is also all the cultlery, plates, etc that you need. Set up for two, the table can be moved into the kitchen so you can enjoy the view when you eat. Don't worry if it's raining (which isn't often) as the table opens out to seat four people. In the 'living area' there's a large coffee table (with masses of information on the area stored on its lower shelf) and a small stereo system. There are a dozen or so CDs (inc. one of Spanish birdsong!), but fortunately the stereo plays recordable CDs. A shelf on the stairwell houses field guides to birds, plants, butterflies and mammals plus various 'Where to watch ...' guides.

First left is the main bedroom which has a double bed - despite the angle it's a good sized room with a chest of draws, a wardrobe and a large armchair.

Second left is the twin bedded room which also has a wardrobe. Both rooms share the panoramic view with the terrace although views of Lesser Kestrel are better from the main bedroom!

The bathroom and a large corridor is also on this floor. The former has all the usual utilities (inc. a full sized bath) whilst the corridor has room for a couple of chairs - often a pleasantly cool place to sit on a hot day.