Cadiz Province - May 2009

Birding Cadiz Province - May 2009

Day 1 – Friday 22nd May
Alcala – Cantarannas/Los Naverros – Montenmedio Golf – Bolonia – Playa de los Lances.
Having arrived in Seville at dusk and only collecting the car once it was dark, we managed only swift sp., Tawny and Little Owl on the 21st. So we were keen to get up early (6:00 AM) and out today. The day’s tally started soon after first light with Pallid and Common Swift, Lesser Kestrel, Cattle and Little Egret added from the terrace. The absence of Olivaceous Warbler at last year’s site near the village was disappointing, but a couple of Melodious and Cetti’s Warblers plus Red-rumped Swallow were noted here.
On our jaunt around the Cantarranas/Los Naveros area, we found Kestrel, Buzzard, Black Kite, 5 Montagu’s Harrier (all but one adult males), a Marsh Harrier and a Short-toed Eagle all of which quickly bumped up the raptor list. Other notable birds included Calandra Lark and Bee-eater. Little Bustard, my target species in this area continues to elude me, but I think that having explored the area more thoroughly, I now have a much better idea where to look!
Puerto de Bolonia/Sierra de la Plata was our next main destination, but en route we diverted to Montenmedio Golf Club. Here we found 15 Bald Ibis which, almost suicidally, favoured feeding on the club’s driving range surrounded by bright yellow golf balls! At Bolonia we had Crag Martin, our first Blue Rock Thrush, Black-eared Wheatear and Woodchat Shrike.
Playa de los Lances was very disappointing. A meagre total of five Kentish Plover, a single Redshank, 10 Sandwich Tern and a handful of Yellow-legged Gull was, in large part, due to the apparent inability of kite-surfers to read the many notices banning them from the reserve. Four or five were brazenly using the shallow lagoon right in front of the birdwatching hide! Needless to say such arrogant disregard of the notices and the needs of wildlife (and birders) made me furious. I only wish my Spanish was up to explaining myself. Apparently the local authorities regularly turn a 'blind eye' to such behaviour since Kite surfing is 'big business' in the area.
With a couple of Booted Eagles over the terrace on our return we ended the day with a modest 61 species. None the less it was a good day since I finally caught up with the Bald Ibis which however, dubious as ticks, were good to see.

Day 2 – Saturday 23rd May
Sanlucar area – Bonanza - Algaida pinewoods – Laguna de Tarelo - Algaida-Trebujena Marshes – Laguna de Medina – Pes de Embalse de Barbate
Another early start meant we got to the mouth of the Guadalquivir in good time to see three Little Swift. Cutting back towards Algaida, via the ‘back way’, a stop at the “settling pools” was rewarded with c500 Collared Pratincole – many at very close range. Amongst the pratincoles was our first Short-toed Lark and the reedy ditch here produced a Little Bittern and the surrounding fields two more (male) Montagu’s Harrier. Bonanza ‘pools’ produced the expected obliging White-headed Ducks (5 of them) and Night Heron. Bonanza saltpans were, as in April, disappointing with very few waders and this was compounded by access now being more restricted. (The track along the fence up to the small white building – often one of the best areas – is now closed off. Apparently to stop ‘drinking parties of local youths using the area). Slender-billed Gulls, Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Ringed and Kentish Plover plus an assortment of BoPs were seen, but little else. Later, by nipping round behind Lagua de Tarelo, we added Dunlin (50+), Curlew Sandpiper, c50 Whiskered Terns and more Slender-billed Gulls. Laguna de Tarelo itself held Spoonbill and Squacco Heron. To my surprise, seconds after admitting that I’d rarely seen Azure-winged Magpie here and never from the car, one suddenly appeared bouncing along from tree to tree! A drive along the Guadalquivir added 4 Marbled Duck, Lesser Short-toed Lark (plus many more ‘greater’), Spectacled Warblers, 3 Purple Heron and still more Montagu’s Harrier (4 males). En route southwards we had c150 Gull-billed Tern, another (male) Montagu’s Harrier and 6+ Red-rumped Swallow at Mesas de Asta marsh. A stop at Laguna de Medina failed to produced the hoped for Crested Coot, but did have a single White-headed Duck, 50+ Black-necked Grebe, another Little Bittern and a very close Mongoose. A final stop at the Presa de Embalse de Barbate added more Booted and Short-toed Eagles plus our first good views of Bee-eaters.

Day 3 – Sunday 24th May
Trafalgar – Atlanterra – La Janda – Embalse de Barbate – Molinos Valley – Cantarranas
At Trafalgar there were c20 Cory’s and 4 Balearic Shearwaters, but the tidal pool here was dry hence no Audouin’s Gull at this usually reliable spot. A brief seawatch at Punta Camarinal (Bolonia) added a further 20 Cory’s Shearwater and there were a few Booted & Short-toed Eagle in the same area. Although the rice fields on La Janda are being re-flooded now, this site only added Little Ringed Plover to the list, but the fields towards Benalup had a minimum of 500 Black Kite, 50+ Griffon Vultures, 6 Booted and 4 Short-toed Eagles. Another attempt to catch up at Spanish Imperial Eagle or Black-winged Kite at the Embalse de Barbate proved unsuccessful, but resulted in a handful more Booted and Short-toed Eagles plus a handsome Black-eared Wheatear. Our final stop before our evening meal was a local one; the Molinos valley. More eagles again (but not the hoped for Bonelli’s Eagle) plus our only Egyptian Vulture of the trip plus a couple of Cirl Buntings.
After a quick meal, we nipped out to the Cantarranas area where we had seven Hoopoes, a Black-winged Kite (eventually) and at least 6 Red-necked Nightjar. Finally we had a Natterjack Toad crossing the track.

Day 4 – Monday 25th May
Laguna de Fuente de Piedra – La Lantejuela – Rio Carbones – Laguna de Zaracutin
The day started well with a Bonelli’s Warbler singing below the house. We had an early start, but little birding, other than ‘en route’, was done until we reached Fuente de Piedra. The lake margin had receded a good deal since mid April and, as a consequence, the main ‘pack’ of Flamingos was very distant. After over an hour of steady searching, a Lesser Flamingo (one of two) suddenly appeared from behind a low island. Its brighter ‘day-glow’ pink plumage and scarlet back plumes made it stick out like a sore thumb. Closer investigation also showed a black face. A White-headed Duck was a surprise, but a single Black Tern (amongst 300+ Gull-billed) was more expected.
Inevitably, we had to explore the La Lantjuela area for bustards and equally inevitably we saw none. However, at the bridge over the Rio Corbones (near Marchena) we found two Rollers, a minimum of 4 Spanish Sparrow (and probably many times that number) and two Olivaceous Warblers; the latter species typically inhabiting riverine tamarisk scrub.
Thanks to a close study of GoogleEarth, we reached Laguna de Mejorada via good back roads without driving through heavily congested Los Placios Y Villafranca (as most trip reports suggest). Here we had a minimum of 7 Olivaceous Warblers and two Rufous Bush Chats. The Olivaceous (again in tamarisks) were with both Melodious and Reed Warblers; a useful comparison both visually and audibly. Searching the run down allotments, Robin found the Rufous Bush Chat 40 metres further along the old concrete aqueduct on an old track beyond some iron gates. We exited to the nearby N IV and headed towards El Palma de Troya. Here we briefly explored Laguna de Zarracatin; c330 Flamingo, Whiskered Tern, Avocet and Black-winged Stilt. Back home in Alcala we had 19 Lesser Kestrels over the terrace (our largest total of the trip).

Day 5 – Tuesday 26th May
Grazalema – Llanos de Libar – Jimena – Castillo de Castellar
Another longish haul over to Grazalema picking up Nuthatch, Thekla Lark, Woodlark, Iberian Chiffchaff and Southern Grey Shrike (at my usual site south of Grazalema village) en route. Despite the confusing mêlée of thousands of Swift over Grazalema village, Robin managed to pick up a single White-rumped Swift; naturally it was just about the only bird of the trip I missed! Exploration of the Llanos de Libar (still not accessible via the Benaoján road) started well with two Bonelli’s Eagle sitting on crags guarding the entrance, but the ‘regulars’ here proved much harder than in April. Goodish views of Black Wheatear, fair ones of Rock Bunting, poor ones of Rock Sparrow, scarcely a view at all of singing Orphean Warbler and no view at all of calling Choughs. At the far end of the valley Subalpine Warbler showed well as did a superb male Black Redstart (surprisingly the only one of the trip), but much less expected was a male Common Redstart. Nearby at Cueva del Gato at least a dozen Alpine Swift milled around the gaping entrance to the massive cave.
At “Castillar bridge” (near the venta on the way up to the old village) we had a single Monarch butterfly showed well but a high flying Two-tailed Pasha was less obliging. The village itself gave us very close views of Blue Rock Thrush and fine views across the countryside, but little else.

Day 6 – Wednesday 27th May
Trebujena - Algaida pinewoods – Laguna Tarelo - Bonanza – Lagunas de Espera & Lebrija –Cantarranas
Another search of the Trebujena area. An exploration of the rough tracks to the north of the Sanlucar-Trebujena road produced the hoped for Stone Curlew, a couple more Montagu’s Harriers, a Red Kite, many more Black Kites, a Short-toed Eagle, at least two Lesser Short-toed, 100+ Short-toed and 30 Calandra Larks. A visit to Pinar de Algaida, Laguna de Tarelo and then Bonanza added only a couple of Curlew to the list. However, Little Tern and Slender-billed Gull showed extremely well.
Our next destination was the Espera area. However, our chosen route took us close to Lagunas de Galiana and Cigarrera which are just over the border in Seville province. The first was reed choked and held little, but the second will surely repay closer attention; 2 Black-necked Grebe, a Purple Gallinule, 4 Red-crested Pochards, 2 White-headed Ducks, 2+ Olivaceous Warblers and a small flock of Spanish Sparrows plus numerous Coot. This mix of species, is so similar to nearby Espera, that it must suggest that Crested Coot is a real possibility here. The Lagunas de Espera held a similar range of species, but Laguna Dulce de Zorrilla came up trumps with two Crested Coot. We returned back to Alcalá via Cantarranas area, but our hopes for Little Bustard were dashed by the strengthening wind.

Day 7 – Thursday 28th May
Cantarranas – Atlanterra – Puerto de Bolonia – Playa de los lances – Valdeinfierno – El Palancar – La Teja
Birding today was seriously compromised by gale force winds which, at times, made it hard to stand upright. Accordingly the birding was very difficult with birds, small and large, keeping well down. There were more swifts at Zahara/Atlanterra than I’ve ever seen there previously, but they were whipping by so fast it was hard to get a decent look; Pallid, Common and Alpine were all seen, but not the hoped for White-rumped. The good news at Playa de los Lances was that it was too windy for kite surfers, but the bad news was that it was also too windy for birds! However, Sanderling were added to the list here. With it too windy for much else we headed for the woods off the A381 in the hope that some of the narrow valleys might provide shelter. This they did to some degree and we found good numbers of Iberian Chiffchaffs and Bonelli’s Warblers, but none of the woodland species we were still missing.

Day 8 – Friday 29th May
Alcalá de los Gazules – Gibraltar
Up early for our last day and the morning flight from Gibraltar. Lesser Kestrels, naturally saw us off from the village and, aside from a few other species (it was till very windy), that was the end of our birding jaunt.

With 151 we had some twenty fewer species than my trip in 2008 although we got most of key species –Marbled Duck, Crested Coot, both ‘white-rumped’ swifts, Roller, Rufous Bush Chat, Olivaceous Warblers, Azure-winged Magpie, etc. The difference is largely explained by the relative dearth of waders & gulls (not helped by the closure of a key track at Bonanza) and woodland species (no woodpeckers, no Crested or Long-tailed Tit for example). On the positive side I was able to explore a couple of new sites, the best being Lagunas de Cigarrera.

Thanks to Robin M for his good company on this trip,

John

April Bird Trip - Day 10 - 11th April

Day 10 – Saturday 11th April: Robin’s Last Day
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.

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.

April Bird Trip - Day 9 - 10th April

Day 9 – Friday 10th April: A Rose by any other name!
GR - En route to the Guadalquivir again we saw a Stone Curlew in flight. The usual astonishing variety of birds was seen at the Trebujena marshes - 2 Night Herons, c12 Greater Flamingoes, c12 Collared Pratincoles, 4 Kentish Plovers, 2+ Curlew Sandpipers, a Slender-billed Gull, 1 Short-toed and c4 lovely Calandra Larks. Raptors included Short-toed Eagle and a male and a female Montagu's Harrier. There were a lot of Booted Eagles doing a lot of noisy displaying. A Quail was heard but, as usual, invisible, and we also saw our first Turtle Doves for the week.

A bird perched on a wire above the track turned out to be a Rose-coloured Starling. Unusually, John was more excited about it than me- not just another exciting Spanish bird, but a Spanish rarity! Another group of birders turned up, Spanish as it happened, but they were relative beginners and didn't realise the significance of the sighting any more than I did. John, however, was anxious to share this bird with local birders so waved down another passing car containing a Spanish birder. This turned out to be Javier Hildalgo, one of the directors of the SEO (the Spanish RSPB) - no less – and a prominent member of the local “sherry-aristocracy”; naturally he spoke perfect English! Although initially sceptical, soon saw the bird himself! It was a first summer bird still with some juvenile brown feathers. Senor Hidalgo then told us about some Marbled Teal he had seen nearby - we found them lurking in clumps of rushes at the edge of a large lagoon, two neat little biscuit-coloured ducks. In an elated - not to say triumphant - mood we had a look in the Algaida pinewoods. Here a Hoopoe was "singing" and there were several Short-toed Treecreepers. The whole area rang with the calls of Booted Eagles and we realised that one pair were apparently prospecting a nest in a pine right by the track where many people were going to be walking and picnicking (Spaniards seem to love picnics even more than the British) over the holiday weekend. Perhaps Booteds are at a very high population at present - we counted about 10 birds in the area.

Later, visiting the beautiful garden of the 11th Century Moorish Alcala at Jerez de la Frontera, we saw a large and elegant Scarce Swallowtail, the most spectacular butterfly of the week in a fantastic setting - together with a more mundane Wall Brown. En route to meet Liz Cantelo at Gibraltar we stopped off at Las Palmones - here there were just 6 Avocets and a few Sandwich Terns.

JC - Robin’s first comment on seeing the Rose-coloured Starling was something along the lines of ‘Number 41” and it was only my excited babble that made him realise that this species is not usual hereabouts. Although Senor Hildalgo thought that it was the first for the Coto, it seems to have been the second record – not bad all the same! Notice again the leisurely style of the trip; Robin not only got to see a genuine medieaval mosque in Jerez castle - remember we met studying History at university - but also enjoyed a well earnt glass of sherry & tapas at the iconic Gallo Azul bar in the centre of town!

April Birding Trip - Day 8 - 9th April

Day 8 – Thursday 9th April: R & R
RG - A sea watch at Punta Secreta produced a couple of Great Skuas but little else, so we returned to Los Alcornocales for the rest of the day. At Embalse de Celerin there were six Little Ringed Plovers and a Common Sandpiper. A walk in the beautifully wooded Val de Infierno - which reminded us both of Welsh oakwoods - resulted in hearing and seeing some 10 Iberian Chiffchaffs, an exquisite Firecrest, Willow Warbler and 2 Cirl Buntings. There were lots of the nominate form of the Speckled Wood, another Spanish Festoon and 3 Green Hairstreaks.

Moving on to our main site for the day, a return visit to Los Molinos, we did much better, with both raptors and butterflies aplenty. The former included two more Bonelli's Eagles, the only ones for Los Alcornocales this week, unfortunately rather distant views, and another Egyptian Vulture. There was obviously a bit of a raptor passage with 5 Booted Eagles and 2 Short-toed Eagles accompanying some 40 Griffons. Other birds included no less than 5 exquisite Black-eared Wheatears, 4 more Iberian Chiffchaffs, 2 Cirl Buntings, a Bonelli's Warbler and the usual Serins. It was the best day for butterfly variety, with 11 species including c8 Spanish Festoons, a Moroccan Orange tip, 2 Cleopatras - my first for the week, they resemble Brimstone, but with an orange flush on the forewing - 2 Provencal Hairstreaks, 4 or so more Green Hairstreaks, a "helice" Clouded Yellow, 2 "cramera" Brown Argus, 3 Common Blues and a Small Copper. John also identified Loose-flowered and Tongue Orchids.
By stark contrast to the idyllic - and fragrant - Molinos valley, in the evening we visited Los Barrios rubbish tip for a possible Eagle Owl - all we saw was a Griffon, c40 White Storks and the amazing sight of c500 Black Kites!

JC - After the excessive amount of driving the previous day we both needed a quieter day – it’s just a pity that Cory’s Shearwater picked this week to be elusive! It was the first spring trip I’ve had out to Spain where I’ve not seen them. A shame too, that my hunch that the rubbish tip might hold Eagle Owl proved unfounded! It was incredibly smelly, but at least the sunset was terrific!

April Birding Trip - Day 7 - 8th April

Day 7 – Wednesday 8th April: A Lesser twitch
RG - Back to the Guadalquivir - this time at Brazo d'Este where we found a Savi's Warbler singing from the top of a reed - noticeably darker brown than Reed Warbler. Also a single Squacco Heron flushed from the reeds then landed in the open giving excellent views - but the only one of the week. Other birds here included c150 Collared Pratincoles and c30 Whiskered Terns, both species feeding over the open lagoons, a Gull-billed Tern, c8 Purple Herons and c4 Night Herons, a Spoonbill, c5 Purple Gallinules, 3 Glossy Ibises, 4 Marsh Harriers, 2 superb as always male Montagu's Harriers, 6 Kentish Plovers and more Bee-eaters, and our only flock of Spanish Sparrows seen in the week - about 30 dustbathing.

From here we drove the hundred kilometres or so to Laguna Fuente de Piedra which is an unmissable place - a huge, but shallow, lake covered with about 8,000 Flamingos! Six of them were Lesser Flamingos, rare vagrants from Africa, with all-pink plumage and black bills, and only about three-quarters the size of the Greater Flamingo. They were John's sole tick of the week, and he picked them out almost immediately, despite the fact that the mainly British birders present had not made the attempt. The number of waders was staggering - of course many Black-winged Stilts and Avocets, but also c70 Little Stints, and we noticed Kentish Plovers, summer-plumaged Curlew Sandpiper and Spotted Redshank and a Ruff, and doubtless many more if we had had time to look! There was also a flock of about 150 Gull-billed Terns sat on a gravel spit, and a distant calling Hoopoe. I saw more Lesser Emperors here.

We ended the day searching for bustards and sandgrouse in the Marchena / La Lantaguera area - to no effect - apart, that is, from seeing 3 more male Montagu's Harriers, c300 Collared Pratincoles, about 3 Calandra Larks and, inevitably, more Bee-eaters.

JC - Fortunately, when Robin opened the map to navigate from Brazo de Este to the Lantejuela area (where we planned to look for bustards), I realised that it was only another 100km (on a fast motorway) to Fuente de Piedra. I’d been there once before – staying nearby in Campillos expressly to see this site – only to find it bone dry and birdless. This time it was a stunning oasis of bird activity – a really superb area even without Lesser Flamingos! Although the Lessers were initially very distant, I was surprised how easy it was to pick them out; not only were they distinctly smaller (and shorter) but also they sported really bright red plumage. At closer range the black bills and faces, pierced by a gleaming reddish eye, gave them a slightly sinister air. Robin, determined to locate them for himself, spent 20 minutes searching before anyone realised that his view was onscured by a tamarisk! Unfortunately this detour meant we gave the bustards less time than we'd hoped - next time perhaps. The only downside of this great day was the discovery, once back home, that a Wilson's Phalarope (which a Spanish birder we'd met told us about) was relocated, having gone 'missing for several days, at Brazo de Este after we'd left. Pity, but cutting our visit to the area short did ensure good views of the Lesser Flamingos!

April Birding trip - Day 5 & 6 - 6th & 7th April

Day 5 - Monday 6th April: A day in Grazalema
RG - A day in the mountains of the spectacular Sierra Grazelema. The first stop at Villa Lengua Rosario near Ubrique, beneath high cliffs, produced two Blue Rock Thrushes and my first Black Wheatears, one of which was seen quite near. A distant Egyptian Vulture was with some soaring Griffons. Moving on towards Grazelema we stopped at a place where John had seen Southern Grey Shrike in February- and within very few minutes one was seen on wires. It soon vanished then reappeared a bit later on the other side of the road showing well. Underparts much pinker than the pure white of the Great Grey, and white supercilia met above the bill. It was also being watched by some friendly but not very experienced French birders - one of them seemed to think the Shrike was a Blackcap! The real mountains were next reached, the magnificent Llanos de Libar above Montejaque. Here we stopped in a dramatic valley and immediately had stunning close-up views of a Rock Bunting, and less close ones of a flock of Rock Sparrows - there must have been about 25 of them all told. A bit higher up an Orphean Warbler was singing a beautiful mellifluous song. A walk in a high level meadow for butterflies only produced a "helice" Clouded Yellow, but here we had our only Subalpine Warblers of the week, the attractive male giving very good views, while a Firecrest also appeared briefly. A Short-toed Treecreeper called from a stunted pine. Other birds up in this tremendous valley were c5 Bonelli's Warblers, c30 Alpine Swifts flying very high, a Black-eared Wheatear, about 4 Black Wheatears and a singing Cirl Bunting, as well as another close but brief view of the attractive Rock Bunting. Of the raptors we had 2 Short-toed Eagles and a Booted Eagle, and, at a place John had seen it before, a superb Bonelli's Eagle. It was first seen perched high on top of a crag, not far from a similarly perched Short-toed, then it flew much closer to us - a really charismatic bird. It soared up into the sunshine, another bird joining it before both flew off. The bird of a splendid day.

Returning home we stopped first at Bornos Reservoir where there were a Purple Heron and 2 Spoonbills before pushing on to the Lagunas de Espera. At Espera lagoons (which reminded me of the Cotswold Water Park) there was an "observatorio blanco" which was really cool to sit in, but from which no birds could actually be seen. (I didn’t realise that the Cotswold Water Park had so many exotic species in addition to Red-crested Pochard! - JC) On the last pool we found a couple of Crested Coots, a declining species locally, together with a male White-headed Duck, 6 Black-necked Grebes, a Marsh Harrier and a Purple Gallinule. Also here was a Mongoose, running across the road in front of us as we approached the reserve. Insects included a Spanish Festoon, another "helice" Clouded Yellow, and a surprising number of dragonflies - Lesser Emperors, considerably smaller than Emperors, and Scarlet Dragonflies (both rarities in Britain.)

Finally, at Arcos de la Frontera, there were more Pallid Swifts than we had seen so far, about 100 or so, together with c30 Lesser Kestrels, and, on the way home, another Booted Eagle.

JC - I thought the inner tourist in Robin would enjoy this spectacular town – personally I enjoyed the superb croissants we bought here even more.

Day 6 - Tuesday 7th April: A Bridge too far
En route to Cape Trafalgar a Barn Owl flew over. At the cape sea-watching was not productive, the only birds of real interest being two Slender-billed Gulls, the rest were fairly normal "British" species. Broomrapes were everywhere in the dunes. Large display boards described the battle fought here two hundred years ago. The estuary at Barbate was also a disappointment, but in the woods here, planted to stabilise the largest dune in Europe, we had intimate views of a Short-toed Treecreeper, and there were some interesting orchids - Sombre Bee Orchid and Mirror Orchid. At the observatory at Playa de las Lances things began to look up on the birding front - a fairly distant Audouin's Gull was put up by some walkers before we could get a good view, but then, within a few minutes, first a group of Kentish Plovers appeared on grass behind the hide, then we saw a Collared Pratincole with them, a brilliant close view of it on the ground, then when it flew off calling, another Audouin's Gull flew right over the hide, near enough for me to see its blood-red "lipstick" bill. A distant Black-winged Stilt and about 70 Sanderlings in front of the hide completed the list.
At the second visit to La Janda ( a different area of this vast drained marshland) our luck was still in. We had intimate views of Bee-eaters ( the first actually seen perched, despite the fact we had seen migrants virtually everywhere we went), and there were 3+ Spoonbills, c4 Black-winged Stilts, c7 Purple Gallinules and a Gull-billed Tern. Raptors were the main interest - a female Hen Harrier, 3 Marsh Harriers, 2 Short-toed and a Booted Eagle and a magnificent juvenile Spanish Imperial Eagle, distant but distinctive, the largest eagle of the week! More raptors were seen near Embalse de Barbate - a Booted and c4 Short-toed Eagles, with about 10 Bee-eaters.

JC - In the absence of the restraining hand of my “other half” I’d decided to attempt the perilous Benalup-Fascinas track in the hope, a vain one as it turned out, of getting Little Bustard. In parts it was certainly more trough than track and required very careful driving. Unfortunately after 9-10 km of corrugated motoring, we came to a concrete bridge the other side of which was a small 3-D display evidently commemorating trench warfare; I decided that, having got SIE ‘in the bag’ to go no further!

April Birding Trip - Day 4 - 5th April

Day 4 - Sunday 5th April: Birds are not the only tick …
Robin, to my pretended disgust, had this strange notion that some flying things that were not birds could be ticked. Apparently, these are called b-u-t-t-e-r-f-l-i-e-s. So today was mainly dedicated to pottering around locally for these wee beasties. It probably cost us a few good birds, but I think Robin needed the rest from all that hectic real ticking!

RG - On the way to the Los Molinos valley, a short distance from Alcala, we saw a gathering of up to 30 or more Griffon Vultures. They seemed to be interested in a spot at the edge of a field, though there appeared to be no carcase there, it seemed more like a meeting of some sort was going on! A trek up the Los Molinos valley produced a mass of colourful flowers and my first Iberian Chiffchaff singing, the song began like a Chiffchaff and ended like a Pied Flycatcher. To my eyes it looked more like Willow than Chiff, with more of a neck, and apparently yellower underparts, particularly undertail coverts, than on adult Chiffchaff. Also Firecrest, Bonelli's Warbler and Woodlark were singing, and we saw a Short-toed Eagle and plenty of vultures including an Egyptian. On the way back from Molinos there was a pair of Black-eared Wheatears, and, over Alcala, a Booted Eagle. Butterflies were the best so far - ten species of which three were new to me - 3 or 4 Spanish Festoons (seen properly and even photographed), 3 Moroccan Orange Tips (including a female, which looks similar to male Orange Tip), Provencal Hairstreak (looking like a cross between Small Copper and Green Hairstreak) and, though not a new species, the "helice" form of the Clouded Yellow. There was also the bright "cramera" race of Brown Argus, Common Blue, Wall, and lots of the very different nominate race of the Speckled Wood, looking very like Wall.
At Embalse de Barbate a Black Stork flew over the hills and away over the reservoir. Also here were Short-toed Eagles, Booted Eagles and Griffon Vultures, and the Wood Sandpiper was seen again. There was also a Melodious Warbler here, the only one of the week. Later at the spectacular peak of El Picacho an Egyptian Vulture was with Griffons at the summit, and another Booted Eagle flew over.

Actually, it was very good to have an 'easy day' without too much hectic driving and the Molinos valley is a perfect place to 'unwind' with superb views, good birds (it has a large vulture roost) and all this just 5 minutes drive from Alcala. We later discovered an additional bonus - the shop at the camp ground sold bread and other supplies when everywhere else was firmly shut!