Into Portugal, Tavira and back into Spain for the 'Bonanza' experience... displaying Booted Eagles, Spoonbills and Kites plus new migrants

My last 2 or 3 weeks here and the journey back north through Spain starts with a journey into Portugal to pick up my buddy Mark from Faro airport. Slightly dodgy start with a police fine of 30 euros for parking where I shouldn't have at the airport but great to catch up and have some company and banter along the way.

Tavira and Castro Marim being the obvious destinations before heading back into Spain and the salt pans of Sanlucar de Barremeda & Bonanza.

Spotted Redshank, Tavira (12th March 2015)

Tavira is part and parcel Algarve, part tourist, part good estuarine birding, always a good spot for waders with  Redshank, Whimbrel, Curlew, Dunlin, Sanderling, Little Stint, Ringed & Little Ringed Plovers  all in good numbers plus a good Spotted Redshank and another first for the trip ..  those legendary travellers - Bar Tailed Godwits.



Bar Tailed Godwits, Tavira

Whimbrel, Tavira (12th March 2015)

Sandwich Tern, Tavira

We searched in vain for a different tern species and did get a few Caspian Terns but in the main it was Sandwich Terns that were passing.

Further east towards the Spanish border a failed attempt to access the Castro Marim parc natural because of roadworks and diversions, took us instead to the fishing village of Villareal de Santa Antonio where we saw 100s of passing Gannets, some of them no doubt bound for UK breeding grounds, a few Great Skuas and some Pallid Swifts in off the sea.















Of human interest here were the activities of the many local shellfishers ... stretching as far as the eye could sea across the shallow estuary. One of the few times my 400m lens has come out for a landscape pic!


Shellfishers of Villareal de Santa Antonio

Nice place for a boat too .....

Villareal de San Antonio

The saltpans of Sanlucar/ Bonanza and the adjacent forests of parcel pine (or algeida) are old and favourite haunts of mine and Mark's. They make up the part of the mighty Donana reserve on the other side of the Guadalquiver river and although only a relatively short distance along the coast from where we were in Portugal, to get there involves a drive all the way to Sevilla and then down the other side of the river - 3 hrs!

 

 

 

On yer bike Mark! Bonanza

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worth it though. The weather was hot, the birds plentiful and Mark discovered he quite liked riding around on my bike!

 

 

So much to see here as always .... skies full of displaying Booted Eagles, Storks and migrant Black Kites, nesting Grey Herons and Spoonbills, flocks of Night Herons and to cap it all off 3 new migrants - Subalpine Warbler,a single Willow Warbler amongst the many wintering Chiffchaffs and 1 singing Nightingale.

 

 

Nesting Spoonbills, Bonanza, 16/03/15



White Storks nest building, Bonanza, 16/03/15



Black Kite overhead, Bonanza, 16/03/15



Black Kite, Bonanza, 16/03/15



Black Stork, Bonanza, 16/03/15



Willow Warbler, Bonanza, 16/03/15

 

 

Tricky to convey the majesty of displaying Booted Eagles in a hot blue sky but here's a pair circling together - a dark phase female and a light phase male.



Booted Eagle display flight

.... and the same male performing, soaring up, curling himself into a ball and then diving down in an almost vertical stoop before repeating in a series of looping soars and dives. Pretty awesome to see, the first time I've managed to photograph the event and these pics don't do the show any justice at all!

 

 

Booted Eagle display flight

 

 

 

 

 

Narcissus (wild daffodil), Bonanza, 16/03/15

Spring flowers like these Narcissus or wild Daffodil look as if they've been out for a week or so, in fact some seem to have 'gone over'

The other flower is Halimium, a kind of rock rose and a flowering shrub that dominates and covers the scrubland in places with gorgeous yellow blooms.

Halimium, Bonanza, 16/03/15



We searched in vain, as we always do, for a Western 'British' type Yellow Wagtail on passage but all seen, and there were a lot, were all of the Blue headed race. Jolly nice to see flitting about everywhere though!



Yellow Wagtail (Iberian / Blue headed), Bonanza, 16/03/15



Night Herons, Bonanza, 16/03/15 ... not the best of pics but never seen a flock this big!

 

 

Other good birds seen here but not photographed included Long Eared and Tawny Owl, Purple Swamphen, Osprey, 20 or so Marsh Harriers, Ruff, Tree & Spanish Sparrows and Calandra Larks.

 

Onto Extramudra next and our first point of call will be the plains of Serena, the biggest area of uncultivated land in Western Europe!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

100s of Eagles & Kites crossing the Straits of Gibraltar,scorching hot around Barbate, a rare Vulture and Spanish Festoons

Its been a long journey and sometimes I wonder just why I'm putting myself out here. Hardships? Not many, I have everything I need to keep body and soul together. Its been a bit lonely and I'm travel weary but that goes with the territory when you're traversing foreign lands looking for wildlife. I think ... I probably think too much! In a matter of weeks I'll be back in the fray, doing a job I love, seeing my family again and making music again with my various musical amigos and, for the last 2 weeks of my trip my best mate Mark is popping over for a share of the migration spoils, so plenty to look forward to.

Meanwhile I'm at the southernmost tip of Europe and witnessing the annual migration of returning birds from Africa and I'm perfectly positioned!

....and when the winds are right and you're in the right place at the right time it all becomes obvious why I put myself out there....


Short Toed Eagle, over the straits of Gibralter, 2nd March 2015

These are just 2 of about 150 Short Toed Eagles that decided to sail over the Straits of Gibralter whilst I was having a 'café con leche' on the sea front at Getares. Bloody good job I had my camera to hand!



Short Toed Eagle, over the straits of Gibralter, 2nd March 2015

Proper eagles are Short Toed .. don't they just look the part in every way?  In their wake came scores of Black Kites, the odd Booted Eagle and several Common Buzzards.



Black Kite over the sea at Carnero, Nr Gibralter



Black Kites in formation!



 

Gibralter from Punta Carnero, 2/03/15

 

 

Egyptian Vulture, Tarifa, 2nd March 2015

All it took was a slight shift in the wind to WSW and they were over. Earlier in the day, before the temperature rose and mist was still hanging over the mountains, I was up one of the high valleys behind Tarifa. There had been a modest passage of Barn Swallows, Chaffinches and Griffon Vultures then a medium sized raptor I first took to be a Booted Eagle floated by - it was some distance off and the light was poor, but I took some record shots anyway. Good job - turned out to be an Egyptian Vulture! A scarce bird anywhere in Spain these days.


Egyptian Vulture, Tarifa, 2nd March 2015



Alpine Swift, Tarifa, 2nd March 2015

In the same few moments I also had a Black Stork and 70 other distant storks that were probably White and then out of the mist an Alpine Swift decided to speed by. It was nearly past me by the time I got my camera on it but reckoned any shot would be worthwhile.

Awesome bird to have coming straight at you out of the mist of a mountain I can tell you! Twice as big as our Common Swifts with a wing span of nearly 60cm no wonder I thought it was a Peregrine coming at me at first!







Black Stork, Tarifa, 2nd March 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



An estimated half a billion birds migrate across this narrow stretch of water from Africa every Spring and to see just a fraction of those, whether that's a sky full of Eagles and Kites, estuaries full of waders or solitary wanderers, is totally fascinating to me and for many birders and wildlife watchers alike 'migration time' is why we get up at the crack of dawn, brave the elements and go up and down tracks and paths most sensible people would frown at!


March 2nd, that was some day, the best so far for migration. I also had 3 Booted Eagles, 6 Common Buzzard, a single Pallid Swift and several hundred Barn Swallows all drifting North.










A couple of days later in windless and 25c heat I had 11 more Pallid Swifts north very high up and an equally high and passing male Marsh Harrier.

High flying migrating Marsh Harrier, nr Manzanete, 4/03/15

There was a nice male Northern Wheatear at Barbate along with 10 or so Caspian Terns and the usual common waders, whilst at a very dry Le Janda I had the biggest flock of Calandra Larks I've ever seen (about 70 in one field) and another new migrant a single Purple Heron in amongst the Greys.

 Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps have been singing purposefully now for the past week or so and there are new butterflies and flowers emerging each and every day.

Northern Wheatear, Barbate, 4th March 2015

Purple Heron, Le Janda, 4th March 2015
 

This little Owl brought some amusement, to us both by the looks of things, on a very hot day around Barbate....

Little Owl, nr Barbate

Little Owl, nr Barbate



Wall Brown, Barbate, 4/03/15

I'm beginning to notice Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps singing now and there are new butterflies and flowers emerging each and every day.

The Spanish Festoons were gorgeous little things I'd never seen before, hardly surprising I suppose - the last time I was in Spain in the spring I wasn't that bothered about butterflies or flowers come to that.

There was a Swallowtail butterfly in the same vicinity too but it eluded my lens!

Spanish Festoon, Barbate, 04/03/15



unidentified shrub sp, nr Barbate

I don't know what this shrub is but its beautiful and seems to drape itself around the many stands of Prickly Pear cacti that in turn attracts many wasps and flies and the odd Grasshopper! I'm no expert on these things but thinking just a common Field Grasshopper?



Grasshopper species, Barbate

On the evening of the 4th March some more very strong winds sprung up, blowing this time from the East and forecast that way for the next 4 days with gusts of up to 70mph! Time for me to head off to a calmer area of Spain ... I'm off to Donana!






The big salty lake at Fuente de Piedre - Cranes, Sandpipers & Flamingoes then some Raptor migration in the raw at Tarifa

Without taking a ferry across to Morocco (been seriously toying with the idea), I've gone as far south as I planned to do and now kicking my heels in the Kite surfing capital of Europe .. Tarifa.



Kites at Tarifa, feb 2015

Barn Swallow, Fuente de Piedre, 23rd Feb 2015

En route I stopped off at Fuente de Piedre after a long drive from Almeria and was immediately into House Martins, Barn Swallows and the odd Red Rumped Swallow buzzing around my head. I've tried and failed so many times to get decent pics of Swallows and other hirundines but in the perfect late afternoon sunshine that greeted me here I was partly redeemed ...


House Martin, Fuente de Piedre, 23 Feb 2015

After spending 30 minutes trying to get what I thought would be my best ever Wood Sandpiper pic, it turned out to be a pale Green Sandpiper, never mind, the pic wasn't that good anyway but the many Black Tailed Godwits were very photogenic in the last rays of the setting sun ...



Black Tailed Godwit, Fuente de Piedre, 23 Feb 2015



Black Tailed Godwit, Fuente de Piedre, 23 Feb 2015

 

 After so much windy weather it was a joy to have at least one day of calm and although it didn't last long it was good to rest up and explore in relatively kind conditions. I stuck around for a couple of days here and traversed the whole reserve. Birds of note included a female Hen Harrier, 4 Golden Plover, 6 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Water Pipits, 4 Ruff and a flock of 20 or so Spanish Sparrows. This large inland mainly saline laguna (over 1500 Hectares) is world famous for it's resident Greater Flamingoes (up to 50,000 some years .. during my visit a mere 3000 or so!) and wintering Common Cranes (I counted a max of 360).

Access to the very best bits is limited and regularly patrolled by the SEO (bird life Spain) but there are several viewing areas and the whole lake is easily circumnavigated by minor roads. The visitor centre just outside of the village of the same name is an obvious place to start any visit but if you're a birder its best to avoid weekends when the Spanish and their offspring go a walking!

Common Cranes over Fuente de Piedre, 23rd Feb 2015

Common Cranes in the fields surrounding Fuente de Piedre, 23rd Feb, 2015

Fuente de Piedre, (West side)

Spanish Sparrows, Fuente de Piedre, 24 Feb 2015



Golden Plover gaining its Summer pl, Fuente de Piedre, 24 Feb 2015



Water Pipit, Fuente de Piedre

Common Sandpiper, Fuente de Piedre, 23 Feb 2015



Fuente de Piedre (from the West)


 

Singing Corn Bunting, Fuente de Piedre, 24 Feb 2015

 Lots of common Spanish birds around and about the fields ... Stonechats by the dozen, Chiffchaffs, Crested & Short Toed Lark (impossible to photograph!) and lets here it for the humble Corn Bunting ....the day I come to Andalusia and fail to see one of these 'dumpsters' will be a sad one indeed. Their jangly song (likened to a rattling of keys) is already a rare sound in my own corner of the UK due to habitat loss and I wonder how long they'll be as common here. It'll win no beauty contest in the avian world but I love 'em even more for that so here's 3 for the Corn Bunting gallery including one singing ...




Corn Bunting, Fuente de Piedre, 24 Feb 2015

Corn Bunting, Fuente de Piedre, 24 Feb 2015

An overnight stop and a brief morning explore around Alora and the El Chorro gorge produced more Swallows, Little Ringed Plovers and another Teminck's Stint on the Rio Guadalhorce and a rather tasty Black Crowned Night Heron perched on a telegraph wire at dusk.


Black Crowned Night Heron, Rion Guadalhorce at Alora, 25th Feb 2015

Cliffs above El Chorro

Tarifa meanwhile has been a tad disappointing so far from a migrant point of view with just one brief moment of major passage on the 26th Feb ... with White Storks, Griffon Vultures, Black Kites, a few Common Buzzards, Barn Swallows and a probable Ring Ouzel braving the enduring Westerly winds

Migrating Black Kite, Tarifa, 26th Feb 2015

Migrating White Storks rising on thermals, Tarifa, 26th Feb 2015



Oystercatchers, Tarifa, 26th Feb 2015

I'm sure there are plenty of these knocking about in my home county right now but they're not a common bird anywhere in Spain and I was pleased to tick these Oystercatchers off the list!














In the increasing warmth of the SW a few butterflies are on the wing, Clouded Yellows being the most obvious amongst the 'whites' and here in Tarifa I've had several of these winged beauties - Monarch Butterflies ... normally associated with North America, there is an Iberian / Canary Isles population and very welcome they are too flying around on huge slow wings like small colourful bats!


Monarch Butterfly, Tarfifa, 26th Feb 2015

Clouded Yellow, Alora, 25th Feb 2015



...... and clinging on to the undersides of a drainage pipe some kind of Geko?

 

Geko sp, Tarifa, 26th Feb 2015

 



 

 

 



Migrating Short Toed Eagle, nr Tarifa, 28th Feb 2015

Today (28th Feb) has been better for raptor migration with some impressive Black Kite movements early this morning with appx 100 in off the sea at 09.00ish. I looked up and the sky was suddenly filled with winged shapes! All over within 3 mins and I was so busy watching I didn't get a single shot off. More through the day and in total maybe 250 over the straits of Gibralter with the occasional Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, plenty of Griffons moving across and 3 Short Toed Eagles. There was also a steady movement of Barn Swallows and House Martins.



Migrating Short Toed Eagle, nr Tarifa, 28th Feb 2015

Griffon Vulture crossing over from Africa, nr Tarifa, 28th Feb 2015

Been quite a day and to cap it off 40 or so more Black Kites in over Tarifa town itself at dusk. The weather is set fine for a few days with little or no wind so I expect more and anticipating Pallid and Alpine Swifts any day!

 

... and to round off here's a couple of birds that are totally everywhere and thus tend to get passed over ... Stonechats are a speciality bird in Yorkshire and Crested Larks none existent!

 

Stonechat (male), Tarifa

 

Singing Crested Lark, Fuente de Piedre, 23 Feb 2015