Sunday 15 February 2015

El Fondo memories and a new haunt at El Pinet, a place to rest up in the company of Eagles, Waders, Shrikes, Gulls & friendly birders

14 - Pego / Marjal: 15 - El Fondo: 16 - El Pinet: 17 - Segura River: 18- Santa Pola saltpans
 
For the past week or so, me and my van have been camped out at El Pinet, few kilometres away from the notable, if restricted from an access point of view, reserve at El Fondo. Restricted it may be but it brought me a 'lifer' and lets start with that' ... my first ever Greater Spotted Eagle. A bird of the Baltic states and Northern Asia, a handful over winter in Spain and what a glorious sight it was to see it soaring high over El Fondo.  Many thanks to Graham Critchell and his mate Gordon for pointing me in the right direction and enabling me to capture this aquiline monster, even if it was a kilometre away!
 

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Greater Spotted Eagle, El Fondo, Feb 2015
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Booted Eagle, Pego, Feb 2015

Perched their size can be misleading, but with a wingspan of nearly 6 feet, in flight they are monstrous and to me akin to a Black Vulture in their sheer presence. At one point this bird was being mobbed by a Booted Eagle (pic right) and then a Peregrine, both of which it dwarfed!


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Audouin's Gull, Segura River, Guadamar (9/02/2015)
Just before I landed at El Fondo and the surrounding good birding areas just south of Alicante, I paid a brief visit to Marjal de Pego-Oliva a smallish but very undisturbed little reserve nr the village of Pego.  Here I finally caught up with my first Audouin's Gulls of the trip.

Restricted to the Med and N.Africa this is one of the rarest gulls in the world with around 10,000 prs, but on the East coast of Spain they can be seen quite readily. My hurried pic at Pego was useless ...this is a better one taken some days later along the Segura River at Guadamar.


Pego itself is a small hillside town that I didn't go into (it looked a bit exclusive!) but the reed fringed reserve was just a delight to walk around. All the usual birds were here and  I got my first Wood Sandpiper, broke some records for numbers .. like appx 50 Bluethroats and maybe 200 Chiffchaffs in the wet fields and reeds.





Pego & surrounding reedbeds (1/02/2015)


Marjal de Pego-Oliva


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In amongst the reeds at Marjal / Pego reserve... a great spot for lunch!



Marsh Harriers encircling and mobbing a Booted Eagle, Marjal-Oliva (02/02/2015)
I counted a total of 6 Marsh Harriers here and at one point they were all in the air together, calling and shrieking like demented harpies. I've rarely heard them call and this was an exceptional racket ... I later figured out after seeing a departing and very harassed big bird that they were in fact all mobbing a grounded Booted Eagle!










Marsh Harrier calling / mobbing behaviour, Marjal-Oliva (02/02/2015)





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Booted Eagle, Pego / Marjal. (2/02/2015)


























Booted Eagles themselves are relatively common around the whole area and always great to see cruising around but perched they tend to look a bit 'scruffy'!

Not in the least bit scruffy is this splendid quartet of smaller birds that are all showing well on this stretch of the Costa Blanca at the moment ...






Southern Grey Shrike, El Pinet (04/02/2015)

Bluethroat, Segura River (09/02/2015)

Dartford Warbler, El Pinet (10/02/2015)
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Black Necked Grebe beginning to emerge from Winter plumage, El Pinet (06/02/2015)

Its been a bit of a strange 10 days or so down here but also strangely relaxing. The weather for one has been literally blowing hot & cold, with alternate blustery cold winds one day and then calm and sunny the next. I've found a bit of a spot alongside the Santa Pola salt pans and apart from brief excursions to some of the nearby hotspots I haven't done a lot and in many ways just realized that I'm on holiday and don't need to do much!

Strange to see so many other motorhomes .. Brits, Dutch, Germans all parked together 'bonnet to bumper' in the usual convenient but unattractive places.


With a bit of effort (going the extra mile?), your very own spot and a view similar to mine not difficult!
(both images lifted from Google Earth panoramio.
Santa Pola saltpans and my base for 10 days or so.
Not strange but a thorough waste of time .. I stupidly left my wallet on a counter top in a shop in Alicante but actually thought I'd lost it or had it pinched. The whole business of stopping one card, a phone call to VISA to arrange some emergency cash and a tedious conversation with an automaton I was never entirely sure was human was ameliorated somewhat by an email from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to say that the shop owner had found said wallet in the shop (they'd found my YWT email address in the wallet.. good thinking guys!). I'd lost the will to live after stopping 1 card with VISA so thankfully I was able to access funds from another account and just transfer money. Just as well too .. got a call a full 4 days later to say that my emergency cash had been authorised. On my own in a foreign country with 4 euros in my pocket, begging for food / money could have been a reality! Cheers VISA ... bet you're not so keen for me to complete that customer satisfaction survey now are you!! Count to 3, breathe and ..... relax ....and let it go .....YOU USELESS VISA BOTS!!!

Strangely relaxing waiting around for the early Spring migrants to start returning ( there's already been a trickle of Yellow Wags and Sand Martins) and just taking it all in. Here's a few more from my ramblings along saltpan alleys, reed beds and dirt tracks ...


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Slender Billed Gull, El Pinet (10/02/2015)
Slender Billed Gulls, one of 10 or so at El Pinet, now developing that glorious rosy tinge on their breeding plumage.

Slender Billed Gull, El Pinet (10/02/2015)
Prickly Pear bearing fruit and other emerging plant / wild flowers, some of which I've managed to identify some not (I'm on holiday!)

Prickly Pear, Pego (02/02/2015)


Mediterranean Storksbill, El Pinet (13/02/2015)
Mediterranean Ragged Robin?

Bermuda Buttercup ... an invasive but attractive & its everywhere!
Onion Weed ... another escapee from Western European gardens

Sweetpea sp?

 


Osprey with a fish, Santa Pola saltpans (06/02/2015)
One of a pair of Ospreys that were hunting over the Santa Pola Saltpans... distant shots the both but you can clearly see this one has been successful!

Osprey with a fish, Santa Pola saltpans (06/02/2015)
White Headed Duck still in eclipse plumage, El Fondo (04/02/2015)

This was first White Headed Duck I'd seen in Spain for nigh on 25 yrs!

They are in fact fairly numerous at El Fondo but the Spanish population is down to about 2,500 individuals with habitat loss, shooting and the hybridisation with the non native North American Ruddy Duck the main causes for decline.








Across the road on the Santa Pola side I estimated about 1300 Greater Flamingoes stretching out into the distance like a pinky white wave of confetti across the salt pans. On my side of the road there were never more than 30 or so but they were very entertaining at times ....
 
Greater Flamingo agro, El Pinet (13/02/2015)

Greater Flamingo agro, El Pinet (13/02/2015)

Greater Flamingo agro, El Pinet (13/02/2015)
 
So yesterday morning (14th Feb) things came full circle with another trip out to El Fondo for the weekly 1/2 day opening of the best parts of the reserve. I can't believe and don't understand the restrictive public access to this wonderful place (with some help and advice from the Wildlife Trusts or the RSPB, Comunidad Valenciana could make a killing and secure much needed funds to preserve the wildlife of this under threat environment!) ... anyway, less of the political (I'm on holiday!) Greater Spotted Eagle spotted again but the pics turned out to be rubbish, 3 House Martins, 1 Red Rumped Swallow and 1 Barn Swallow this morning at El Pinet are all good early returning migrants and although not a migrant and sadly no pic (they're a bugger!), my first ever Richard's Pipit flushed from my little patch at El Pinet .... been a bogey bird for me for years that one!!
 

Graham Critchell, Spain birding guide.
It was good to meet up again with Graham and Gordon and may I take this opportunity to thank both for their tips and tricks for birding around this bit of the Costa Blanca. Graham Critchell is probably no stranger to birders in the area but to anyone wishing to experience bird watching of the highest quality with an experienced guide here he is.....Graham Critchell
Other birds around here not mentioned above include a roving flock of Stone Curlew and a very average ney disappointing pic! Greenshank (2), Redshank (2), Avocet (c450 on te Santa Pola side), Kentish & Ringed Plover, Sanderling, Dunlin, Little Stint, Black Tailed Godwits (c150 Santa Pola), Black Winged Stilt, Curlew (not many) Whimbrel (1), Common & Green Sandpiper, Shelduck (100s), a pair of distant Bonellis Eagles, Meadow Pipits (c60), Stonechat, Audouin's Gull (single numbers) and a resident and very noisy Little Owl!
 
Stone Curlew flying past, El Pinet (13/02/2015)
Avocet, El Pinet (06/02/2015)


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That's one fit Shelduck!, El Pinet (13/02/2015)

Ok that's me for another week, I've already moved on ... currently in some cracking Steppe lands around Petrola and already have Great Bustards in the bag ... next post ok!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 










Saturday 7 February 2015

Back to the mountains and blown away all the way back! Morella, Ares del Maestre, Cabanes & Alberfura.

Seems a bit strange to say but I got a little tired of tramping around rice fields full of birds at Ebro. I don't know if it was the lack of relief, the shooting or just the sameness of it all, or a combination of all 3 plus a dash of 'itchy feet',... I just fancied going back into the mountains to see if the conditions were less harsh and the birds more plentiful - they weren't on both fronts!

Anyway, I shouldn't moan, here's the places covered in this posting -
9:Ebro Delta 10:Morella 11:Ares 12:Prat de Cabanes 13:Alberfura


Don't let the blue skies deceive you, the high towns of Morella and Ares Del Maestre were feisty cold and more than bracy windy! They were however uniquely Spanish and beautiful places. Morella was cited in one of my guide books as a good base for exploring the Meastrat region. The place took me completely by surprise as I rounded and a bend and saw this ....


Morella, Castellon
Morella, Castellon (back of the town)
Some info here on the wiki if you want it on this ancient walled city and its strategic influence between the Ebro and the coastal plains of Valencia









Icicles on the north side of Morella






Like I said, it was cold up there and on the north side even colder, and with a force 6 or 7 blowing, totally useless for any kind of wildlife watching, so I did what us Brits do best and had a day out shopping!

Streets of Morella















Only one street of shops to choose from but I got what I wanted.... some new gloves and another hat, fresh fruit & veg and some pork loins for cooking later, oh and of course a couple of these



and a bag of some of the most delicious cakes you can get anywhere and a speciality of the Catalans - flaons


Streets of Morella







I passed the school and whilst the building itself was totally out of character to the rest of Morella I could only wonder how any pupils attention could be held with a view like that for distraction!
 
Had a couple of Rock Buntings on that roof and a new species for the trip!











Next stop another mountain town in the Maestratarea- Ares del Maestre. One steep road in and one out (the van handled it like a dream), just as stunning, just as windy, just as cold, in fact more so. Almost no people, 1 hotel (closed), 1 shop (thankfully open) and a bar (always open) with internet access and hot coffee - perfect!.










Ares del Maestre
Deserted streets of Ares

I took a brief stroll on one of the many paths around the town and took my life in my hands negotiating sheer drops around every bend .... silly thing to do in that wind really, I'm no young Gazelle anymore!
 





























 


 
 
 










































So that was that, my second trip up into mountainous areas and yes you could say I was blown away, and I was by the scenery but I quickly realised that this is no habitat for warm bloodied flying things!


Back down to the coast I went, into Valanciana region and a place where there are reputedly up to 200 pairs Moustached Warblers - El Prat de Cabanes. It was less blowy and the habitat superb for the hairy top lipped little ones I've been scouring the reed beds of north-eastern Spain for, but did I see one, did I hell .. 200 pairs my new bobble hat Mr Michael Rebane!) Cetti's, Fan Tailed, Dartford and Sardinian warblers a plenty but not a sniff of a 'tashed! Never photographed one so its on my list to get this trip. This is what I'm looking for .......(pic right)



Not to worry, I did get close to not a dozen, not 50, but several hundred Crag Martins. This was indeed the place of the Crag and I got close on a perfect pic of one over the reeds .....



Crag Martin, Cabanes
I heard from the UK that there's a huge weather system in the North Atlantic that's been sending in high winds and snow to much of Western Europe and set to dominate for another week at least. Its not particularly cold here but at the risk of repeating myself I'm sure getting the wind. It stops most birds flying about but it don't stop the land so here's a few more landscapes from Cabanes ...

Shingle beach at Cabanes
Mohicans hiding in the sand? Cabanes

 
Reed beds at Cabanes

Reed bed walkway, Cabanes


On the way to the well known and notable wetland areas of Alberfura I took a wrong turn (thanks satnav) and ended up in 5 lanes of city centre traffic in Valencia itself. Not for the feint hearted and to anyone even slightly tempted to take a motorhome into this madcap place ... just don't do it. It was mayhem!
 

I just drove out anyway I could, ended up on the motorway to Madrid but it didn't matter, I was out. I couldn't because I was driving but felt like both of these after that!



 

Eventually navigated my around to Alberfura and guess what....
 

Alberfura wind

 

Alberfura lake in a force 7/8 wind

They actually closed the reserve bit whilst I was there because of falling trees. I took shelter best I could and parked on the streets of nearby El Perolet for the night but my oh my the van was rocking ... and not just because I was playing my guitar till midnight!

Some degree of calmness in the morning and the rice fields around El Palmar, a quaint and relaxing village full of fancy fish restaurants, and a nice place to hang out for a couple of days in the hope of better weather ahead.

Got my second Merlin of the trip here so all was not bad. Well hunkered down out of the wind it looked a little forlorn and a trifle exposed , maybe this is a young one, a young male? Not quite good enough to elude my lens but good camouflage oh little falcon!
 
                                                                                                     
 

 A nice flock of Black Tailed Godwits braving the wind felt like a bonus
 

Black Tailed Godwits in flight, El Palmar
 
Marsh Harriers fly anytime they want and almost seem to revel in the extra challenge a strong wind brings. I'd love a Hen Harrier down here and was expecting more after my last trip but I suspect they're all further West from here where there's less disturbance. I'll certainly make do with Marshie's though, especially when they come this close!
 

Marsh Harrier, El Palmar

This is such a common site at this time of the year in the rice fields of Spain .... specially designed tractors ploughing the rich chaff back into the wet fields to add nutrients to the ground ready for the planting of more rice in the Spring. Followed at all times by Egrets, Herons and Gulls by the bucket load! For something to do whilst I sat and ate my lunch one day I decided to count all the Heron species in this very field - 62 Grey Herons, 131 Little Egrets and 22 Great White Egrets in one field!!
 

 


Typical rice field in Winter before its ploughed back in, El Palmar.

I've been to some of the best reed bed habitats in Eastern Spain and despite the weather I've revelled in them but always, just over the horizon or round the next bend, the spectre of 'urbanization' raises its ugly head. The Spanish have no viable equivalent to the Wildlife Trusts, RSPB and the rest that fight hard to maintain wild places where wildlife can flourish and the people can enjoy it, SEO (Spain's only viable wildlife organisation is tiny in comparison) and whilst this is the case, bit by bit, this country's wild places will wither and be engulfed and lost. What a Brit abroad, you or anyone can do about this I'm not sure but let's be clear about this, wild places are being lost every single day to the 2 major culprits -  intensive farming & urbanisation and I hate to see more of this every time I come back to Spain.....




Ok that's me done for another week and apologies for not too many bird pics but this weather! I'll leave you with some of the emerging plant and flower sp that are beginning to emerge here ... only really sure about the first one ....

Salicornia, Glasswort or Samphire ... take your pic on the name but it glows red around here!
 
 
 
No Idea, will have to look in the book but resembled Gorse.
 
 
and I believe this is a Mediterranean Liverwort sp
 
 
Well into Valencia region now, passed the monstrosity that passes for a holiday place - Benidorm, where the apartment blocks of this once sleepy little fishing village have been replaced by skyscraper holiday blocks... nice; and now camped out at El Pinet, some 15k from El Fondo and 30k south of Alicante... lots of Dutch, German and a few Brit motorhomes down here but some great salt pans and have now caught up with a few of the Costa Blanca birders so I'll be hanging around here for a couple of weeks and hoping for a bit of early passage. Little Ringed Plover, Sand Martin and Yellow Wagtails have all been seen in the past week!