Trevor's birding Week

Trevor Birding Visit

Day 1

A quick run around the Santa Pola Salinas and the surrounding area provided a good mornings birding, highlights of the day we're

   Spotted Redshank

Mediterranean Gulls

35 Spoonbill

Great White Egret

Several Marsh Harriers

Booted Eagles

Black Stork

2 Kingfishers

And the first returning Black Redstarts

I've not listed all the birds seen but all the usual suspects were around

Yellow Wagtails

Day 2

An early start and on the road to Bonete before dawn, and full of expectations, it was quickly dashed as we were challenged by a farmer who wanted to know what the hell we were doing?
  He blocked our way ahead in his substantial truck..  After an explanation, we were allowed to go on! He looked a bit puzzled, and must have thought we were crazy, "bird watching"   Not to be deterred,  we headed for the little Bustard area, only for yet another farmer who follow us down the long track in his large tractor to tell us that its private property,  and despite us using the same track many times over the last 10 years?  We were asked to leave?  Maybe he was having a bad day?  So we left, but not before we ID a Merlin sat on a stone. Then thing went from bad to worse  it was cold, grey, and very breezy and not
much activity
So our list for today was, poor compared to recent visits
today's highlight is miles below what should have been

 Great Bustard 25 + more
Lots of Marsh Harrier
Thekla's Lark
Willow Warbler
Jay
800+ Calandra lark
Black Redstart
Corn Bunting
All the Common Ducks
Yellow Wagtail
Northern Wheatears
Raven
Lapwings

and that was the best of it despite 8 hours of birding + the travel time.  I did not press the shutter button on anything.

Not expecting much for tomorrow

Day 3

Montnegre and Maigmo Mountain

The main reason for going to Montnegre was to see if we could relocate any of the Trumpeter finches that were in the area during this spring and summer,
Unfortunately, we didn't see any which makes me think that they are now a summer visitor to Montnegre.  It was not all dome and gloom as we found a new species for this Valley in the village of Montnegre, we came across 20 + waxbills these cute tiny finches show well for a few moments and then quickly relocated to another reed bed.

This photo from the internet with permission to use

 Other birds were seen
Blue Rock Thrush
Griffon Vulture
Rock Sparrow
 Chough
Sardinian Warbler
Dartford Warbler
Large groups of House Martin
A possible Golden Eagle but just too far away to be 100 per cent sure


And at
 Maigmo
It was disappointing and very quiet bird-wise, but not for cars and people and at the top,  Balcony of Alicante  26 cars one wedding ceremony with music we only stayed a moment before heading back, we did manage to get a few species of interest
Short-toed Treecreeper
Crested Tit
Long-tailed Tit
 Coal Tit
Jay
Buzzard
Heard only Firecrest
Robin
Crossbills

Tomorrow Rugby
Come on wales
Looking forward to our next battle

Our last day's Birding

This morning we thought that we would give it another go and try to relocate the Black Storks.
With heavy sky and threatening rain, it was almost black.
We set off across the Salinas.  It was more or less the same birds as the other day
Spotted Redshank
Spoonbill
Osprey
Slender bill Gulls
Audouin's Gull

Wood Sandpiper

We took a detour to the Segura river mouth but it was a waste of time and then head inland to Palm farm Road and then on to San Felipe, on the route we came across one field that still held water from the floods a few weeks ago.  We passed this field a few days ago and it only had Greater Flamingo and Glossy Ibis,  but today it was buzzing.

Highlights
 Over 100+ Snipe
Good numbers of Ruff
 Wood Sandpipers
Great White Egrets
Dublin
Little Stint
Booted Eagle
several Blue Throat
Ringed Plover
Wood Sandpipers

Little-ringed Plover

Green Sandpiper
Glossy Ibis
Several Kingfishers
Reed warblers
Cetti's Warbler
Fan-tailed Warbler

With heavy rain forecast tomorrow and Trevor needing to get the things done before his return to the UK
We call it a day.

It not been at its best for birding and we've had to work hard with many hours in the field, but we did get some rewards for our efforts and Trevor's seen bird list ended in a healthy 103 Species, I included heads as well so mine was 115


Thank for taking the time to visit my blog

Have fun


Update

Well, the Rugby World Cup has finished and Wales got knocked out by the eventual winners which I thought would happen.  I did feel a bit sad that the England players, wouldn't wear their silver medals, having put on a good performance and played great, but its a bitter pill to swallow losing.  I managed to upset a few of my English Rugby palls by posting this video which I receive with slightly different subtitles when they poked fun at Wales when we lost to SA by only 3 points in the last 4 minutes.  And so I did update to the video with some different subs titles. which managed to upset them.  There not happy. But I thought it was very funny sorry about that

Cheers BT

Great Bustards, Little Bustards and Golden Eagles

If we we're into celebrating with bubbles then I could say that this was ‘a Champagne Birding Day, but as we only had WertherS

 so they had to do!

We changed our intended route to accommodate a friend who lives in Norway and who would like to see Bustards. John and I were fortunate that we reversed our journey and it paid off, what a terrific day it turns out to be.

Higueruela is a great location to go to and
 by the time we had arrived at 'station corner’ we had watched a dozen Great Bustards and easily viewed one male and two females Little Bustards and also a group of nine females of the same. I still don't have any good photos of this species on the ground that I am happy with due to heat shimmer, it throws the autofocus off.  Pleased that we had located these birds once more and were confident to see them again, now we have nailed the area down.

 
Little Bustard

Photo from my collection

I spotted a low flying Merlin in the distance. Both species of Sandgrouse were heard first then with a flypast of 30 Black-bellied Sandgrouse and a smaller group of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse also  Calandra larks in good numbers and a few Sky Lark.

Pin-tailed Sandgrouse

We travelled on through the small town of Higueruela and across the plains to where an expanse of water is located near a major railway line. We parked on the bridge to view waterfowl and both a male and female Marsh Harrier were flying. However, we were soon distracted by the raucous voices of about thirty Red-Billed Choughs. They continued being noisy and we soon discovered why. Two Golden Eagles were flying above them. We had clear views as shutter whirred into action.

1st winter/Juvenile Golden Eagle

  They flew around and soon disappeared over the ridge. Then our attention focused on a bird on that same ridge. The two birds flying were a Subadult and a 1st winter/Juvenile. Sitting on the ridge was another 1st Winter/Juvenile that sat and sat and we watched. fantastic views through the telescope but still a little distant for the camera.

1st winter/Juvenile Golden Eagle

 Then it flew around and right over our heads. John has seen a perched one closer before, but these were stunning views of this magnificent species. Three such birds in the binoculars or scope or insight at one time. Simply wonderful.

In the same location, we had Common Buzzards too and then a Red Kite appeared. This has become one of our favourite spots and we have been lucky here before with a Black Kite on one occasion. And on another day, after discussion, it was confirmed that we saw a Spanish Imperial Eagle, does it get better than that!

Patterns in the soil

We carried on to Lagunas de Petrola to find that this major water was devoid of birds and we reasoned that there has to be a problem with the water. This opinion is supported by an area of ‘run-off’ next to the farm buildings that held the following:

Common Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Two Dunlin

Two Little Stint

Lapwing

Ringed Plover
Kentish Plover

White Wagtails.

That's a good return for a ‘large puddle’ and suggests that the water there is not tainted.

Water levels are still good and outside Corral Rubio were some waders that included a Common Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover together with one Yellow Wagtail and several Meadow Pipits. We had hoped for more sightings of Bustards but they were not visible in some of their usual fields.

We returned home via Montealegre and the freshwater lagoon on route only contained Common Coot. We had high expectations for this water and perhaps the hunters have moved the birds on?

Obviously, we saw many small birds and we enjoyed them too.

Northern Wheatear

 It was a special day and our guest who had many firsts.

have a great day
Cheers Bryan

Just Another Common Day

On Friday 4th October we decided to visit Estepas de Yecla. Two weeks ago we went to the areas north of Almansa and found an abundance of water in the lagoons and in the run-off areas.

 

We got to wondering about Yecla but on arrival, we found it dry. We had a really good day with lots of Activity throughout the day. Which kept me energised, after last nights late night Charity Gig which got me home around 1.30. and up at 6 o'clock left me feeling a bit jaded throughout the day.

Just after 8 am with the sun starting to appear, a chilly breeze and the temperature was a mere 10 degrees. Coats on! It ended a barmy 34. degrees crazy!

We were not to be disappointed. Choughs were heard as we entered this valley and we saw numerous Mistle Thrush, a sign that winter is approaching. Swallows fed over the fields and Rock Sparrows were seen in their usual place near the farm buildings at the Claudette end.

 

 Rock Sparrows

Many crops have been harvested and there were fields with natural vegetation. A good omen for seed eaters which there were plenty to be seen.
There are lots of vineyards here and close-by In a natural area of pines with open patches of grass and low bushes we had a great find. Perched in full sun was a male Common Redstart in company with Spotted Flycatchers.

 

Common Redstart 

 

 They sat up for me enabling me to take a few photographs. I was busy with the camera and John was had some great close views. Although common in its name they are not easily seen and not at all common, and they pass through quickly on migration Indeed it was a new bird for Johns Spanish list and he was delighted with excellent views.

 

Spotted Flycatchers

 



  Also good to see them in company with Spotted Flycatchers which was special. In another location, we located another Common Redstart and also more Spotted Flycatchers.

 

Common Redstart 

2nd Bird

 

It just goes to show the birds are out there and with effort can be found. Not one of these Spotted flycatcher resembles anything like the Mediterranean flycatcher? seen in the summer.

 

Spotted flycatcher  

Early in the morning, we spotted what could have been a Sparrow Hawk which is not that common. Common Kestral flew but not one Lesser was seen. We have regularly viewed Golden Eagles near the ridge overlooking Yecla and we later saw one in the distance and our search for them yielded a clear view of a circling Red Kite. Several Common Buzzards circled and called and again we good views.
It was a busy day and we left just after 2 pm which was much more than we anticipated It was time well spent viewing and photographing some good birds, It is apparent that birds are still passing through with the Flycatchers, Swallows and one Swift seen.

 

Northern Wheatears

 

Northern Wheatears were in double figures and 50 + Calandra Larks and a few Thekla's Lark clearly seen.

 

 Thekla's Lark

I have not listed all the birds seen and some were clearly absent. Worth the miles and time spent. I wonder what the onset of winter will bring?

Have a great day

cheers Bryan

 

 

Mosquito plague Gran Alacant

Rain-ravaged Spain is facing a horror mosquito invasion as billions and billions of the bloodthirsty bugs emerge from the floodwaters covering the Costas.

The muddy lagoons are the perfect breeding ground hyper-aggressive mozzies and experts say their eggs could start hatching this weekend.

Asian tiger mosquitoes are very aggressive when they are in a feeding frenzy

 Eight people died when the torrential rain and lightning storms sparked the worst floods in 140 years across the south-east of the country.

Now hard-hit locals and ex-pats, still counting the cost of the devastating storms, face another "biblical" plague.

More than one billion biting bugs - including highly-aggressive tiger mosquitoes  could hatch in the floods,

On the Costa Calida, emergency crews are working round-the-clock to prevent mosquito larvae hatching in water-logged fields.

The regional councils of Alicante and Elche are fumigating swatches of countryside to stop a repeat of August's plague which saw hospitals inundated with bite victims.

It mad here almost housebound even in the day time, the shelves are empty of knockdown sprays and bite relief creams. There are warning from the environmental health of Spain of Dengi Fever and the Zika Virus there had been 3 recorded victims in Alicante of a virus from Africa in August.
If you visiting Costa Blanca bring the bite relief creams and repellents and cover up as much as possible

Good luck
Cheers Bryan