The Longest Day

Monday 21st the Longest Day

Good morning

John Edward and I both commented on the blueness of the mountains around Montnegra today  I'm always going on about this Valley it's stunning up here?

More exploration and a definite new potential site for Trumpeter Finch, we'll be keeping an eye on this place and let you know how it pans out? I think we've covered all parts of this Valley, from all sides there's not a track that we've not been down or a village not explored.

 Montnegra does never produce a big list of birds in this valley sometimes there's a raptor or two, and it's mostly what you would expect to see, I must have birded this Valley hundreds of time over the last  15 years regularly. Other site's claim to see more birds, but there's never, ever anything photos to prove the sightings (it's a big list of fictitious birds with no substance) mostly a load of bollocks full of Bullshit and fake news. I could write the same crap watching Emmerdale

 I've got my first birding tour since late 2019  pre covid, it's only 9 birders/photographers from Holland an on and off sort of a week with them, where they choose to do their own thing or go birding/butterfly's so glad that I've been chosen to take them around I have taken the same Dutch birding group around some time ago.

Montnegra Today

Dusky Heath 

A classic Iberian butterfly, spilling over into the South of France and Italy, the dusky heath is a creature of hot, dusty tracks, bushy wasteland and sun-soaked, rocky hillsides. It is common in Spain - usually seen settled on paths or perched on vegetation and twigs near the ground. Although this particular butterfly might have a local variation, see the photo? Like all heaths, it only ever settles with the underside showing, but fortunately, this is quite sufficient for easy identification. Because of the outward displacement of the spot in s.5,

Copper Demoiselle Male

Copper Demoiselle Female

Keeled Skimmer

This species resembles the Black-tailed Skimmer but is slimmer and the male has no black tip. Females and immature males lack the black abdominal pattern. The pterostigma is orange and the thorax usually bears pale stripes. It breeds mainly in fast-flowing streams and flies from June to September. This dragonfly is common in central and southern Europe. Its flight is quite skittish, with frequent hovering, and it lands often. It can fly quite a distance from water, despite its seemingly weak flight. When it perches, the wings are held forward.

Birds seen

Trumpeter Finch, Blue Rock Thrush, Black Wheatear, Rock Sparrow, Corn Bunting, Chough, Bee-eater, Spotted Flycatcher, Nightingale, Black-eared Wheatear, Red-rumped Swallow,

Trumpeter Finch looking tatty

Corn Bunting

Red-legged Partridge

Spotted Flycatcher

A nice morning birding 

In the mountains

Shame no raptors?

Have fun

Cheers Bryan 

Bird of the Century

My old mates and birding friends on the Isles of Scilly have just made history they just found a Mega Bird, not just a mega but a mega of mega's ?

Egyptian vulture has been seen in the UK for the first time in what is believed to be more than 150 years.

The bird in question is Egyptian Vulture Described as a "once-in-a-century" sighting, it is thought it may have come to the Isles of Scilly from Northern France.

Egyptian Vulture Tresco Isles of Scilly

If the "incredibly rare" sighting is confirmed to be a wild bird, it would be the first since 1868,  mind-blowing?

Birdwatchers are expected to flock to the isles for a chance to spot it before it moves on

Wow-what a bird for Scilly and so very glad, my friend  Will Wagstaff  ( A legend ) was in on it, well done Will.

Primetime BBC 6 o'clock news  crazy

  unbelievable 

 It got me wondering what my Scilly list would now be when I left the Isles of Scilly. I was on 377  give or take a few splits not bad for a few square miles of land.

 Will Wagstaff, was at that time already over 400 so "Wills Scilly list" must be on loads more?

Will,  can you let me know where you are now?

Scilly Birders are normally very well travelled and have seen loads of rare birds around the globe and on Scilly, which is a major asset to them. Their awareness of the unthinkable is unthinkable and they are probably some of the best birders in the UK and are very much respected worldwide,

Great bird, so so, happy for the guys on Scilly

Make the news

Hope no resident birder missed it

Cheers  

Bryan Thomas

Egyptian Vulture

My photo from the Pyrenees 

Flowers, Butterflies, and Birds. A Mash Up

Apologies I've not had the time to write the blog for weeks, so I'm going to have to summarise our birding, 

it's better to be out there birding and making the news than writing it up

Tuesday 8th June Sierra de Salinas in Bloom

Painted Lady

Striped Greyling

An interesting area which does look very promising for birding, it's our second visit in as many weeks, but it was the flowers and butterflies which made the day, not a big bird list, and at the lower levels Pin-tailed Sandgrouse Greater short-toed Lark, Woodchat Shrike, Chough, Raven,  lots of little birds, and upon the mountain Mistle Thrush, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Crested Tit, Common Buzzard, Rock Bunting, Bonelli's Warblers, Jay, Merlin, Wood Lark, I've not mentioned every bird seen, or heard 

False ilex Hairstreak

Bath White

Spanish Gatekeeper

Meadow Brown

Southern Blue

Greater short-toed Lark

Friday 11th June

 A Full day birding on the plains

Petrola, Corral Rubio, Bonete, Castile la Mancha, El Bachillar, etc

Clouded Yellow

Well, another superb day but the butterflies won the day for me, that's not to say the birding was bad. It's just the butterflies are in pristine condition and most of the birds are looking a tad bit tatty, it's not surprising they just finished breeding, so there entitled to look just a bit tatty.

The cornfields are high and ready to be cropped it's beautiful up there with all the different colours of soil and crops, it's worth making the effort just for the scenery. 

Unbelievable.

Clouded Yellow

Knapweed Fritillary

Great Bustard, under the belt and easy, also several close fly past, Rock Sparrow, Corn Bunting, Chough, Greater short-toed Lark, Gull-billed Tern, Whiskered Tern, Yellow Wagtails, Lapwing, Kentish Plover, Little-ringed Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Black-necked grebe, Purple Swamphen, Great reed Warbler, Nightingale, Marsh Harriers, Gadwall, Red-crested, white-headed, Pochard, and so on. 

Great Bustard

 It's a big birds list so I'll stop now.  No major birding moment, well maybe there was a moment, how often do you get to see 25+ Chough close up at less than 5 meters? 

Lapwing

Little-ringed Plover

Rock Sparrow

 Juvenile Chough

The moment of the day for me was the abundance of Clouded Yellow and the very beautiful but Small Knapweed Fritillary. I'm a birder but you're got to appreciate these butterflies 

Small White

 Iberian Marbled White

Knapweed Fritillary

poppies?

I've seen these poppies grown here many time before, field upon field on the plains. 

But I haven't questioned what the crop is grown for, I thought maybe for cooking, but I have an idea the crop is for medical use to make morphine, its opium poppy.

it's almost the longest day?

Today 14th June

Santa Pola Salinas, El Pinet, La Marina, Vistabella Road, etc, 

We planned to find and photograph European Roller which we did easily, (4) also finding a least 4 Great-spotted Cuckoo in the process, but we didn't manage any photographs of the G S Cuckoos,

                                

                                          

European Roller  

 Santa Pola Salinas was quiet, but the normal summer breeders were busy, and at La Marina Kentish plover and young entertained us.

                                                                                 

        Little Owl

 A Peregrine falcon perched on a distant pylon. And a little Owl stood its ground and obliged to me a photographed, Bee-eaters we're around and calling.

                                           Marbled Duck                                       

 On Vistabella Road 16 Marbled Duck and also good numbers of Collared Pratincoles.  We called in briefly to San Felipe VC, it's got that funny coloured water again and not many birds, but Great reed Warblers we're cracking off in several places.

                              Great reed Warbler                           

 It was getting hot, so we called it a day,

A nice morning birding

Have fun 

Cheers Bryan