Common Crane, dream on?

 Today we thought we might get lucky with Common Crane, dream on?

No sign of them despite putting the miles in, a few Lapwing, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit, Greenshank, 5 Golden Plover, Waterpipits, 5 Booted Eagle including one Dark phase, Marsh Harriers, quite a few Black Caps heard, Corn Bunting and plenty of Kestrel.

Skylark

My moment on the day was a exultation of Skylark, (probably 40+) nothing mega I know, but these birds act like mice, hugging the contours of the land,  disappearing and  reappearing elsewhere,

Skylark

They can be flighty. When flushed they keep close to the ground, unlike the similar Meadow Pipit which typically rises straight-up calling, if one Skylark gets spooked they all go.

Skylark

 So it was good to get some reasonable view today.

Booted Eagle

Have fun

Bryan

BEYOND THE LAST MAN

My cousin the Fly

I've come from a big family, sadly there are not many of us left there were lots of aunts and uncles, cousins, second cousin, but there one who deserves  recognition my cousin Graham Vearncombe he was Cardiff City FC and Wales first choice goal keeper during the late fifties and 60s, when Cardiff was in the first division he was also in the squad, the last time Wales went to the FiFa World Cup in Sweden 1958.

The tournament also marked the arrival of a then 17-year-old Pele on the world stage.

And so it congratulation to Wales we're on our way and to the World Cup play offs

The Fly his nick name

Graham Vearncombe: Helped Cardiff to promotion to Division One in 1958-59, made more than 200 appearances and was also a member of the 1958 Wales World Cup squad

Guadalentín Valley

Operator error!

OoPs!

  Good days birding in the end after a sluggish start, unfortunately, I cocked up! somehow I had accidentally selected a focusing point that was off-centre so when I aimed the camera using the centre focusing point it was actually using a focusing point below the centre point. Which went unnoticed foremost of the birding day, so all the photos are out of focus, bugger it?

it could of been worse though as some time ago I forgot the batteries for the camera and left them all at home. And everything that day was point-blank, you couldn't write it

Could you?

Notice how the grasses are sharp in front of the bird and below?

Black-bellied Sandgrouse

Black-bellied Sandgrouse

Black-bellied Sandgrouse

Probably the best-prolonged views of 5 Black-bellied Sandgrouse ever! and some minutes later another 4.  A Golden Eagle drifted by followed by 2 more Black-bellied Sandgrouse then a Ring-tailed Hen Harrier quarter the fields also seen Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Kestrel,  and unidentified medium-sized all Dark raptor? I'm still trying to figure out what it was? And a few other big raptors which were just too far away to be sure of an ID

Golden Eagle 

Meadow Pipit 

Plenty of small seed eaters Green, Gold Finch, Linnet, Serin, small flocks of  Meadow Pipit A single Water Pipit, Crested Lark, Flocks of Sky Lark, Tree Sparrows, Spectacled Warblers, Fan Tailed Warbler, Black Redstarts and Chough,

Crested Lark

So all in all a good day, worth the effort of getting there, we'll go back at some point soonish 

Fan Tailed Warbler

Have a great day

Cheers 

Bryan 

Big Sky lighting up over Alicante

Major night sky tonight Thunder, Lightening, Hail and heavy  Rain 

We need it 

Get the buckets out Mark

Tonight this Bad Boy came Black for Another Look

He's always around ? but for some reason he likes my Casa

Black Wheatear 
revisited 

Long Day for little Reward

So it was always going to be a longish day for NBBC as we headed off at first light to the surrounding areas around Yecla and the A 31 Road, it was very overcast with black threatening clouds and patchy light rain, and the light was very bad so no chance for photography.

It's not what was forecast and only 13 degrees and the brisk wind which made it feel a lot colder.

On a lighter note, the biscuits we had were just a delight and the slab of chocolate and banana cake at first breakfast would have made Gareth wished he was here?

It was Quiet and not much moving, the odd Meadow Pipit flock and Crested Larks.

 We search the tracks with hardly any reward, so we cut our losses and went to  Yecla.  By the time we arrived the light had improved a little but still cloudy, the moment of the day was almost our last bird seen a Red Kite ( it seems we always leave the best for last ) it drifted in, and not a bad bird for us to find, it was distant at first and disappeared high up, in the clouds only to return a few minutes later very low down by the Lesser Kestrel Barn and then land on the ground briefly.

 Red Kite

Other birds seen Calandra Lark, Sky Lark, Thekla's Lark,  a possible Peregrine Falcon, which I was a bit slow to call it!  Black Wheatear,  Black Redstart. Mistle Thrush, Marsh Harrier, Hoopoe, crap really 

 Red Kite

I was glad the Red Kite showed again as it was just a dot when it first appeared and happy I got the ID correct.

 Red Kite

and when i got home this little beauty was sat on the wall

Black Wheatear

Lots more fun next week

But where next? Where will we go out to play?

If it was easy it wouldn't be fun

Cheers Bryan