Thursday 17th May 2012 – Cabo de Palos & Marchamalo salinas

Cabo lighthouse garden, 08:40 – 09:20

Weather: Sky 3/8 cloud, wind N F3; 17º.

                                                                                           

Today was my first visit for a while to the lighthouse garden.  I went there principally to check to see if there were still any passage migrants around.  In the lighthouse garden itself there were none, but I did have Common Swifts, Swalllows, a couple of Red-rumped Swallows and a couple of Bee-eaters fly overhead.  Apart from that, things were very quiet, with just a few of the resident species around.

Species seen/heard

Shag (Phlalcrocorax aristotelis)  

Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis)

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)

Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)

Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

Swift (Apus apus)

Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica)

Blackbird (Turdus merula)

Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala)

Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Marchamalo salinas, 09:25 – 09:50

Weather: Sky 3/8 cloud, wind NE F2; 18º.

Leaving the lighthouse garden, I just had time for a quick visit to the salinas.  Around at the La Manga side, things were very quiet, but I did notice that the canal that feeds the salinas had some water in it, meaning that water may once again be being pumped into the salinas.

At the Playa Paraiso side on the second lagoon (the first one being now almost completely dry), I saw a group of waders and gulls.  Although looking against the sun (hence no photos), I managed to count 2 Audouin’s and 8 Slender-billed Gulls (all adults); 42 Curlew Sandpipers, 26 Little Stints, 2 Sanderling, 9 Ringed and 9 Kentish Plovers, 8 Black Winged Stilts and 24 Shelduck.  Virtually all the Curlew Sandpipers and Little Stints are now looking very smart in their breeding plumage.

The only other water birds seen were a single Little Egret and a single Little Tern.

Species seen/heard

Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

Black Winged Stilt (Himantopus Himantopus)

Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)

Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)

Little Stint (Calidris minuta)

Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)

Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)

Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis)

Slender-billed Gull (Larus genei)

Audouin’s Gull (Larus audouinii)

Little Tern (Sternula albifrons)

Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)

House Martin (Delichon urbicum)

Fan-tailed Warbler (Cisticola juncidis)

Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)