Mar Menor roundup

Hi all.  Here is a roundup of what’s been seen in and around the Mar Menor during the last week.  The weather this last week has been fairly stable, a bit windy at the beginning, but otherwise sunny and warm (up to 24ºC) during the day every day.  Perfect birding weather in fact!

On Tuesday, 11^th November, an early morning visit to the lighthouse gardens was quite productive, with a fair number of winter visitors being seen.  On the sea, there were Gannets, Cormorants, a single Shag, and Balearic and Cory’s Shearwaters heading south.  In the gardens themselves, Starlings, Sardinian Warblers, Robins, Meadow Pipits, Black Redstarts, Goldfinches, Linnets, Greenfinches, Stonechats, Blackbirds, single Blackcap and Chiffchaff, and flying overhead, Crag Martins.

The following day also early in the morning, at the Arenal at Los Nietos, on the Mar Menor, good numbers of both Great Crested and Black Necked Grebes (more than 20 of each), and my first two Common Scoter of the year.  In nearby fields was a flock of 36 Stone Curlews keeping themselves well hidden (as they do).

 Stone Curlews on an abandoned field

From there I went to the old EDAR (swage farm) of El Algar, where the flock of Lapwing had now built up to 10 birds, and there was also Grey Wagtail, Hoopoe, Chiffchaff, with a Booted Eagle flying around and Common Buzzard perched on a post.  In the afternoon on the Mar Menor beach at the ‘marina de Carmoli’ some friends had the first Short-eared Owl of the autumn.

 Hoopoe, not an infrequent sight in winter

On Thursday, 13^th November at first light, while driving along the road between Los Nietos and Los Urrutias, I came across the Osprey that has been hanging around the area recently.  I tried for a photo, but the Osprey was off before I got a chance.  When I got to my destination, the marina de Carmoli, of interest were a female Sparrowhawk, a couple of Marsh Harriers hunting, a couple of Curlews and three Skylarks flew through.

This was our monthly ‘duck-count’ day at the EDAR (sewage farm) in Beaza (Cartagena), and setting off early in the afternoon, I once again went via the Mar Menor, where in the water I had a group of four Shoveler, and stopping at the parking at the ‘desembocadura de la rambla de Albujon’ beyond Los Urrutias to scan over the Mar Menor, I had for the second time this day, the Osprey fly along the Mar Menor, and over to investigate me.  This time I was ready with my camera!

The Osprey that seems to have taken up winter residence

Carrying on along towards Cartagena, I stopped off in the industrial park of Los Camachos where there is a large farm reservoir that can be seen over from the side of the road.  Although the nearby EDAR is private with restricted access, this reservoir is like a miniature version of it, and you quite often see the same species on it, although in smaller numbers.  Here, of note were a single male Pochard, four White-headed Ducks and eight Black-necked Grebes.

Moving on to the EDAR itself, although we haven’t had the official numbers back yet, what stood out were a couple of male Tufted Ducks (rare here in Murcia) and a total of 334 White-headed Ducks (not a bad number for a species that only a few years back was considered to be on the edge of worldwide extinction).

Friday 14^th November, at first light I was back at the Cabo de Palos lighthouse gardens again.  Here there were much the same birds as on my previous trip here, with of note, Chiffchaffs up to six, also a flock of six Meadow Pipits around the base of the lighthouse, five Black Redstarts, and there were definitely more finches around (Serins, Linnets and Greenfinches). 

On my way back from the lighthouse, I called into the Salinas at Marchamalo where there were 16 Greater Flamingos, a couple of Spotted Redshanks, Greenshanks, Slender-billed Gulls, and round at the Playa Paraiso urbanization side, four Little Ringed Plovers, a couple of Little Stints and seven Dunlin, plus around the bushes Fan-tailed Warblers (Zitting Cisticola), Black Redstarts, Chiffchaffs and a flock of around 70 Serins.

 Once again, typical sights for the time of year - here Greater Flamingo ...

 ... and winter plumaged Spotted Redshank

On the morning of Saturday 15^th November, I resumed my search up in ‘monte Cenizas’, Atamaria (towards Portman, behind the golf course) for the Yellow-browed Warbler and a few other species (Goldcrest, Wren), spending just over four hours there.  But of these I only found one – Wren, which is a winter visitor to this part of Spain.  In total I saw three birds and heard another two.    Other birds of interest seen were plenty of Chaffinches, Robins, Black Redstarts, Crested Tit, Firecrest, Dartford and Sardinian Warblers and Black Redstarts.

 Only found in the winter in this part of Spain, Wren

  Also a winter visitor, Firecrest ...

 ... and another which can commonly be heard singing, Chiffchaff

 One of the woodland residents - Long-tailed Tit ...

 ... and another.  Here we don't get Blue Tits, just this Crested variety

 Also in the woodland glades flying in the warm sun, plenty of Red Admirals

From there I made my way over to the Mar Menor, stopping off at some farm reservoirs ‘en route’, picking up a group of three Ferruginous Ducks, Southern Grey Shrike and Booted Eagle.   

On a farm reservoir were three of these little treasures - Ferruginous Ducks

 

I called in once again at the old EDAR Elgar, but this time drew a blank - the only bird there was a single White Wagtail. 

Carrying on to the Mar Menor, on the sea were a group of three adult Mediterranean Gulls, plus plenty of Great Crested and Black-necked Grebes, the large flock (of about 400 birds) of Cormorants and a single Sandwich Tern.   

Wandering along the beach back towards Los Urrutias (just in case there may be a Short-eared Owl in the saltings) I had a group of nine Curlew, a couple of Slender-billed Gulls and three Fan-tailed Warblers (Zitting Cisticolas).  Eventually reaching the sailing club at Los Urrutias at about 4 in the afternoon, I had a rapid sighting of the Kingfisher that has taken up winter residence, and looking down the beach towards Los Nietos, at Lo Poyo I could see the Oystercatcher which also seems to have taken up winter residence.

My last call of the day was to spend the last hour of light watching over the harrier roost at the marina de Carmoli, to count the harriers as they came in.  This time numbers were small with only four Marsh Harriers, but also flying around briefly were a ‘ringtail’ Hen Harrier, and another smaller ‘ringtail’ with an orange-brown body!  This would normally be put down as ‘Montagu’s/Pallid’ – but considering the general paucity of records of Montagu’s in this part of Murcia, and considering the date and the fact that an immature Pallid overwintered here last winter, I would say it’s more likely to have been a Pallid.  Maybe the coming weeks will tell.

Also seen on the Saturday morning, was a Griffon Vulture sat on a traffic sign close to the ‘marina de Carmoli’.  I didn’t get to hear about it till the evening, but it seems like it may have been one blown east by the winds of previous weeks, and be looking out for something dead to eat!  Definitely a bird to keep an eye out for.

 Griffon Vulture watching the traffic!

Photo copyright Antonio Fernandez-Caro Gomez

 

Sunday 16^th I made an early morning visit to the ‘Arenal’ at Los Nietos in the hope of coming across a Short-eared Owl.  In this I was unlucky, but I DID come across a group of five Richard’s Pipits, which promptly flew off towards Los Urrutias, never to be seen again.  I presume they were a migrating group, as another one stayed and actually allowed me to get reasonably close!

 

 In 8 winters of trying, probably the best photo I've got of Richard's Pipit

Other birds seen here were Stonechat, Fan-tailed Warbler (Zitting Cisticola), plenty of Crested Larks, Skylarks, Slender-billed Gulls, Sandwich Terns, Serins, Greenfinches, Dartford Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Monk Parakeets and Crag Martins.  

 Another coastal common winter visitor, although more often heard than seen, Dartford Warbler

I walked as far as Lo Poyo where there were a number of waders feeding, including the Oystercatcher I had seen the previous day, Grey and Ringed Plovers,  Dunlin, Turnstones, and single Little Stint and Kentish Plover.

 Normally quite a rarity in Murcia, this year Oystercatchers have been very visible

From the Arenal, I went to the furthest extreme of La Manga, the Encañizadas.  Although arriving quite late in the morning for this location (i.e. when there are plenty of walkers, cyclists and general noise-makers about), I still managed to see a good variety of birds, including 35 Sandwich Terns, 2 Great (White) Egrets, 3 Spoonbills, a group of 8 Pintail asleep on the water, Dartford Warblers, Southern Grey Shrike singing in the sunshine, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, and in amongst all the Yellow-legged Gulls, at least two Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

 The best place to see Bar-tailed Godwit - at the Encañizadas at the end of La Manga

Also the best place for Black-headed Gulls and Sandwich Terns

My last trip out of the last week was yesterday evening, when as I found myself close to the ‘marina de Carmoli’ about half an hour before dusk, I thought I’d stop for a while and see what entered the harrier roost.  In the half an hour I waited, I had Sparrowhawk, Booted Eagle, 8 Marsh Harriers and a single ringtail Hen Harrier, but no sign of the ‘Montagu’s/Pallid’ of the couple of days before.

And that’s all for now folks, so till my next post, happy birding!!

Ciauu

The winter birds are off!

After writing last week how the spring migration has begun, this week spring/summer visitors have been few and far between, and the majority of migrants have been winter visitors making their way north.

On a national scale, the major movements have been of Common Cranes and Black Kites heading north.  At Gallocanta, which is THE major stop-off for Cranes before they cross the Pyrenees heading for more northerly latitudes, the single Sandhill (or Canadian) Crane that has been seen over the past couple of years now, was once again spotted amongst the thousands of Common Cranes for a couple of days, and then on one day, a massive group of 40,000 Cranes took off not to be seen again.  That must have been some spectacle, both the seeing and the hearing of them. 

News from Tarifa in the south has been that there have also been good movements of raptors and other soaring birds across the straits of Gibraltar, and at other points of the south coast, both Subalpine Warbler and Bee-eater have been seen.

In this coastal neck of the woods, the last week has been typified with sunny days but with cold NE or NW winds – not the sort to entice the summer visitors.  Last Tuesday (4^th March) I paid an early morning visit to the lighthouse gardens at Cabo de Palos.  There were some signs of movement, but as I’ve already said, mainly of winter visitors.  Plenty of Black Redstarts, and a few Crag Martins, Stonechats, Blackbirds, Meadow Pipits, Sardinian Warblers and Chiffchaffs and a singles of Robin, Greenfinch and Serin. On the way home I called into the Playa Paraiso end of Marchamalo salinas where I had 7 Little Stints, 2 Little Ringed Plovers and a couple of male Blue-headed Wagtails.

 One of the Little Ringed Plovers ...

... and one of the Blue-headed Wagtails 

In the afternoon, I went round the western end of the Mar Menor, where in one of the farm reservoirs, there were still a group of five Ferruginous Ducks, which from what I could see, were all males.

 Two of the five Ferruginous Ducks ...

... I couldn't get all five in the same shot, just four together

 

Having a look on the Mar Menor itself, things there have now quietened down considerably, with just 4 Greater Flamingos, 18 Black Necked Grebes and only 10 Great Crested Grebes, and a single male Common Pochard.  As I was there and it was the right time of day, I stopped for a while at the Marina de Carmoli and had three Marsh Harriers hunting over their roost, and surprisingly, the adult female Pallid Harrier, which I thought would have gone by now.

On Thursday afternoon (5^th March), I thought I’d have another look at the park in Santa Ana on the other side of Cartagena for the Redwings that had been there the week before, but no luck with them – I think they’ve definitely gone.  What I did see there though, something I haven’t seen for a number of years now, was a juvenile Crossbill which was calling from a branch almost over my head for a few minutes.  I’d forgotten just how ‘spotty’ they are!

Juvenile Crossbill in the park at Santa Ana

From there I went over to the Salinas at San Pedro del Pinatar in the hope of seeing Common Scoter on the sea just to the north of the port.  I had no luck with these either, but did have in the 15 minutes or so that I was there, 15 adult Gannets fly south.

Waders were pretty thin on the ground at the Salinas, the only numbers of note being of Avocets and Black Winged Stilts, plus singles of Spotted Redshank and Little Stint, and a group of eight Black-tailed Godwits and three Ruff.

 One of three Ruff seen at San Pedro salinas

A single Spoonbill flying over me into the lagoons was very nice though.  Moving round to El Mojon, there were the usual Turnstones and Sanderlings on the beach, and a couple of small groups making 60 in total, of Cormorants flying off out to sea, looking like they wouldn’t be returning.   A single Bluethroat along the canal was a nice find too – I would have thought that these too would have gone by now.

At Marchamalo Salinas (Cabo de Palos) water has once again started to be pumped in – to the extent that the main lagoon on the Cabo de Palos side is now too deep for smaller waders, and the best place to see them is in the afternoon from the Playa Paraiso side.  On Thursday afternoon (6^th March), I had a group of 21 Little Stints plus 4 Little Ringed and 4 Kentish Plover there.

On Friday, 7^th March I took an early afternoon walk around the lighthouse gardens at Cabo de Palos.  As seems to be the norm at the moment, the afternoons are very quiet and the only birds of note were a group of five ‘Spotty’ Starlings in amongst the Spotlesses, and a male Blue Rock Thrush, plus a few Black Redstarts.

 Amongst the Spotless Starlings, still a few of their 'Spotty' cousins

A male Sardinian Warbler giving alarm when a cat was trying to find its nest

 On the rocky area by the seawatching point, this Blue Rock Thrush dropped in ...

 ... and on a nearby fence post was this male Black Redstart

Later at the sailing club at Los Urrutias, the Great White Egret was once again present, together with the Avocet that has decided to make the place its home, and a few Slender-billed and Black-headed Gulls and a solitary Sandwich Tern, and along the beach a couple of Little Ringed Plovers.

 Little Ringed Plover along the beach ...

 ... while out in the Mar Menor this Great White Egret was hunting

The now resident Avocet, together with Slender-billed Gulls and a Sandwich Tern

From there, I took a walk along the rambla de Albujon.  The reeds that were cut a few months ago are growing well now, and there I had a couple of Green Sandpipers and Little Ringed Plovers, 8 Common Snipe plus 4 Blue-headed Wagtails, 5 Swallows, at least 2 Water Pipits, at least 5 Meadow Pipits, a male and female Reed Bunting, Kingfisher and at least 15 Chiffchaffs.

Finally on Sunday (9^th March), I took an early wander around the lighthouse gardens again at Cabo de Palos, but the only birds of note were a male Blackcap and a couple of Gannets out at sea.  From there I went over to the ‘Arenal’ at Los Nietos (between Los Nietos and Los Urrutias), and despite the wind that got up, I heard and saw one Richard’s Pipit.

So here’s hoping that this week we might have some decent arrivals of summer migrants (and if the weather forecasts are right, Thursday morning might be worth a look although possibly wet and windy).

Chauu

A local afternoon

This afternoon (Wednesday, 26^th Feb.) I arranged to go out birding with Mick Brewer.  He returns to the UK on Friday, and there were some local birds he wanted to see before he went. 

We started off at the Arenal, Los Nietos (the area of beach between Los Nietos and Los Urrutias on the Mar Menor).  We were hoping to see Richards Pipit there, and it was the right sort of day to see them (i.e. no wind).  Walking along the Mar Menor, we soon heard one calling overhead and tracked it to where it dropped down.  We managed to get the ‘scopes on it on the ground, and saw it joined by a second bird.  We watched the two of them until they disappeared into some long grass.  We carried on walking for a while, but the sky started to look very threatening so we decided to go back to the car.  On the way back, the two pipits got up again, and watching where they dropped, we got second views on them for a time, until large spots of rain started to drop!

 Richards Pipit at the Arenal

We sat out the shower in the car, and then had a quick look over the Mar Menor which was now quite calm.  Apart from numbers of Great Crested Grebes (c.40) and Black Necked Grebes (c.50), we had three Red-breasted Mergansers on the water (a male and two ‘redheads’) – these must be starting on their journey north now as every day there are less of them.

From here we went over to Calblanque, primarily to read rings on Audouins Gulls, but also in the hope of at least hearing Eagle Owl as one has been reported there over the last week or so.  At the ‘Salinas de Rasall’, there were 143 Audouins Gulls resting on the lagoon walls, of which we managed to read 8 rings.  Also there, was a very smart adult Mediterranean Gull in breeding plumage.

 A very sleepy Mediterranean Gull in amongst the Audouins

We went from here to the other end of the Salinas in the hope of maybe seeing Water Rail from the hide, but we didn’t make the hide.  Parking up the car, we could hear a Scops Owl calling from a group of pine trees on the hills.  We approached in the hope of catching up with it, but no luck – either because of our approach, or because there were a couple of hill walkers on the peaks of the hills, the owl became silent and we had no chance of finding it.

By now the light was starting to go – the sun had dropped behind the hills, and at about 7-10pm we started to hear the ‘booom booom’ that we had wanted to hear – a male Eagle Owl calling.  Scanning the skyline for all we were worth, we eventually located the owl, typical with its ‘ears’ vertical and tail slightly cocked, calling in all directions.  We watched it for a while, but when it flew off we gave up for the evening and went home.

 Sunset over Calblanque

 And when it got dark, an Eagle Owl (the blob in the middle!) showed itself