A WEEKEND IN TARIFA (at last!) 12th – 14th October 2012

OK, it's not in Murcia, but I have to get out every so often!
When I was asked if I wanted to go down to Tarifa for the weekend last weekend, I didn’t think twice about it, Tarifa being one of my favourite places in Spain for birdwatching. Also, the 12^th October being a national holiday meant we had a 3 day weekend.  So we set off Thursday afternoon on the 6 hour trip down there, and things augured well when passing by Granada airport on the A-92, I spotted a Black Shouldered Kite hovering.  Hopefully a good sign.

I had checked what had been seen in the area recently – the main passage of raptors seemed to be over, but there were still a few around, and on the ‘Playa de los Lances’ beach next to Tarifa, there had been an American Golden Plover and Lesser Crested Tern seen in the last few days.  Arriving at 10:30pm, we (Francisco Javier Palacios ‘Javi’ and I) checked into our hostel and made our plans for the next day over supper.

Day 1 – Playa de los Lances; Cazalla and Algarroba lookouts; La Janda
Up at 7am, after a quick breakfast in a local bar, at 7:45 Javi and I were walking from the town along the beach to reach the hide - about a 3km walk.  Although it was pretty dark still when we set out, the sun soon came up over the mountains and we could see a few groups of waders, mainly Sanderling but with a few Ringed Plovers and a single Kentish.  There were a group of gulls on the beach, mainly Yellow-legged but also a couple of Lesser Black-backed’s and around 15 adult Audouin’s Gulls. There were also a couple of Sandwich Terns, and more kept coming in off the sea until there was a total of over 50.  We checked them all for Lesser Crested’s but no luck.  One of them WAS colour-ringed and I was able to read the ring.
One of the reasons why this beach is so good for birds is that there are a couple of fresh water streams that empty into it forming pools in the sand, and these appear to be full of fish, so the birds can both wash, drink and eat here – however, you need to get there early due to the disturbance later on by walkers, joggers, dogs, beach-buggies etc.  There was a continual movement of birds (mainly gulls), and when the large group of terns had gathered, we also had 4 Mediterranean Gulls (3 2^nd winters and an adult) although we didn’t see them arrive.

Out to sea, there was also a movement of Cory’s Shearwaters and Gannets (mainly juveniles), and we saw a small group of 3 ducks drop onto the sea never to be found again, and un-identified.

We crossed the streams and I went on to the hide from which I could see a Grey Plover and a couple of Dunlin.  Talking to another birder in the hide, it seemed that the American Golden Plover was normally in the company of the Grey Plover, but had not been seen the previous morning and was probably gone.  Other birds seen from the hide were several Grey Herons and Little Egrets, a Greenshank, and a group of 7 Cormorants flew over.

Walking back along the boardwalk to the town, we had various Stonechats, a couple of Northern Wheatears, Fan-tailed Warblers, a lot of Goldfinch, Serins, Crested Larks, Swallows and looking over to the mountains slightly more inland, a group of 44 Griffon Vultures circling around.

We left the beach area at around 11:15 and went up to the ‘Cazalla’ lookout which overlooks the town.  However as by now there was quite a westerly breeze blowing and no birders or birds (apart from 80+ distant Griffon Vultures), we decided that the other lookout ‘Algarroba’ would be a better bet, so we made our way there, calling in briefly at the ‘Mirador del Estrecho’ en route, where we saw a Short-toed Eagle sat on a telegraph pole.

We eventually got to the ‘Algarroba’ lookout around 12:30, having driven past the entrance several times (it is a very narrow concrete track off a main road which if you’re not concentrating you could easily miss, and we did!).  We met up with the third member of our team, Isidro Bartolomé who had come down from Murcia that morning.  Although there was virtually ‘nothing’ about, we did see around 150 Griffon Vultures, at least 2 more Short-toed Eagles, 3 Booted Eagles, a Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Robin and Willow/Chiff and also heard a Blackcap ’tak-tak’ing away.

We left at around 2pm to have lunch in the nearby seaside town of Bolonia and then went off to look for Bald Ibis.  This is a species of which there is still a few pairs in the wild in Morocco, but which have been subject to a breeding and releasing program in the Sierra de Retín in Cadiz province, and we had been told that a pair was nesting near Vejer de la Frontera.  As this was not far off our route to La Janda, we decided to have a look, but although we think we saw the nest, there were no sign of any birds which are probably fledged and long gone by now.  We did see there a large group of several hundred Jackdaws mobbing a light phase Booted Eagle.

Booted Eagle being mobbed by a Jackdaw

We got to La Janda around 6pm.  What a star place this is.  Apparently bigger than Doñana, it has a bit of every habitat – rice-fields, canals, ‘dehesas’ (open grazing hill fields with a few interspersed trees), pine trees, cotton and wheat fields, mountains behind.  And some star birds!  We saw around 800 White Storks, 50 Grey Herons, 500 Cattle Egrets (many in the rice fields with the Storks, but the majority were entering into a roost just before dark), Little Egrets, around a dozen Marsh Harriers, at least 2 Hen Harriers (females or immatures), at least 6 Black-shouldered Kites, 50+ Corn Buntings, Stonechats, Greenfinches and Goldfinches everywhere, a couple of Booted Eagles, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, several Kestrels, 12+ Griffon Vultures, and the star bird, a Pallid Harrier! (a second calendar year male I think, and a lifer for all of us).  First seen being harassed by a Kestrel, it hung around long enough for us to be able to take a few photos of it, and although we were not 100% positive of the I.D., the following day showing the photos to some of the raptor specialists at the Algarroba lookout, they confirmed it.

 One of literally hundreds of White Storks

 My record shots of the Pallid Harrier

 Clearer shots of the Pallid Harrier taken by and copyright of Isidro Bartolomé

 And a shot of its upperside taken by and copyright of Francisco Javier Palacios

 

And at the end of the day, Cattle Egrets going to roost

Day 2 – Playa de los Lances; Algarroba lookout; La Janda
After a quick breakfast, we went straight to the hide at the ‘los Lances’ beach, getting there at 8a.m., principally to look again for the American Golden Plover, but again without success.  Birds seen were pretty much the same as yesterday, and I managed to read colour rings on an adult Audouin’s Gull and 3 Yellow-legged Gulls.

Leaving there at 10:30, as there was again a fair breeze blowing from the west, we went straight up to the ‘Algarroba’ lookout arriving about 11 a.m., and remained there for a couple of hours.  Birds seen here were more than 100 Griffon Vulture, at least 2 Short-toed Eagles, 2 Booted Eagles, 15 Kestrels, 4 Common Buzzards, a Peregrine, 3 Black Storks, 3 Alpine Swifts, 4 Red-rumped Swallows, 20+ House Martins, a Pied Flycatcher, Blackcap, Robin, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Goldfinches and a Willow Warbler.

We decided after this to go to La Janda via the ‘marismas (marshes) de Barbate’, picking up some take-away sandwiches en route for lunch.  We had heard that there had been a Lesser Yellowlegs around here the week before, but the place seemed to be deserted – the only birds we saw were a few Black-headed Gulls and a Common Redshank.  However, driving from Barbate to Zahara de las Atunes along the A2231, we saw some large black birds flying at the side of the road.  Javi got a couple of photos, and they turned out to be a flock of 25-30 Bald Ibis!  Typically, we couldn’t stop on the road for long (just long enough for a few more photos) and so had to drive on and then turn round to find somewhere to park, and by the time we had done this, the birds were no-where to be seen.  We hung around for about half an hour but they wouldn’t show themselves, so in the end we carried on to La Janda.

Record shot of the Bald Ibis

Arriving at La Janda about 14:30 we took a leisurely drive around, leaving via Facinas at about 19:00.  Birds seen were much as yesterday except we didn’t see the Pallid Harrier, but a Montagus’s instead, and we also saw a couple of Spanish Imperial Eagles together, an adult with the typical white leading edge to the wing, otherwise appearing almost black, and the other an immature, generally brown bird.  Coming out through Facinas we tried to find an inland route back to Tarifa for a change of scenery.  We didn’t manage to find a route, but in our driving around, did find a roost of around 80 Griffon Vultures roosting in trees – something I’ve never seen before.

 Marsh Harrier over the cottonfields

Ringtail Hen Harrier

 The same bird

 And again, flying over two perched Black Shouldered Kites

 Common Buzzard being buzzed by a Kestrel

 

 

 Record shots of a 'ringtail' Montagu's Harrier

Day 3 – Playa de los Lances; La Janda; Rio Palmones estuary
Our last day!  We’d found out that a Lesser Crested Tern had been seen on the beach yesterday at around 12 midday (i.e. an hour and a half after we left), so we decided to try the beach hide again just in case.  Birds seen were much as yesterday with the addition of Balearic Shearwaters out to sea (and no Lesser Crested Tern or American Golden Plover).  There WAS however quite a passage of hirundines over the sands until a Sparrowhawk came through and scared them off – around 400 Swallows, 30+ House Martins, 3 Sand Martins, a couple of Crag Martins and also a late Pallid Swift.

 Seen pretty much everywhere - Stonechat

A Little Egret that seemed to be having a problem with swallowing breakfast

We couldn’t leave without one last look at La Janda, so went over there arriving at around 12:30, and leaving at 15:00.  We took a slightly different route today which involved passing some roadside pools, where we saw Green and Wood Sandpiper, Black Winged Stilts and a Little Ringed Plover.  Prior to this, in the same area where we had seen Spanish Imperial Eagle yesterday, we came across a Bonelli’s Eagle presumably hunting rabbits but also seeing off a Common Buzzard.  Other birds of note today were 8+ Black Shouldered Kites, Hen Harriers and 400+ White Storks, and Javi, while photographing some of the Griffon Vultures that were high up, managed to photograph an immature Egyptian Vulture although none of us actually noticed it!  What we did see very close was a ringed juvenile Woodchat Shrike that appeared to have a deformed bill.

 Grey Heron inquisitively looking at me!

 A typical sight in La Janda - White Storks and Cattle Egrets

 Black Shouldered Kite

 Probably the commonest raptor, Marsh Harrier

 ...and the second commonest, five Black Shouldered Kites perched

 Immature Bonelli's Eagle

White Storks having a rest from all that soaring

Leaving La Janda at 3p.m., we stopped off at bar for a quick sandwich and beer, and saying goodbye to Isidro who was going on to Huelva, Javi and I set off back home.  I had mentioned to Javi and Isidro earlier that I knew of a good place for waterbirds on the other side of Algeciras, and coming out of Algeciras I recognized the place.  Javi suggested we had a look, so we called in.  The place is called Palmones, and it’s a marsh area where the river Palmones meets the sea.  No sooner had we stopped the car, looking over the marshes I saw what I had hoped for – an Osprey sat on the marsh (along with about 50 White Storks).  It was too far to photograph and in the sun, but luckily another flew over which we could photograph, and then a Black Stork came over very low!  Other birds seen there were a group of 9 Spoonbills, a couple of Curlew, Greenshanks and Redshanks, 3 Marsh Harriers and a Common Buzzard.  A very good finish to a great weekend!

 And to end the day, a very close Black Stork....

 ...a flock of White Storks dropping in...

 ... and one of two Ospreys seen

Locations visited with their co-ordinates (to see the actual places, cut and paste the co-ordinates into the ‘Fly To’ search function of Google Earth, and it’ll take you there).

Playa de los Lances (bird hide): 36.034212, -5.624645
Cazalla mirador (lookout): 36.033314, -5.574012
Algarroba mirador (lookout): 36.090260, -5.574012
La Janda (entrance): 36.212110, -5.790519
Palmones (marsh): 36.176491, -5.442062

Birds seen over the weekend: 92 species

Cory’s Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea); Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus); Gannet (Morus bassanus); Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo); Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis); Little Egret (Egretta garzetta); Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea); White Stork (Ciconia ciconia); Black Stork (Ciconia nigra); Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremite); Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia); Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos); Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus); Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus); Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus); Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus); Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus); Montagu’s Harrier (Circus pygargus); Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus); Sparrowhawk (Accipitor nisus); Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo); Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus); Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus); Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti); Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus); Bonelli’s Eagle (Hieraaetus fasciatus); Osprey (Pandion haliaetus); Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus); Hobby (Falco subbuteo); Peregrine (Falco peregrinus); Pheasant (Phasainus colchicus); Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa); Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus); Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus); Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus); Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius); Ringed Plover (Chadrius hiaticula); Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus); Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola); Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus); Sanderling (Calidris alba); Little Stint (Calidris minuta); Dunlin (Correlimos alpina); Curlew (Numenius arquata); Redshank (Tringa totanus); Greenshank (Tringa nebularia); Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus); Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola); Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos); Mediterranean Gull (Larus melanocephalus); Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus); Audouin’s Gull (Larus audouinii); Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis); Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus); Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis); Rock/Domestic Dove (Columba livia); Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus); Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto); Alpine Swift (Apus melba); Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus); Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis); Crested Lark (Galerida cristata); Swallow (Hirundo rustica); Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica); House Martin (Delichon urbicum); Crag Martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris); Sand Marin (Riparia riparia); Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis); White Wagtail (Motacilla alba alba); Robin (Erithacus rubecula); Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus); Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe); Blackbird (Turdus merula); Cetti’s Warbler (Cettia cettia); Fan-tailed Warbler (Cisticola juncidis); Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala); Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla); Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita); Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus); Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca); Great Tit (Parus major); Woodchat Shike (Lanius senator); Jackdaw (Corvus monedula); Common Starling (Sternus vulgaris); Spotless Starling (Sternus unicolor); House Sparrow (Passer domesticus); Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs); Serin (Serinus serinus); Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris); Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis); Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes); Corn Bunting (Miliaria calandra).

Wednesday 10th October - San Javier and San Pedro salinas

I hadn't intended doing any birdwatching today, but after seeing a large pale falcon fly over my office in Los Belones (unidentified), and as I had to go to San Pedro del Pinatar in the afternoon, I thought I'd call in en-route to a few places to see if there was anything new about.

My first port of call was the disused sewage farm (EDAR) at El Algar.  One of the first birds I saw here was a pale phase Booted Eagle circling around, which gradually moved off south.  The lagoons themselves had some water in after the recent rains, and although I was only looking from the gates of the EDAR, I ould see that there were a couple of Little Ringed Plovers, a single Green Sandpiper and 5 Wood Sandpipers there.  On the way out there were masses of Collared Doves on the wires (I estimated around 250) with a single juvenile Turtle Dove amongst them.

I carried on up the coast to the farm reservoirs at San Javier, basically to see if the Black Tern I had seen last week was still about, but there was no sign of it.  Here birds of interest were a group of 9 Swallows, plus 4 Shovelers still in eclipse plumage in one of the reservoirs.

I moved on to San Pedro, and walked partway down 'La Mota' which divides the Mar Menor from the salinas, but only going as far as the second lagoon.  There were still a fair few waders about, but nowhere near as many as last week.  However, I don't know if the heat (around 30ºC) of the last few days has messed with some birds behaviour, but I did see a male Black Winged Stilt attacking another Black Winged Stilt, jumping on its back and holding it underwater for a few seconds - presumably because it considered it a rival.

Sequence of Black Winged Stilts fighting

 

Other birds seen here were a Turnstone, 12 Sanderling, 18 Little Stints, 1 Common Redshank, 6 Little Egrets, 20+ Slender-billed Gulls and a Kingfisher.

Little Stint

 

 A very confiding (or hungry) Sanderling

 One of the Little Egrets seen

Finally, I had a look along the road to the port in the salinas themselves.  Here there was a good group of 25 Black-tailed Godwits, 9 Spotted Redshanks, 2 Common Redshanks, 6 Black WInged Stilts, 50+ Avocets, c30 Black Necked Grebes, a single juvenile Great Crested Grebe, 15 Shelduck, 200+ Greater Flamingos,  a group of 20+ Little Stints, 2 Ruff (a Ruff and a Reeve) and another Kingfisher.

 The juvenile Great Crested Grebe

 

 One of the Avocets seen

 Three of the Black Tailed Godwits trying to creep off

 The male and female Ruff / Reeve

 One of the Spotted Redshanks seen - don't worry, it's not in a cage!

 Record shot of the Kingfisher

 Another of the Black-tailed Godwits seen

A juvenile Common Redshank

And this afternoon, off to Tarifa (Andalucia) to try and catch up with the birds there that I didn't see last week!

KEEP YOUR EYES IN THE SKIES

The coastal area of Murcia isn’t particularly known for its raptors, but maybe after this autumn, more people will be looking out for them.  I say this because during the last week or so, there has been a positive plethora of them seen from around the Cartagena area.
My own first sightings (apart from those mentioned in previous postings) were on Wednesday, 26^th September when along with Diego Zamora Uran and Antonio Fernandez-Caro Gomez, I did the monthly census at the EDAR (sewage farm) at Cabeza Beaza in Cartagena, which consists of two large settlement lakes.  Here we are basically counting ducks, waders and other water birds and occasionally we see some other species.  One of the first birds we saw there this afternoon was a Black Kite low over the first lake.  The count itself went ahead as normal, with interesting birds seen being 4 Pintail, a couple of Willow Warblers and a female or immature Common Redstart, plus 12 ‘Spotted’ Starlings in amongst the Spotless Starlings on the H.T. cables.  On our way back from the count, one of us noted a raptor flying over high up, so we stopped to check it out.  It turned out to be a Short Toed Eagle, and while scanning around, we saw several other raptors making their way to the coastal mountains (towards Tentagorra).  We ended up stopping and scanning the skies for about half an hour, during which time we totaled a second Short Toed Eagle, another Black Kite, 3 Honey Buzzards, a Peregrine, a Sparrowhawk and two Hobbies.  Very unexpected!

 Some of the raptors seen at the EDAR Beaza (Cartagena) - Short Toed Eagle, Honey Buzzard, Black Kite
 - all photos © Diego Zamora Uran

Since then, on one of the local blogs, there have been several days when good (for Murcia) numbers of raptors have been seen, either from Tentagorra (just south of Cartagena) or Cabo Tiñoso (just before the bay of Mazarron), with Short-toed and Booted Eagles, Honey Buzzards, a lot of Marsh Harriers, a few Ospreys, plus Hobbies, Peregrines and Kestrels.

I myself went with a couple of friends to Cabo Tiñoso on Thursday 27^th September in the afternoon, but we didn’t have too much here.  When we met in Cartagena, we had some Alpine Swifts flying around (which were quite late) and at Cabo Tiñoso itself, a pair of Peregrines, a large female Sparrowhawk, and a couple of Grey Herons that came out of the clouds high up and which got us going to begin with.  Down below in the water, we saw a few Cory’s Shearwaters which were great to look at from above – you could see all the contrasting ‘colours’ on them.  And on the way home, a Golden Eagle flew parallel to the car just outside Cartagena.

Over the weekend, as I’m sure that you know, the weather turned and we had our first decent rain for 5 months.  (In fact I had arranged to go with six other people to Tarifa in Andalucia for raptors for the weekend, but in view of the weather forecast, we decided to cancel at the last minute.) The floods that reached the south of the region didn’t affect us, but we did still have some pretty heavy rain.

On the Saturday morning (29^th September), I had a quick look at the Marchamalo Salinas where there was nothing of note (best birds being 32 Greater Flamingos) and then went with someone I met at the Salinas to the lighthouse gardens at Cabo de Palos.  Once again, things were quiet, apart from an immature or female Marsh Harrier that came in off the sea, 3 Northern Wheatears, a female/juvenile Common Redstart and an adult Shag.

 There are still a few Northern Wheatears hanging around

 Adult Shag, generally rare in the Mediterranean, but we have a few breeding pairs

I carried on from the lighthouse up the La Manga ‘strip’ to the ‘encañizadas’ at the far end to see if the change in weather had caused any changes there.  Of note here were 2 more Marsh Harriers that came in off the sea separately, a male and a female/immature, and Spoonbill numbers that had increased to 11.  Also, I couted a total of 55 Grey Herons and 60 Little Egrets and saw a Kingfisher, and had singletons of Swallow and Red-rumped Swallow go over.

A day for Marsh Harriers - one of the three I saw coming in off the sea

 

On my way back home, I decided to call in at the ‘Playa Paraiso’ side of the Marchamalo Salinas to see if the rain had affected thing there – and was pleasantly surprised to see that at last, the first lagoon was at least half covered in water (for the first time since the spring).  Here there were around 1,500 Yellow-legged Gulls roosting, including a colour-ringed juvenile whose ring I managed to read (not always easy when it’s green lettering on an orange background).  Also here were 4 Black Winged Stilts and 3 Greenshanks.  It started spitting with rain while I was there, and by the time I got home it was bucketing down, so that laid waste any plans I had for the afternoon.

Part of the group of Yellow-legged Gulls resting at the side of the water in Playa Paraiso

 

On the Sunday morning (30^th September), as it was still fairly cloudy, I called in once again at the lighthouse garden at Cabo de Palos.  Here things had definitely changed, as the bushes seemed to be alive with the ‘tick-tick-tick’ing of Robins, and there were Blackbirds everywhere.  I also heard the gruff call of a Ring Ouzel, but couldn’t find the bird.  Other birds seen were a Pied Flycatcher (surprisingly, my first of the autumn in Murcia), a couple of Common Redstarts (females or juveniles), a couple of Chiff/Willows, 3 Northern Wheatears, a Whinchat, a Southern Grey Shrike (which started to sing – maybe happy that the rain had come as there were black beetles everywhere), a group of 15 Monk Parakeets (which are probably the noisiest birds around at the moment, until the Starlings get here in force). There were also a few Swallows about, and on the sea, 3 Shag (adult and 2 juveniles) and a juvenile Gannet. 

 Adult and juvenile Shag

 There had definitely been a small fall of Blackbirds this morning

 Birds that are becoming increasingly more common around the area, Monk Parakeets

  From here I called into Cala Reona (Cala Flores, Cabo de Palos) as this is a good place to see Booted Eagles at this time of year.  I didn’t see any, but did see 3 Kestrels, one or two of which were making a real racket – the consensus of opinion is that it may have been one or two residents trying to kick-out an interloper.  Here I also had another Southern Grey Shrike singing, and a couple more Common Redstarts.  Once again, at about 11:30 the rain started and put off any thoughts of more birding for the day.

 Southern Grey Shrike

On Monday morning (1^st October) before work, I called in again at the lighthouse garden at Cabo de Palos.  Here there were much less Blackbirds than yesterday, but I did see 7 Northern Wheatears, 3 Common Redstart, 4 Robins and my first Meadow Pipit of the autumn.  Unexpected were two Jackdaws that flew along from the port area of Cabo de Palos itself.

 Female or juvenile Common Redstart...

 ...and a male

My first Meadow Pipit of the autumn

 

In the afternoon, I called into the old EDAR (sewage farm) at El Algar.  The recent rains had put a layer of water over half of one of the lagoons, but there was very little birdlife apart from a female or immature Marsh Harrier, 3 Kestrels, and for me quite surprising, 8 Turtle Doves.  Also seen drinking in the lagoon was an Iberian Hare.

On my way back to Los Belones, via the Marina de Carmoli (Los Urrutias), another female/immature Marsh Harrier and 8 Curlew.

On Tuesday (2nd October) I didn’t actually go out birdwatching, but as I always carry my binoculars in the car, I did identify 2 Marsh Harriers in Los Belones in the afternoon.  They were flying south high up, up to the ‘Cabeza del fuente’, the mountain overlooking Los Belones.

On Wednesday (3rd October) I saw another Marsh Harrier (a male) flying over from the doorway of my office in Los Belones at around 11:30 in the morning, which was again heading south.

In the afternoon, I called in at the farm reservoirs on the way to San Javier airport.  I wasn’t expecting to see much, and was very surprised to see a single adult moulting Black Tern sat on a float, and seen again later flying.  The reservoirs themselves were very full of water, and other birds of interest seen were a single Common Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover and a Common Snipe, plus the usual Little Grebes, Moorhens, Coots and Mallard ducks.

 Three views of the very late Black Tern which is still hanging around

From here I carried on to the Salinas at San Pedro del Pinatar, and walked down ‘La Mota’, the walkway/cyclepath that divides the Mar Menor from the Salinas themselves.

Although I saw nothing too out of the ordinary here, the rain (and presumably winds) had obviously pushed a lot of the crustacean food sources to the edges of the lagoons as the waders and Black-necked Grebes were feeding along the edge of the walkway allowing good photo opportunities.  Waders seen were Black Winged Stilts (3), Curlew Sandpiper (1 juvenile), Dunlin (12), Sanderling (c.50), Little Stint (19), Ringed Plover (4), Redshank (2), plus around 250 Black Necked Grebes, 120 Greater Flamingoes and 60 Slender-billed Gulls.  Other birds seen were Mediterranean Gulls, Sandwich Terns, Black-headed Gulls, a Willow Warbler and a few Swallows.

Some of the birds seen on my walk down 'La Mota'

 Adult male Ringed Plover

 Dunlin

 Sanderling

 Little Stint

 Dunlin

 Juvenile Slender-billed Gull

 Little Stint

 Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper

 Dunlin

 Common Redshank

 Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper

Black-necked Grebe

 Black-necked Grebe hunting!

Greater Flamingos

 

 Black-necked Grebe hunting

 Black-necked Grebe

 Black-necked Grebes

 Willow Warbler

Little Stints having a scrap!