Saturday, 7 April 2012

Friday 6th April 2012 (Good Friday)



Cabo de Palos lighthouse garden
Weather: Sky cloud 6/8,  wind SW F3-4, temp. 12ºC.  08:20 – 09:35.

Things started well, with a male Common Redstart on the pavement while driving up to the lighthouse, but once I got there, it was back to the normal birds.  The only birds of note were a Great Skua seen over the Mediterranean, 3 Northern Wheatears, one with the appearance of the Greenland form, and a very late Meadow Pipit.

 One of the three Northern Wheatears seen

 
And another

 
 One of the residents - this Sardinian Warbler easily recognised by the white patches in the wings

 
More residents - this Blackbird giving the Spotless Starling a real ear-bashing

And a White Wagtail, always to be found around the carpark area
 
Species seen
Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)
Yellow Legged Gull (Larus michahellis)
Audouin’s Gull (Larus audouinii)
Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis)
Great Skua (Catharacta skua)
Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)
White Wagtail (Motacilla alba alba)
‘flava’ Wagtail (Motacilla flava)
Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)
Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)
Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)
Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala)
Chiffchaff/Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus collybits/trochilus)
Rock Dove/Domestic Pigeon (Columba livia)
Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Corn Bunting (Miliaria calandra)
Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)
Linnet (Carduelis cannabina)
Serin (Serinus serinus)
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

Marchamalo Salinas, La Manga
Weather: Sky 4/8 cloud,  wind SW F2, temp. 14ºC.  09:45 – 11:10.

On the way back from the lighthouse garden, I called in at the Salinas at marchamalo.  Although there wasn’t much to see on the Salinas themselves, a walk around the wooded ‘mimosas’ area proved quite fruitful, with a male Black-eared Wheatear, about 20 swift (Pallid or Common), Swallows and Red-rumped Swallows, a couple of ‘flava’ Wagtails flying over, a Short Toed Lark singing up high, and my first Turtle Dove of the year heard calling.  Also another Northern Wheatear, 6 Chiff/Willows , a Hoopoe and up to 20 Corn Buntings, and on the way out from the Salinas, various groups of Monk Parakeets totaling 30 or more flew past.

Another Northern Wheatear, a very pale looking individual

Species seen
Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
Black Winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)
Slender-billed Gull (Larus genei)
Audouin’s Gull (Larus audouinii)
Hoopoe (Upupa epops)
Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)
Rock Dove/Domestic Pigeon (Columba livia)
Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus)
Swift/Pallid Swift (Apus apus/pallidus)
Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)
Short Toed Lark (Calandrella brachydactyla)
‘flava’ Wagtail (Motacilla flava)
Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica)
Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)
Chiffchaff/Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus collybita/trochilus)
Fan-tailed Warbler (Cisticola juncidis)
Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)
Corn Bunting (Miliaria calandra)
Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)
Linnet (Carduelis cannabina)
Serin (Serinus serinus)

Calblanque, Los Belones
Weather: Sky 2/8 cloud,  wind SW F2, temp. 16ºC.  11:15 – 13:10.

A quick call into Calblanque, but being a holiday, there were a lot of people at the beach there, so I didn't stay long.  Birds of note seen were a group of 6 Bee-eaters, a pair of Black-eared Wheatears and the usual Woodchat Shrike singing from its tree perch on the way out.

Species seen
Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis)
Audouin’s Gull (Larus audouinii)
Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)
Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)
Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica)
Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator)
Crested/Thekla Lark (Galerida cristata/theklae)
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)
Serin (Serinus serinus)
Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

No comments:

Post a Comment