Saturday, 19 May 2012

Thursday 18th May 2012 – Marchamalo Salinas, Cabo de Palos, EDAR El Algar, Mar Menor


Marchamalo salinas, 16:05 – 16:40
Weather: Sky 7-5/8 cloud, wind SW F2-3, 26º.

This afternoon I decided to go to Playa Paraiso side of Marchamalo, to try to get some photos of the waders I saw yesterday, but when I got there, there were only 27 Avocets, 2 Kentish and a single Ringed Plover left, and these were all to distant to photograph.  However what was new, was a Whinchat on the Salinas fence.

Whinchat at Marchamalo salinas
 
Around at the La Manga side of the Salinas, things were even quieter – the only water birds seen were a group of 140 Yellow-legged Gulls, an Audouin’s Gull, a single Little Egret and a pair of Shelduck.

Species seen/heard
Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
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)
Common Swift (Apus apus)
House Martin (Delichon urbicum)
Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)
Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Cabo lighthouse garden, 16:45 – 18:20
Weather: Sky 4/8 cloud, wind NE F1, 23º.

After seeing the Whinchat at Marchamalo, I thought it might be worthwhile to pay a visit to the lighthouse garden.  As I arrived at the carpark, 2 Red-rumped Swallows flew over and I had a couple of ordinary Swallows as I walked round the area.  There were also 3 well dispersed Spotted Flycatchers and a female Common Redstart.  I spent quite a while trying to photograph a  hippolais warbler which to me looked a little odd, but I later identified it from the photos as being a Melodious Warbler.

 The last of the commoner trans-saharan migrants, the Spotted Flycatchers are still coming through

Luckily I managed to get a few photos of this to confirm it was a Melodious Warbler & not Icterine

Species seen/heard
Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis)
Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
Rock Dove/Domestic Pigeon (Columba livia)
Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica)
White Wagtail (Motacilla alba alba)
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)
Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)
Melodious Warbler (Hippolais polyglotta)
Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala)
Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Serin (Serinus serinus)

EDAR El Algar, 19:30 – 19:50
Weather: Sky 2/8 cloud, wind NE F1-2, 23º.

I thought I’d have a quick look at the old sewage works, where water is finally being pumped into one of the small pools just inside the gates.  There were no waders, but quite a few Turtle Doves around (I counted 18 but there were probably more).
  
 South-east Spain is probably the best place in Europe to see Turtle Doves - there's no shortage of them here
 
Desembocadura, rambla de Albujon, Mar Menor, 20:00 – 20:20
Weather: Sky 3/8 cloud, wind NE F2, 23º.

Calling in at the south western corner of the Mar Menor, there was little about, apart from a Reed Warbler singing in the reedbed, and an adult Night Heron which seemed to fly out from the trees in the old caravan site nearby, and a few Common Swift overhead.

Species seen/heard
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)
Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis)
Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)
Common Swift (Apus apus)
Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)
Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)
Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala)
Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Serin (Serinus serinus)
Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)

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