Wednesday, 26th June 2012 – EDAR Cabeza Beaza, Cartagena

Weather: Sky no cloud, windNE F1-2, temp. 34ºC.  16:00 – 18:00.  With Diego Zamora Urán, Antonio Fernández-Caro Goméz.

This afternoon was the monthly count at the EDAR (sewage farm) at Cabeza Beaza, just outside Cartagena,

The water levels of the two lagoons was higher than on the last few counts, leading to very few waders, apart from Black Winged Stilts (about 150) and Little Ringed Plovers (including a nest in the middle of the track surrounding the lagoons, with a single live chick in it).  Also heard were Common and Green Sandpiper.  Coot numbers were quite high (just short of 200 in total), and there were 8 Moorhen (which have been quite scarce in the past few months). 

 Part of the group of Black-winged Stilts

 A babby Little Ringed Plover in its nest in the middle of a track

The heron family was represented by a group of 21 Cattle Egrets.

One of the Cattle Egrets searching for food at the edge of the second lagoon

The male ducks are now going into eclipse plumage, and numbers of ducks in general was quite low (for example, only 2 Shovelers, around 35 White-headed Ducks, a few Shelduck with young (some quite well grown now), Pochard, many Mallard, and what was presumably the same bird as last month, a male Garganey, but starting to look quite drab now).  A surprise on the first lagoon was a Muscovy Duck which had obviously come from some nearby pond, as it was quite approachable.

Tame Muscovy Duck

There were large numbers of greenfly in the leylandii trees around the second lagoon, and presumably this is what was attracting a lot of Iberian Wagtails, mainly young of this year.

Species seen and numbers

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) - 15

Black-necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) - 131

Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) – c 40

Pochard (Aythra ferina) - 34

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) – c 200

White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala) – c 30

Garganey (Anas querquedula) - 1

Muscovy Duck - (Cairina moschata) - 1

Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis) – c40

Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) – c 60

Audouin’s Gull (Larus audouinii) – 1

Coot (Fulica atra) - 195

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) - 8

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) – c 150

Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) - 24

Swift/Pallid Swift (Apus apus/pallidus) – c 250

Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) – 6

Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) - 4

Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) - 3

Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur) - 12

Iberian Wagtail (Motacilla flava iberiae) - 25

White Wagtail (Motacilla alba alba) – 30

Swallow (Hirundo rustica) – 25

House Martin (Delichon urbicum) – 5

Tuesday, 19th June 2012 – Birding locally

In general things are pretty quiet locally, but as the afternoon was not quite as hot as it has been recently, I thought I’d have a look around at some of the local areas to see if there was anything about.  I started at 6p.m. at Cabo de Palos, having a look over the Mediterranean, but after 10 minutes of seeing absolutely nothing, I gave that up and had a wander around the clifftops and lighthouse garden.

On the clifftops I specifically wanted to see if the small colony of Common Terns were around again this year on a small island just off the cliffs (in previous years there have been up to 10 pairs), but there was not a sign of any birds.

Walking through the lighthouse garden area, it was again very quiet – apart from numerous House Sparrows, the only other birds seen being a few Collared Doves, 2 Linnets, 4 Swallows and 2 Red-rumped Swallows, and I heard a single Blackbird singing some distance off.

From here I went to have a look at the Salinas at Marchamalo, starting on the La Manga side (below the go-kart track).  There has obviously been some effort to fill some of the lagoons with water, but the overall aspect of the Salinas is still pretty sad.  Driving past the two lagoons that now do have some water in, there was not a sign of a bird, or in any other of the dry lagoons.

I went from here round to the other (Playa Paraiso) side of the Salinas, but here too all the lagoons were dry and birdless, apart from a few House Sparrows along the fence.

I wasn’t sure whether to go straight home from here, but decided in the end that as I was having a look around my local sites, I should have a look at Calblanque first.

Calblanque, Los Belones

Weather: Sky 4/8 hazy cloud, very humid, wind NE F1-2; temp.28ºC.  19:00 – 20:30.

I started at the old Salinas (Salinas de Rasall), but there were no birds on there at all and very little water.  I then drove down to the Cabo de Palos end of Calblanque, but apart from a couple of Crested Larks heard, again there was nothing.  Finally I went to the hides’ area of the Salinas, where there was plenty of water.  Here I saw a pair of Kentish Plover, and a pair of Shelduck with at least nine well grown ducklings.  There were also a couple of Green Sandpipers, presumably the first returning migrants, and a pair of Stone Curlews flew over.  On the fence of the Salinas were 4 Bee-eaters, and on a nearby fig tree, a group of around 70 Spotless Starlings. As it got later, more and more Swifts and Pallid Swifts started flying around the pools, presumably feeding on the mosquitoes of which there were more than a few.

Part of the group of Spotless Starlings seen on a fig tree

 A Bee-eater settled on some bushes at the side of the track

But once it saw that I'd stopped, it was off

Leaving at about 8-15, on the way back home I came across a Little Owl sitting out in the open on top of a broken stone wall.

On my way out of Calblanque, I came across this Little Owl keeping an eye on me

Species seen/heard

Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)

Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus)

Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)

Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus)

Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)

Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

Swift (Apus apus)

Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)

Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)

Blackbird (Turdus merula)

Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala)

Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis)

Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Linnet (Carduelis cannabina)

Serin (Serinus serinus)

Saturday, 16th June 2012 – Campo de Cartagena

Weather: Sky clear, no wind, temp. 18 – 28ºC.  08:50 – 11:45.

Today several local birdwatchers, myself included, took part in a census around the ‘campo de Cartagena’ (agricultural fields around El Algar, La Palma, La Puebla and Torre Pacheco).  The reason for the census was to see if we could find any new colonies of Collared Pratincoles.  There were 7 groups of us in the field, but when we joined up again after the census, no new colony had been found.

That doesn’t mean that the morning was wasted – it was good to go round some of the inland areas, seeing good numbers of Stone Curlews, Short-toed and Crested Larks, Black-winged Stilts around almost all of the farm reservoirs, Iberian Wagtails, hundreds of Swifts and Pallid Swifts feeding over the fields, Turtle Doves and a few Bee-eaters on overhead cables and Gull-billed Terns searching for insects, and I did see some Collared Pratincoles, and hear a single Quail.

 Probably the commonest bird seen on the ploughed fields, Short-toed Lark

I used to think that the Redshank was the noisiest wader you could see, until I came to Spain - the Black Winged Stilt can really give you a headache if you get too close!

Species seen/heard

Quail (Coturnix coturnix)

Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus)

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius)

Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola)

Gull-billed Tern (Sterna nilotica)

Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)

Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

Hoopoe (Upupa epops)

Swift (Apus apus)

Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)

Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)

Short-toed Lark (Calandrella rufescens)

Iberian Wagtail (Motacilla flava iberiae)

Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis)

Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Serin (Serinus serinus)

Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)

Linnet (Carduelis cannabina)

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Corn Bunting (Miliaria calandra)

Sunday 10th June 2012 – El Hondo reserve, Alicante (Lat. 38.189496; Lon. -0.752425)

Weather: Sky 1/8 cloud, wind non-existent, temperature. 16 - 32ºC.  09:50 – 16:30.  Guided by Marcos Ferrández, and with members of the ‘Taller de la Naturaleza, Universidad Popular’, Cartagena.

Today was another trip organized by the Natural History group of the Popular University of Cartagena, this time to the ‘El Hondo/Fondo’ reserve near Catral in the neighboring province of Alicante. 

We started at the North Gate of the main ornithological trail at 09:50, and whilst being let in to the reserve, I saw a Roller and a pair of Montagu’s Harriers in the area on the other side of the road.

We went straight to the far hide (La Rosseta), about a third of the way along the track joining the north and south gates. From this raised hide, it is possible to view much of the Levante lagoon and surrounding pools and reedbeds on the north side of the reserve, and from here we saw many of the ducks, grebes and reed birds, such as Great Crested Grebes with young, Black Necked Grebes with young, Pochard, Little Bitterns, Great Reed and Reed Warblers.  Unluckily, we didn’t hear or see any Moustached Warblers which are normally around this area, but DID see Purple Heron, Great White Egret and Glossy Ibis all in flight in the time we were there.

 Little Bittern, hiding in the reeds

 View from the 'La Rosseta' hide, looking west

After a couple of hours there, we went on to another raised hide looking over the southern (Poniente) lagoon where there was a vast flock of Shelduck, plus many other ducks (mainly Mallard but a few White-headed Ducks, Red-crested Pochards), Greater Flamingos, gulls, Avocets and Black Winged Stilts.

Around midday we went on to the information centre for packed lunch, and to look over the pool that has been created there.  Around the pool were at least 8 Purple Gallinules (4 adults and 4 chicks); 6 Crested Coot (unfortunately not wild but recent re-introductions).  However, good to see   them just to get an idea of what to look out for – I was surprised just how different their outline is compared to Common Coot which were in the same pool; the base of the neck being very low in the water making their hindparts appear high.  Also in the pool were Great Reed Warblers, and a Squacco Heron and making regular forays over the pool, various Whiskered Terns and more Glossy Ibis.  When the rest of the group went off, I stayed and was lucky enough to have a pair of Great Spotted Cuckoos fly around the garden area.

Feeding time

 

 

Three shots of one of the introduced Crested Coots

  

 Purple Gallinule/Swamphen with a chick

 And a strange shimmering prehistoric-looking thing - Glossy Ibis

 And lastly, a couple of pics. of Whiskered Tern that were forever there

 

After a short siesta, I took a walk to a couple of other pools/hides close to the information centre, but the only new birds for the day were a group of 5 Gadwall and a couple of Collared Pratincoles flying around.

From here I had a quick look at the rubbish dump nearby, where I saw up to 20 Mediterranean Gulls of all ages in with the mix of Black-headed and Yellow-legged Gulls, and I then came back home.

 Species seen/heard

Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Pochard (Aythya ferina)

Red-crested Pochard (Netta rufina)

Gadwall (Anas strepera)

White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala)

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

Black-necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)

Great White Egret (Egretta alba)

Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea)

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerrea)

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)

Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides)

Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus)

Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)

Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus)

Crested Coot (Fulica cristata)

Coot (Fulica atra)

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)

Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio porphyrio)

Montagu’s Harrier (Circus pygargus)

Peregrine (Falco peregrinus)

Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

Black Winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)

Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus)

Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola)

Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

Mediterranean Gull (Larus melanocephalus)

Slender-billed Gull (Larus geneii)

Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis)

Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida)

Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica)

Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)

Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)

Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)

Great Spotted Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)

Swift (Apus apus)

Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)

Roller (Coracias garrulous)

Hoopoe (Upupa epops)

Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)

Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica)

House Martin (Delichon urbicum)

Iberian Wagtail (Motacilla flava iberiae)

White Wagtail (Motacilla alba alba)

Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus)

Blackbird (Turdus merula)

Cetti’s Warbler (Cettia cetti)

Fan-tailed Warbler (Cisticola juncidis)

Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala)

Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)

Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalusarundinaceus)

Great Tit (Parus major)

Magpie (Pica pica)

Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)

Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Serin (Serinus serinus)

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

And finally, for those odonatistas amongst you, 4 photos of Ischnura sp. which I saw there, which may or may not be the same species (the jury's out at the moment).

 

Saturday, 2nd June 2012 – a day in the steppes

Pétrola, Albacete (Lat. 38.840626; Lon. -1.565283)

Weather: Sky: High light cloud, wind NE F1; temp.25ºC.  11:50 – 13:50.

For a change of scenery, I decided to have a look around the neighboring province of Albacete.

Having spent the morning mooching around the south-eastern area, at midday I went further west to the lagoon at Pétrola.  There, like in most other places at the moment, there was not an awful lot to look at, but at least some of the birds were different to what I’m used to seeing locally.  Since my last visit at the beginning of May, nearly all the migrant had gone, apart from a few Ringed Plovers, leaving just the breeding birds.  There were a number of breeding Greater Flamingos, and on the pools to the east of the main lake were several Whiskered and Gull-billed Terns.  Also Black-headed Gulls, Black Winged Stilts, Ringed, Little Ringed and Kentish Plovers.  On the main lake were many Coots, Common Pochard (mainly males), Red-crested Pochards, White-headed Ducks, Black-necked and Little Grebes, and Greater Flamingos.  Singing from the reeds were both Reed and Great Reed Warblers.  Surprise birds were a couple of Squacco Herons, one at the western side of the lake and another in a small farm reservoir on the eastern side.  Raptors were represented by a single adult male Marsh Harrier and a Common Buzzard.

View of the main lagoon at Pétrola

 One of a couple of Squacco Herons seen

 A bird I normally only see in the winter, but which breed here, a Lapwing

The second Squacco Heron of the day, on the other (eastern) side of the lagoon

Another presumed breeding species, Little Ringed Plover

Species seen/heard

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)

Black-necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)

Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus)

European Pochard (Aythya ferina)

Red-Crested Pochard (Netta rufina)

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala)

Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides)

Coot (Fulica atra)

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)

Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)

Black Winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)

Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)

Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius)

Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)

Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida)

Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica)

Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)

Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)

Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

Swift /Pallid Swift (Apus apus/palidus)

Hoopoe (Upupa epops)

Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)

Short-toed Lark (Calandrella brachydactyla)

Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

House Martin (Delichon urbicum)

Blackbird (Turdus merula)

Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)

Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)

Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala)

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Linnet (Carduelis cannabina)

Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)

Serin (Serinus serinus)

Corn Bunting (Miliaria calandra)

ZEPA de Yecla, Murcia (Lat. 38.678505; Lon. -1.116653)

Weather: Sky High light cloud, wind NE F1-3; temp.27 - 23ºC.  14:30 – 18:45

Leaving Pétrola around 2pm, I came back into the province of Murcia, to the ZEPA (“Zona Especial de Protección de Aves”) of Yecla which is just inside the northern border of the province.  This is the only place in the province to see Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, a species that I was particularly looking for.  However, it was not to be – I found a couple of its close relation, the Black-bellied Sandgrouse, but of the Pin-tailed nothing.

A record shot of one of two Black-bellied Sandgrouse

This was the first time I’ve ever gone to this area in the afternoon – normally I go first thing in the morning to see the birds as this is when they are most active.  However, I was surprised to see just how many birds were showing themselves as the afternoon got later, and they didn’t seem to be anywhere near as flighty as when I see them in the morning.

Driving around some of the mud tracks, I was surprised at the number in particular of Short-toed and Calandra Larks, and going past a field with a number of vertical watering pipes and diffusers, six of them had male Black-eared Wheatears on them.  On the fences of many properties there, Rock Sparrows were noisily making their presence known.

One of many Short-toed Larks showing themselves

Relatively less frequent (at the moment), Crested Lark

 One of six male Black-eared Wheatears seen in the same field

Also numerous, Calandra Larks

And another

And yet another

Guess what...

Driving around, I had to move on quickly when this S.T.Lark dropped in front of me - it obviously was on a mission to feed its young

Later in the afternoon, the Lesser Kestrels showed themselves, or at least 4 of them did – all females and on studying the photos I took, it appears they are going through a full remiges and retrices moult.

One of four female Lesser Kestrels seen - where were all the males?

Species seen/heard

Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa)

Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Pterocles orientalis)

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)

Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni)

Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus)

Little Owl (Athene noctua)

Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)

Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)

Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

Swift /Pallid Swift (Apus apus/palidus)

Hoopoe (Upupa epops)

Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra)

Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)

Short-toed Lark (Calandrella brachydactyla)

Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica)

Black Wheatear (Oenabthe leucura)

Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis)

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Rock Sparrow (Petronia petronia)

Linnet (Carduelis cannabina)

Serin (Serinus serinus)

Corn Bunting (Miliaria calandra)