Wednesday, 8th May 2013 - Cabo de Palos lighthouse garden

Hi all,

Just a short blog entry about a rapid visit made to the lighthouse garden this morning.
 
Now that we're into May, I don't expect to see too much in the way of migrants, so I was quite pleasantly surprised by the number I saw this morning on a walk around the lighthouse gardens.
Nothing too exciting, but good to see them anyway.
 
Apart from the resident birds, I had 2 Robins 'tack-tack'-ing and saw one of them, a couple of female Common Redstarts and three Northern Wheatears all around the rocks at the base of the lighthouse, and several Willow Warblers in the bushes.  

 The spring passage keeps on going - here a male Northern Wheatear

Out to sea there were a few Common Terns, and a movement of Swallows close to the shoreline over the almost still water, and a couple of Common Swifts screaming around the lighthouse itself.

In the carpark, a single Turtle Dove flew out of a bush, and in the Sirio garden, a further Robin, more Willow Warblers and a single female Pied Flycatcher.

 Female Pied Flycatcher keeping an eye out for passing breakfast...

...and one of at least nine Willow Warblers seen

On my way home I paid a quick call into the salinas at Marchamalo, just stopping at the first lagoon behind the go-kart track.  Here there were purely the summering birds, Avocets, Black Winged Stilts, a couple of Redshank, Shelducks, Kentish Plovers and Yellow-legged Gulls, but returning towards Los Belones along the service road behind the go-karts, sat on a fence was a very bright male Whinchat.

And thats all for now!

Chauu!!