All done birding this week as I get ready fr the morning's flight back to East Midlands, UK. On the other hand, once back in Stamford following the Plymouth funeral next Monday I do hope to get at least one visit in to my local patch at Rut;land Water. If I am successful then the report will appear here. Meanwhile, friend David has been off to Cabo de Gata with his Arboleas Birding Group and certainly seems to have found some good birds - but no Great Reed Warbler unless I missed it in the original reading. And what about the water levels? Are they now slightly lower to encourage waders?
Cabo de Gata & Rambla de Morales: Wednesday 10th May
John,
Les and I were up early this morning. I picked them up from Los
Gallardos at 07.30hrs in order to get down to Cabo de Gata in time to do
the rear of the reserve before it got too hot. We'd already clocked up
Collared Dove, Jackdaw, House Sparrow and Spotless Starling by the
time we'd turned off the beach road at the roundabout just prior to La
Almadraba de Monteleva village. The sea was quite choppy and there
was a lot of cloud. The salinas at this end had been filled with
seawater as salt production was on going, but it didn't mean many birds
had returned yet. The first ones were Avocet and Slender Billed Gulls.
We came off the track to check some ruined buildings for Little Owls,
but didn't find any. We did see Thekla Larks though. From up there we
had a good view of the works. Returning
to the drivable track we soon found some more waders. Ringed and
Kentish Plover and spring/summer plumaged Sanderling, the latter causing
some confusion and discussion!
A Sandwich Tern flew by and we saw the
first of the Greater Flamingos. We heard a Zitting Cisticola. Les
spotted a Southern Grey Shrike high up on the power line. Missed the
warbler going into a patch of reeds but saw the Yellow Wagtail. A
Sardinian Warbler showed well. Some Gull Billed Tern flew over.
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| Sanderling Correlimos Tridactilo Calidris alba (PHOTO: David Eliott-Binns) |
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| Slender-billed Gull Gaviota Picofina Larius genei (PHOTO: David Eliott-Binns) |
A
Carrion Crow was our last bird before heading to the cafe at Pujaire
for a coffee or two where we were met by Colin and Sandra.
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| Kentish Plover Chorltejo Patinegro Charadrius alexandrinus (PHOTO: David Eliott-Binns) |
Suitably refreshed
we made our way to the first hide on the bend, Colin seeing a House
Martin on the way. A pair of Bee-eaters were huddled together on the
power lines. John spotted a Black-headed Gull. On the causeway there
were a couple of Little Egret, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper and some resting
Little Terns. Others were fishing over the water. There were numerous
Avocet plus the odd Black Winged Stilt and Mallard. I counted 213
Greater Flamingo.
Leaving
there we saw Hoopoe and Common Swift in Cabo village as we passed
through. There was a single Raven perched on a wooden railing near the
beach as we made our way to the second hide. Similar birds were seen
from here until I spotted a pair of feeding Spoonbill. On a roll I then
spotted two Whimbrel flying over the savannah and out to sea.
We
moved to the public hide. There were Audouin's Gulls on the rocky
causeway to the right together with some Ringed Plover. Some Shelduck
were seen. I then found a Spotted Flycatcher on the wire fence near the
parked cars.
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| Ringed Plover Chorlitejo Grande Charadrius hiaticula (PHOTO: David Eliott-Binns) |
We
then went for an early lunch at the beach-side cafe in Cabo village. We
sea-watched as we ate. There was a steady stream of Yellow-legged and
Audouin's Gulls flying passed towards the lighthouse. John spotted a
pair of Slender-billed Gulls as well. I spotted a fast flying wader far
out to sea but we couldn't identify it. Les the spotted a Common Tern
flying/feeding close inshore.
We
drove along the beach side track to the Rambla de Morales. We both
heard and saw Reed Warbler and Zitting Cisticola. Sandra found a
Kentish Plover with chicks by the estuary end. There were Mallard,
Sanderling, at least 8 Common Sandpiper and Little Stint on the mud
shoreline opposite us. Eight Gull-billed Tern were at rest. Also seen
were Coot and Moorhen. Apart from the Common Swift, Barn Swallow and
House Martins flying around, Les found a Sand Martin and John, a Red-rumped Swallow.
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| The salt works would seem to be back in production once again (PHOTO: David Eliott-Binns) |
All in all a good days birding in good company. 44 species in total.
Regards, Dave
Check out the accompanying website at http://www.birdingaxarquia.weebly.com for the latest sightings, photographs and additional information.
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