Wednesday 27 March
Dave and his Arboleas Birding Group back at my favourite site in Almeria and although disappointing numbers, probably as a result of the recent bad weather, no doubt lovely to see their first Woodchat Shrike of the year, something I'm not going to see back here in the UK! As for the much reduced number of Greater Flamingos, possibly a result of the prolonged drought over the past nine months or more? Probably no consolation to say that the rain continues to rain in Warsash.
Cabo de Gata & Rambla Morales: Wednesday 27th March
The forecast for the Almeria region was sunny with clouds and high winds. They were not wrong!
Paul and I headed south on the A7/E15 towards Almeria and came off at the Retamar turn off. Between there and the first hide on the Cabo de Gata bird reserve we logged Collared Dove, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Magpie and Jackdaw.
Even with the recent rains the water level was as it had been. As I wrote up the beginning of the list, Paul scanned the waters in front of us. He found a single Avocet and numerous Black-winged Stilts hunkered down to our left. On the wider stretches of water there were Greater Flamingos, but not in the numbers of previous visits. I found a sheltering Grey Heron on the shrubby causeway. Also seen were Yellow-legged Gulls and a few Mallard. On the far right there was a small flock of gulls. I identified both Audouin's and Black Headed Gulls. Paul found a Kentish Plover. I caught a glimpse of a flash of white from a distant bush. Sitting there was our first Woodchat Shrike of the year. It was still there on view when Trevor and Val arrived. From our location we could see how rough the sea was. I saw a couple of adult Gannets passing by quite close to the beach. We were then joined by Peter (2) and two of Kevin's friends from Holland, Kees (pronounced case) and Leo. I'd met Kees in the past. On their way in they had seen Kestrel, Spotless Starling and Hoopoe. I checked the rocky causeway and added Grey Plover, Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit. Val spotted an Iberian Yellow Wagtail.
 |
| Non-feathered rollers hitting the beach |
After a coffee in Cabo village we made our way to the second hide. The rollers (waves!) were breaking on the beach. We saw more Gannets. We trudged to the hide. The only addition to the list was some pink tinged Slender-billed Gulls En route to the public hide we saw some Greenfinch. We found most of the birds seen from the hide were in shelter. Paul found seven Black-tailed Godwits. We added some Shelduck and a single Cormorant. Val spotted a very windswept Little Egret under our noses.
 |
| Windswept Little Egret (PHOTO: David Elliott-Binns) |
We next headed along the beachside track to the Rambla Morales. One of the sand drifts across the track caused a bit of concern, but we all got through it ok. There was a single Oystercatcher at the estuary end. We headed down towards the hump. There was a large flock of swimming Black-headed Gulls. On the far reed line there was another Oystercatcher, some Black-winged Stilts and a diving Little Grebe. That was it apart from a Crested Lark on the way back to the motorway.
 |
| Black-winged Stilts, Oystercatcher and Little Grebe (PHOTO: David Elliott-Binns) |
We ended up with a slightly disappointing 31 species, but it was nice to see at least one or two incoming migrants. Great company as usual.
Giving best wishes to David Green and Tom Senior.
Regards
Dave.
For the latest news follow the Axarquia Birds and Wildlife Facebook page for more photos and comments and the opportunity to share with the wider birding world.
No comments:
Post a Comment