Cabo de Gata with the Arboleas Birding Group

Wednesday 8 May

Birding may not have been as good as last week but, by jove, some lovey birds seen in good company at my favourite site in Almeria.  And I'm still to see the first House martin of the year.  As the months go by since my return to the UK I get quite nostalgic about the regular sighting of bird such as shrikes, Purple Swamphens, Red-knobbed Coots and all the various eagle of the region.  Not quite the same to admit that I now find regular sightings of both magpie and Woodpigeon which was not the case in Malaga province, albeit no Iberian Magpies!

Cabo de Gata & Rambla Morales: Wednesday 8th May

I picked up Juda ( and a 4 week old male kitten she'd adopted and needed feeding) from Los Gallardos and headed south on the A7/E15.  Enroute to the first hide we saw the usual suspects...Yellow-legged Gull, Collared Dove, Spotless Starling, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Magpie and most notably, a pair of Raven near the BP garage.  Kevin was already at the first hide and had already had a good look around the reserve as he'd been in his campervan overnight.  The list contained Crested Lark, Greater Flamingo, Avocet, Redshank, Shelduck, Ringed and Kentish Plover, Yellow Wagtail, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Jackdaw, Grey Heron, Mallard, Black-winged Stilt, Gull-billed Tern and Collared Pratincole.  We were joined by Trevor.  A scan produced most of the aforementioned species apart from the pratincoles which had flown away.  There were 4 Gull-billed Terns on the rocks.  I found a Whiskered Tern and some Slender-billed Gulls.  Three Cattle Egrets flew in and landed nearby.  Kevin spotted a House Martin. 

Cattle Egrets (PHOTO: David Elliott-Binns)

We found a distant Iberian Grey Shrike.  The numbers of Greater Flamingos were well down.  Only about 150 in the salinas we could see.  I reckon there was a total of 250 individuals on the reserve compared to the recent 5 - 700 numbers.  Kevin found a Grey Plover in near breeding plumage.  Also nearby were some Curlew Sandpipers.  I found a group of 12 closer by.

A plethora of Curlew Sandpipers (PHOTO: David Elliott-Binns)

We had a cup of coffee in Cabo village.  We drove to the beach by the second hide.  A seawatch produced nothing.  We trundled to the hide.  I found a Spoonbill. and some Little Terns.  Kevin added another Grey Heron.

We moved on to the public hide.  There were another 23 Curlew Sandpipers in front of us feeding in the shallows.  Trevor spotted a Yellow Wagtail.  Kevin then added an Oystercatcher.

We convoyed along the track to the Rambla Morales.  I only saw a Yellow-legged Gull en route.  My back was hurting so I didn't take the scope to the hump.  Kevin brought his.  He saw Turnstone, Sanderling and Moorhen.  Down the far end Kevin spotted some fighting White-headed Ducks.  There was a pair of Shelduck with 11 ducklings.  Juda added a Sardinian Warbler.  On our walk back we checked out some Slender-billed Gulls on the far shoreline.  I also found White Wagtail, Gull-billed Tern and a Little Stint.

Shelduck and ducklings (PHOTO: David Elliott-Binns)

We ended up with 47 species.  Best birds of the day were the Curlew Sandpipers.  Birding was not as good as the previous weeks, but still a good day.  Thank you to Trevor for carrying my scope for me!

Dave

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