Thursday 26 October
Sixteen of us at the
Guadalhorce, Malaga this morning which marks the tenth anniversary since the very first meeting of the
Axarquia Bird Group in October 2007. Perhaps we should have replicated that visit and visited the old railway track at Ventas de Zafarraya so, instead, will mark the occasion by visiting this mountain site next month.
Whist assembling at the entrance track up to the river we had a plentiful supply of
Blackcaps in the nearby bushes and, overhead, it seemed a constant stream of the marauding and screaming
Monk Parakeets. We could see a few resting
Cormorants on the trees near the
Laguna Grande and then, overhead, first a
Barn Swallow followed by a handful of
Crag Martins.
House Sparrow,
Spotless Starling and
Collared Dove made up the introductory species. At this stage both
Zitting Cisticola and
Blackbird were also recorded.
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| Juvenile Flamingo Flamenco Comun Phoenicopterus roseus |
Crossing the footbridge the odd resident
Rock Dove was seen under the road bridge along with both
Heron and
Coot on the river. Having crossed the footbridge, four members walked on the eastern arm, five headed of to the
Escondida and we remaining seven ended up at the main hide overlooking the
Laguna Grande, having watched the departing 17
Cattle Egret pass overhead. At least a score of
Cormorant in residence along with a few
Herons and resting
Shoveler and
Mallards. A pair of
Black-necked Grebes were on the water and a lone
Little Egret dropped in to take a look at the trio of juvenile
Flamingos. At the back of the water we soon found the resting
Osprey, obviously digesting his recent fish breakfast as every now and again he would look down and find another little morsel at its feet. In front we had a couple of
Ringed Plover and a
Common Sandpiper. before leaving, as well as the numerous
Chifchaff, which we were to find in abundance throughout the reserve, we also found our first
Booted Eagle hiding behind the
Cormarants in a tree to our left.
And so onto the Escondida wheer we found
White-headed Duck,
Mallard,
Pochard and
Gadwall along with a number of
Little Grebes and a regular crossing of the water over the full length by a number of
Kingfishers. Were there as many as six present? A
Robin put in an appearance to our left along with the site of our second
Stonechat of the morning and loudly-calling
Cetti's Warbler.
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| Little Grebe Zampullin Comun Tachybaptus ruficollis |
The
Laguna Casillas was surprisingly empty of birds with just a single
Little Grebe and a handful of
Coots. Eventually a
Moorhen but the action was on the dry scrape on the other side of the track. A small flock of
Serin then a handful of
Goldfinch before we found the male
Pied Flycatcher. In a dead tree at the back not only a pair of
Bluethroat but also a
Black Redstart. A
Red-legged Partidge was heard by many of us and then, immediately below, a lone
Meadow Pipit wandering around on the dried earth. Finally, the regular appearance of a number of
Greenfinches.
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| Stonechats Tarabilla Comun Saxicola torquatus |
Not too many
Black-winged Stilts on the
Wader Pool but we did have a single
Little Egret and another trio of juvenile
Flamingo. A few
Ringed Plovers but the star s were possibly the pair of
Ruff (one
Reeve). John and Jenny had just watched a quartering
Marsh Harrier and saw our, we think, third
Booted Eagle of the morning. More
Chiffchaffs busy feeding as we carried on down to the
Sea Watch. The sea was like the proverbial mill pond and it took some time to realise that there were any birds about. A small flock of about two dozen
Black-headed Gulls almost in front and then we saw an overfly of a couple of
Mediterranean Gulls. A little further out about the same number of
Yellow-legged Gulls but more spread out. Scanning the distant water we picked up a couple of quartering
Gannets which confirmed their identity as they dived down into the sea with a great splash. The other group also picked up
Cory's Shearwater.
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| Booted Eagle Aguililla Calzada Hieraaetus pennatus |
Working our way back in reverse direction we soon added the
Peregrine Falcon which was still resting high on the tallest chimney to our right. Meanwhile, others had added both
Crested Lark and
Corn Bunting. In addition a
Jackdaw was recorded by Derek's group plus both
Hoopoe and a
Buzzard. And they managed to find the hiding
Teal. By the time our various lists had been coordinated the group had recorded
62 species for the morning and then, not long after crossing the river to make our way home, a wandering single
Raven crossed the road to add to the
Jackdaw seen earlier.
Just received an udate from John so three more species to add to the list;
Redshank,
Sandwich Tern and
Grey Wagtail. Updated total now
66 species.
Birds seen:
Gadwall, Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Pochard, White-headed Duck, Red-legged Partridge, Little Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Cory's Shearwater, Gannet, Cormorant, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Flamingo, Osprey, Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle, Buzzard, Kestrel, Pergrine Falcon, Moorhen, Coot, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Sanderling, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Ruff, Snipe, Redshank, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Mediterranean Gull, Black-headed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Sandwich Tern, Rock Dove, Collared Dove, Monk Parakeet, Kingfisher, Hoopoe, Crested Lark, Crag Martin, Barn Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Robin, Bluethroat, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Cetti's Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Sardinian Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Jackdaw, Raven, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Serin, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Corn Bunting.
Check out the accompanying website at http://www.birdingaxarquia.weebly.com for the latest sightings, photographs and additional information
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