Algarrobo Costa

 Saturday 2 January

Here we are at the start of a new year and the first birding walk takes me once again up the nearby Rio Algarrobo.  The sun may have been shining in a clear blue sky but the strong, cold wind certainly took the temperature down to around 6, or maybe, 7C.  And all very quiet.  A couple of Monk Parakeets as I entered the trail and a few Collared Doves but nothing else until I found the trio of Spotless Starlings in the large, bare tree opposite the enclosed barbecue area.  Apart from the occasional Collared Dove, my next species was a single Linnet on the opposite bank near the football ground and I was through the motorway underpass before finding a dozen House Sparrows near the "Experimental Station" entrance.  Where were all the birds?

Linnet Pardillo Comun Carduelis cannabina

Over the hidden reservoir a few Crag Martins and Lesser Black-backed Gulls before I noticed the Hoopoe alight on a wall on my far left.  The grassy enclosure at the far end of the reservoir produced Serin, Stonechat and Black Redstart before I found a second Hoopoe near the dry riverbed.  About to turn and start back when I saw a Blackbird dash for cover in a low bush and then the sight of a single Cattle Egret wandering along the far side up against a low, white wall.

Making my way back, a second stop at the grassy field produced another Black Redstart, more Serin and Stonechat along with a couple of Goldfinch.  The bare tree now had three Common Starlings resting at the top and just before the motorway a couple more Linnet.  Once thought the underpass I looked down to my right to find a Stonechat and male Sardinian Warbler sharing the same small, bare shrub whilst, above me, the movement of about a score of Spotless Starlings.

Cattle Egret Garcilla Bueyera Bubulcus ibis

The downstream walk with its detour past the sewage works produced more Black Redstarts and Serin and then six more Cattle Egrets.  It was inside the sewage works that I was to see my only White Wagtail of the morning and, looking up, a quartet of Black-headed Gulls were making their leisurely way south towards the sea.  Finally, as I approached the end of my walk, at last a couple of Chiffchaffs which, in the past few months, have been very common - but not so this morning.

Birds seen:

Cattle Egret, Collared Dove, Monk Parakeet, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Back-backed Gull, Hoopoe, Crag Martin, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Sardinian Warbler, Chiffchaff, Common Starling, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Serin, Goldfinch, Linnet.

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