Wednesday 1 April
All happening this week with a double-dose of birding for Kevin plus the dessert adventure and having to be rescued from the sand as his motor home worked its way ever lower into the soft, yellow stuff. Some people get all the excitement!
And what birds seen over the two days by the Arboleas Birding Group. Particularly liked the sighting of the Garganey and Bee-eaters plus the Nightingales. Most of our winter waders seem to have already moved north but still many hangig around in Andalucia; must be the sunny weather!
A bit different this week due to unforeseen circumstances!
Rambla Morales and the Lay-by, late afternoon/evening 31 March 2026
I drove down and parked near the Cabo de Gata campsite in order to walk in to Rambla Morales from the inland direction, a plan which unfortunately involved walking directly towards the sun. House Sparrow, Collared Dove and Crested Lark were the first birds, then I heard a very odd call and had a close view of a Rose-ringed Parakeet in a tree no more than five yards away before it flew off.
Once I got sight of the water there was more to see: Shoveler, Greater Flamingo, White-headed Duck and a stunning pair of breeding-plumage Black-necked Grebes. Merlin told me I was also hearing Thekla Lark . Believe that if you will. Barn Swallows were flying past, and I soon found Mallard and Moorhen.
A Spanish birder with a camera lens half the size of Norway emerged from the reeds and I asked him if he’d seen anything unusual. He said: ‘Si, malvasia cabeciblanco, un grupo de cinco, y cerceta carretona’ . I knew the first was White-headed Duck, which I had just seen, but the second name was a mystery . I headed on to the beach end of the pool where there was nothing. Too many cyclists and walkers. Semana Santa. Busy!
I walked back, scanning the pool and found a superb male Garganey. I even made a labelled field sketch of the diagnostic features, a sketch so amateur I refuse to show it to any of you. Collins confirmed the ID. So this was the bird the guy with the long lens had seen. No sooner was that over than the woman in a large family walking towards me asked what the birds were, pointing to the Flamingos. I told her and she said: ‘They’re very big, and those necks, just like giraffes.” She won’t be a wildlife presenter on Spanish TV any time soon, hopefully.
With just a couple of hundred metres to go back to the van over the steppe I wasn’t expecting much more but then, two Nightingales were singing, plus Spotless Starling and Sardinian Warbler. Finally, icing on the cake, a small group of Bee-eaters went bubbling over.
As I drove out from there, an obliging Wheatear perched on a roadside boulder. I got to the Lay-by at about 7.30pm. It was also very busy, with Easter visitors coming and going and using the fixed telescope. There was a good amount of mud showing, a hopeful sign. I immediately found Redshank, a very close Grey Plover, Ringed Plovers and Dunlins. In addition, new species I logged were Slender-billed Gull, Sanderling, Greenshank, Black-winged Stilt, Kentish Plover, Little Egret, Shelduck, Grey Heron and Spoonbill. 32 species, I think that is.
Kevin part two later!
The following morning Nigel very kindly picked me up from home and we drove down to Cabo de Gata. We saw Thekla Lark, Red-rumped and Barn Swallow, Woodpigeon, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Collared Dove, Blackbird and Magpie as we passed through Retamar Sur and Pujaire. Kevin was already on the scene as we arrived at the first hide. We were joined by Trevor, Val and Paul. Kevin had already logged Yellow-legged and Slender-billed Gulls, Crested Lark, Jackdaw, Black-winged Stilt, Greater Flamingo. Kentish and Ringed Plover. There were more of the later than previous visits as the water level had dropped and more sandy areas were accessible. There was a line of 5 Grey Heron across the salina in front of us plus some more by the shrubby causeway. I spotted a Yellow Wagtail near some Sanderling. Trevor added a pair of White Wagtails. Kevin found some Shelduck. His "Steve Austin" hearing aids picked up the overhead call of a Bee Eater as it flew above us. I found an Oystercatcher. We adjourned to the village cafe where, whilst we slurped our coffees, I saw a Greenfinch. Kevin told us about his previous evenings exploits at Rambla de Morales so I decided we'd go there first.......ummmm!?!
We were following Kevin in his motorvan along the beachside track. We were about 500 metres from the parking area when Kevin came to a stop. He was up to his axles in soft sand. As much as we pushed, pulled and tugged the spinning wheels dug him deeper in. As luck would have it, the local council's tractor was cleaning up the beach. A Cormorant was noted as we waited for his arrival. He did an excellent job. Saved the day. We have previous experiences of cars getting stuck there before, haven't we John & Peter!!
Kevin part two :-
As for this morning, my April Fool’s special trick was to get stuck in the sand on the beach track to Rambla Morales, as Dave has probably recounted. A big thank you to the rest of the group who didn’t abandon me, especially Dave, Nigel and Trevor who tried pushing, and also to the driver of the beach tractor who finally hauled the 2.2-tonne campervan on to solid ground. I won’t be doing that again.
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| Kevin's motorvan being recovered! |
Kevin logged 32 species last evening. We had 25 today. Great weather, birding and company. We will see Val and Paul in November when they return from their French summer.
Dave
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