Wednesday 14 October

Kevin continues to lead the Arboleas Birding Group in Dave's absence and they certainly seem to have ended with some splendid sightings today. Southern (Iberian) Grey Shrike and Blue Rock Thrush immediately stand out and always great to see a marbled Duck, never mind adding a Booted eagle.

Villaricos and Salar de los Canos: 14 October

On my way to the meeting point I used the levee to drive along the lower rambla of the

Almanzora. Not much to see as there is still a lot of work going on there but I logged House

Sparrow, Collared Dove, Mallard, Magpie, Crested Lark, Common Sandpiper, White Wagtail and

Sardinian Warbler. Arriving above the Ford, I saw a Stonechat a few metres away before I even got

out of the car.

It was quite cloudy with a chill wind but the next two sightings livened things up: atop a

nearby telegraph post, a Southern Grey Shrike and, bizarrely, on a wire leading down from the

same post, a Blue Rock Thrush, the first here for quite a while. Trevor joined me and we set off

towards the sewage works. This is a regular cycling route of his and he told me the main lagoon at

the sewage plant currently has no water. So it was. In the main rambla Trevor found three Dunlin.

Peter S joined us at this point, accompanied by canine birder Ruby. He promptly added Ringed

Plover, Green Sandpiper and four Cattle Egrets.

At the beach we found Kentish Plover and several Audouin’s Gulls. We drove over and

clambered up the sandy slope to the overlook on the north side of the estuary. Trevor was first to

see Coot, Peter added Black-headed Gulls and I found a Sandwich Tern and a Grey Heron. We also

saw Yellow-legged Gull, Lesser Black-back Gull and, after discussion, a Curlew Sandpiper. Cetti’s

Warbler was heard.

Over coffee at the Tiburon, I spied a couple of Barn Swallows flying past and on the drive to

the far side of the estuary, a Spotless Starling. At the south side overlook Peter added Kestrel and

we logged Moorhen, Little Egret and Goldfinch. We then drove to the dual carriageway to scan

Salar de los Canos. The water level was high and initially we added only Black-winged Stilt, Little

Grebe and a single Greater Flamingo. As the only one with a ‘scope, I eventually found two very

distant Black-necked Grebes.

Jacky then arrived and revealed what she had seen: Kingfisher, Spoonbill (10), Dartford

Warbler, Shoveler, White-headed Duck and Chiffchaff. She then promptly found a Wood

Sandpiper in the shallow water to the right and also added Greenfinch. We moved the short

distance to ‘beyond the hump’. Not much here except for a distant duck which, after much

looking, checking of apps and discussion Peter, Jacky and I were 98.3% convinced was a Marbled

Duck. We stopped in at the first tower. Nothing new but we had excellent views of Jacky’s

Spoonbills.

At the second tower/weir, again nothing new at first, apart from good views of White-

headed Duck. Then an elderly couple of English birders alongside us locked on to a very high

raptor. Prolonged discussion between them and Jacky resolved it into a Booted Eagle. We went

our separate ways at this point but Jacky emailed me later. She had gone on to the Almazora

Estuary and seen Purple Heron, Whimbrel and three Cormorants.

So although we didn’t see a great deal in any one place, overall we ended very satisfied

with a total of 48 species.  A good morning in excellent company!  Details for next week will be

posted via Dave at the weekend.

Kevin

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