Saturday 31 October
An earlier night than of late then up, up and away before 6am with Barbara and Derek Etherton to collect Micky Smith and on down to Tarifa for a special meeting of the
Andalicia Bird Society. Fifteen of us were met by the representatives of the "Birdiug the Strait" company to attend the private meeting they had arranged on behalf of the Society at the
Isla de las Palomas, the most southerly point of mainland Europe. dark when we left with the promise of a little sun at first light followed by cloudy and eventually rain by mid-afternoon we were very presently surprised to not only enjoy more sunshine than cloud but, in the event, a rather warm and pleasant day until late afternoon, albeit a little on the breezy side, and the eventual rain turned out to be no more than a light drizzle and by which time we had almost completed a circuit of
La Janda and just about ready to start our return journey having recorded over seventy species during the day.
Whilst waiting for the Guardia Civil to unlock the gate to the site and let us in for our 3 1/2 hour sea-watch, we were able to record
Cormorant,
Yellow-legged and
Mediterranean Gulls along with a number of
Spotless Starlings. Once inside what resembled an abandoned fort, still not sure whether the lighthouse was in working condition or not, with its bare soil centre and rusted goalposts one wondered whether it had been an army base in a previous life. In the event, I presume, all the security was probably for the benefit of the illegal immigrants who were house in restored barrack on the inside western corner of the site.
Enough pondering and on to the rocky coast where a rather lovely sea-watching facility had been built and certainly offered good shelter. A[art from the numerous resting
Yellow-legged Gulls it was obvious from the very start that something special was on-going out to sea and conformed when we informed that this was the best week for sea-watching for shearwaters. And shearwaters there were too. Thousands of
Cory's (Scopoli's) Shearwaters were streaming westwards out into the Atlantic whilst travelling in the opposite direction there was always the occasional
Balearic Shearwater.
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| Cory's (Scopoli's) Shearwater Calonectris diomedea diomedea |
Nearer to the coast, and often within twenty metres or less, were scores of
Gannets in all stages of development and almost a s many
Sandwich Terns. We even had a couple of
Arctic Skuas pout in an appearance plus the briefest of glimpses of a
Whimbrel. On the rocks below both a
Turnstone and a
Redshank whilst above us regular passages of small charms of
Goldfinches along with
Serin and the occasional migrating
Sand Martin and even more
Barn Swallows. Just one
Greenfinch and also single
Little Egret and a
Black Redstart.
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| 2nd calendar year Gannet Morus bassanus |
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| 3rd calendar year Gannet Morus bassanus |
Meanwhile, way out in the Strait, whilst watching the streams of
Cory's Shearwaters flying eastwards the sudden distraction of watching a large container ship heading towards the Mediterranean as a pod of, presumably,
Bottle-nosed Dolphins entertained each other, and we watchers, as they bow-surfed their way eastwards.
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| Adult (winter) Gannet Morus bassanus |
All too soon our time was up and we made our way back passed the roosting
Yellow-legged Gulls to the locked gate and await our captors, the Guardia Civil, to let is out and off the site.
House Sparrows and a
Collared Dove noted and then, for many of us, it was the short ride, after taking our farewells and thanks to our guides, to head up to a nearby car park and successfully locate the resident, very small, population of
Common Bulbuls.
At this point most split up but seven off us took off to unsuccessfully find the Lesser Crested tern that had been recently seen at
Los Lances beach. Here we managed to add
Kentish and
Ringed Plovers along with
Sanderling,
Little Stint and
Cattle Egrets. Before long we had found our first
Meadow Pipits of the day along with
Crested Larks,
Stonechat and even a
Red-rumped Swallow. A few managed a distant
Black Kite whilst nearer home in the shallows waters was a trio of
Flamingos. By the time we had returned to our cars we had also added
Zitting Cisticola,
White Wagtail and
Common Kestrel.
A slight problem reaching Zahara on our way to
Barbate as the road was blocked by the Guardia Civil as NATO exercises were still in progress and an enforced half-hour wait. What to do? Derek remembered that a couple of years ago he had been taken to a relatively nearby housing estate by John Cantelo where
Little Swifts were breeding so off we all went. Not only a few
Little Swifts showing their white rumps and squared tails but also
Barn Swallows,
House,
Crag and
Sand Martins. In addition we had a single
Blue Rock Thrush,
Blackbird,
Robin and
Sardinian Warbler.
Back to Barbate as the afternoon hours quickly disappeared where we discovered good numbers of small waders with
Sanderling being the most numerous. Lots of
Flamingos and a good-sized flock of resting
Audouin's Gulls before finding a few
Spoonbill,
Dunlin and
Redshank. Further round the water we were to also find a trio of
Stone Curlew, a single
Grey Plover and
Greenshank along with a handful of
Grey Herons and distant
Mallards. Smaller birds included
Corn Buntings,
Crested Larks,
Linnets and a small flock of
Calandra Larks. On ;leaving we managed to see a quartet of
Griffon Vultures overhead and found a couple of the local
Bald Ibis.
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| Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita |
Our final point of call, just the one car of four now, was a reverse drive around the main track of
La Janda.
Chiffchaffs,
Corn Buntings and
Goldfinches early on along with very many
Little Egrets before finding the single
Great White Egret. Then, no sooner had we had our first couple of
Marsh Harriers, than a rather handsome male
Hen Harrier crossed low in front of the car and later we were also to see a female (ring-tailed)
Hen Harrier. Numerous
Common Kestrels resting on the electricity pylons and more
Marsh Harriers whilst, overhead, a very large flock of
Glossy Ibis drifted across the skies. No Red-legged Partridges on this occasion but we did see at least three
Pheasants.
In addition to the
Grey Herons, as the light departed on the final stretch of the track alongside the canal, we saw both
Coot and
Moorhen on the track as they scurried safely down to the neighbouring water and then thousands, literally thousands of
White Storks resting and moving towards us to their evening roost. At the same time the same was happening with the hundred s of
Cattle Egrets who use this site as their autumn roost. A
Cetti's Warbler was heard along with a
Kingfisher and we even managed a single
Buzzard. The other extremely large flock was that of
Jackdaws who, presumably, might have been making their way towards a potential roost in the neighbourhood of the smelly farm. Cranes were reported to have arrived during the week but we were unable to find any but, as a consolation, had the privilege of recording our last bird, a
Black-shouldered Kite.
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| White Stork Ciconia ciconia |
As we finally made our way back to the N340 and the drive home with just a little light drizzle and now almost dark we could look back on a wonderful day in great company and, for us, over 70 species recorded.
Birds seen:
Mallard, Pheasant, Cory's Shearwater, Baearic Shearwater, Gannet, Cormorant,cattle Egret, Little Egret, Glossy Ibis, Bald Ibis, Great White Egret, Grey Heron, White Stork,Spoonbill, Flamingo, Black-shouldered Kite, Black Kite, Griffon Vulture, Marsh harrier, hen harrier, Buzzard, Kestrel, Moorhen, Coot, Stone Curlew, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Grey Plover, Sanderling, Little Stint, Dunlin, Redshank, Greenshank, Turnstone, Mediterranean Gull, Black-headed Gull, Audouin's Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Sandwich Tern, Arctic Skua, Rock Dove, Collared Dove, Little Swift, Kingfisher, Calandra Lark, Crested Lark, Sand Martin, Crag Martin, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, House Martin, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Common Bulbul, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blue Rock Thrush, Blackbird, Cetti's Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Sardinian Warbler, Chiffchaff, Jackdaw, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Spanish Sparrow, Serin, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Corn Bunting.
Check out the accompanying website at http://www.birdingaxarquia.weebly.com for the latest sightings, photographs and additional information.
