Friday, December 23, 2022

📖 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ~ Merry Christmas 2022

Not many outings recently due to the weather and other commitments so a final post before Christmas as family naturally take precedence over the coming week or two. 

iPhone photo of circa 80 Waxwings from the car window

With Christmas in mind on a shopping trip to Aberdeen on December 11th, Dazza and I came across the amazing sight of a large flock of Waxwings near the city centre as we were making our way home, around 80 birds in the treetops at dusk. Unfortunately, an iPhone image was the best we could do.

Fieldfare ~ The keeper of the apples.

With the heavy snowfall recently the garden has provided some good entertainment, the best of which was a very active Fieldfare who was protecting the remains of the autumn windfall apples and those provided by me with great gusto. 

A Blackbird (likely a visiting Scandinavian bird) takes advantage

In fact, it probably expelled more energy by chasing the many Blackbirds currently visiting, but despite this they did occasionally get a look in. 

Chaffinch ~ Strangely not that common in the garden.

I do have a large colony of House Sparrows which are the main visitors to my feeders but they've recently been joined by double figure Chaffinch but no sign of any Brambling in the garden thus far, although I do see them in the treetops from the kitchen window as I look across to the river.


So I'll leave my reader with a few more images of late and it just remains for me to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.


A drive from Inverurie to Kemnay after yet another heavy snow shower.

Village Roads

Kemnay to Kintore

Christmas at home


Friday, December 09, 2022

📖 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Dalmadilly Ponds ~ 09/12/2022

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Friday 9th December 2022 ❄️🌨️ 0C ~ Wind WNW @ 6MPH ~ My first visit on the home patch since arriving back from Spain. The snow came on Wednesday and has been on and off since, in fact, the final half hour of my visit today was completed in heavy snow.

The River Don from Kemnay Bridge ~ Normal level (left) and recent flood level (right)

I began at Dalmadilly Ponds and from here a look down onto the River Don below. While we were in Spain Kemnay was subject to some severe flooding and a neighbour was good enough to send me a few photos of the flood, taken from Kemnay Bridge. Although we are situated just a 5-minute walk from the river, thankfully we live at the top of a hill so escaped without issue.

This first-winter drake Goldeneye crashlands at Dalmadilly.

I checked out both ponds at Dalmadilly today and the highlight was (5) Goldeneye on the large pool, which was made up of two drakes, a first-winter drake and two females and (2) females on the small pool.

A Little Grebe dwarfed by a female Goldeneye 

With the islands currently underwater the only other species of note was a single Little Grebe and a dozen or so Mallards. Strangely for the ponds no sign of any Tufted Ducks which are usually into double figures here during the winter.

Redwing

It was difficult underfoot today with the hard snow crunching away as I walked and anything of interest was likely to be well flushed. That said a nice flock of (11) Long-tailed Tits with (3) Blue Tits and a Coal Tit mingled in. Circa (50) Pink-footed Geese flew southeast, plus a flock of around (30) Fieldfare. Redwings were mostly feeding on the surrounding fields and from my viewpoint down onto the River Don, (5) Goosander, single Little Grebe and (2) Mute Swans.

Birdtrack Subscribers 
Full details of today's sightings can be found HERE but you must be logged in.

Wednesday, December 07, 2022

📖 🇪🇸 Zapata/Rio Grande ~ Spain 30/11/2022

 🇪🇸 ZAPATA ~ Wednesday 30th November 2022 🌤 20C ~ Wind NNW @ 6MPH ~ My final outing of this particular tour was an early morning drive around Zapata and a look at the Rio Grande with friends Barbara and Derek Etherton, two British local birders who I met a few years ago.

Details for Zapata can be found HERE or by clicking on the SPAIN🇪🇸 link at the top of the blog.

Little-ringed Plover

We arrived at Zapata just prior to sunrise, which at this time of year is just after 8am. Derek drove today and our first stop was at the ford which crosses the Guadalhorce, always a great place to start. A Kingfisher and a couple of Grey Wagtails, plus a few waders this morning with Little-ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Little Egret and Greenshank but a surprise was the huge number of Cormorants, we counted (84). We also noted (17) Cattle Egrets departing their nearby roost, along with a Night Heron, which flew along the river. There is currently a wintering Little Bittern but unfortunately, there was no sign during our stay. 

Bluethroat calling along the motorway drainage ditch

Having missed out on Bluethroats during a brief stop-off last week I was keen to catch up with one of my favourite wintering birds at Zapata. The best place to find them is just across the ford where the drainage ditches are located for the nearby A7. It wasn't long before we located three birds, the first easily found by the call. A walk along the ditch produced two more birds before we headed back across the ford.

Serin at Zapata

After crossing back over we took a tour of the rest of this amazing little habitat, stopping at the reedbeds adjacent to Malaga airport where the usual flocks of Common Waxbill can be found. There was also a small flock of Serin as we made our way back to the roadside and a showy Hoopoe posed for a photo. 

Hoopoe at Zapata

Our full list of Zapata sightings can be found HERE

🇪🇸 RIO GRANDE ~ Wednesday 30th November 2022 🌤 21C ~ Wind NW @ 4MPH ~ After Zapata and a stop for delicious molletes (bacon & egg sandwiches) at Restaurante El Tardón in Alhaurín de la Torre we made the short drive over to the Río Grande. The Río Grande forms close to the Sierra de las Nieves natural park and with the recent rain, there was plenty of water coming down. This is another area you can drive around off-road (luxury birding) and like Zapata, it does mean crossing a ford. 

Brambling along the Río Grande ~ My first for Spain

We began at the Aerodrome, base Brica Infoca just off the A-357 and headed east along the dirt track to check out the huge eucalyptus trees and tamarisk. Short-toad Treecreeper and there were a few finch flocks ground feeding which contained Siskin, Serin, Chaffinch and a few Meadow Pipits but we were surprised to find at least (5) Bramblings amongst them, my first for Spain.

Water Pipit feeding midstream

To the west along the riverside, the first species of interest was a Water Pipit feeding midstream, shortly followed by some close views of a Black Stork

Black Stork along the Río Grande

Waders along the drive included Black-winged Stilt, Little Egret, Great Egret, Little-ringed Plover, Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper and Greenshank.

There were a few raptors around today Buzzard, Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk, the latter being bombed by a half dozen Crag Martins, which didn't like the invasion into their airspace. 

Our full list of Río Grande sightings can be found HERE

A Few More Images of the Day...


Siskin ~ Río Grande

Bluethroat ~ Zapata

Derek's record shot of some of the large number of Cormorants at Zapata

So that's it and another winter visit comes to an end and as I type this final diary entry from home in Aberdeenshire the snow has been falling. From the southernmost tip of Spain to the northeast of Scotland in what seems like the blink of an eye!!

Monday, November 28, 2022

📖 🇪🇸 Cadiz ~ Spain 28/11/2022

🇪🇸 Monday 28th November 2022 🌤 20C ~ Wind NW @ 8MPH ~ With Dazza now on her holidays for the next week we decided to drive to Cadiz for an overnight stay, taking in the Cazalla Bird Observatory at Tarifa and La Janda on our way through. 

Griffon Vulture flies low over the observatory at Cazalla.

As you would expect the bird observatory was relatively quiet with most of the species you'd normally see here migrating across to Africa in the autumn now gone. However, there appeared to be quite an ongoing passage of Griffon Vultures even this late in the year and we counted around forty birds during a brief stop. Indeed, by the time we reached the turn-off to La Janda about 40 minutes later, we'd managed well over 100 birds.

Black-winged Kite ~ One of three seen today around La Janda

We took our normal anti-clockwise route around La Janda beginning opposite the turnoff to Zahara on the N340 and spent a few hours stopping/starting along the tracks. Despite a lot of species absent due to the time of year, there's still plenty to see and a full list of our sightings for today can be found HERE

Some large gatherings of Spoonbill at La Janda ~ This one separated briefly from one group.

In the winter months, it's a great place to see Cranes with 100s overwintering and along with the Cranes, White Storks, Spoonbills and Glossy Ibis can also be found in good numbers. 

Rice fields were being prepared for next year with Cattle Egrets following close behind.

With the rice fields now being prepared for next year, there are plenty of water channels to investigate but the sun's reflection can be quite harsh at this time of year, particularly as you look directly into it from the trackside. Green Sandpipers were in good numbers and Black-winged Stilt, Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Snipe, LapwingGreenshank and Little-ringed Plover were all noted. 

Hybrid Lesser/Greater Spotted Eagle.

A couple of Red Kites were noted today along with nine Marsh Harriers but we drew a blank on Hen Harriers (a wintering species here). Still, we did manage views of an Eagle Sp. in our search for a Lesser-spotted Eagle and I've been informed since that the above bird is likely a hybrid Lesser/Greater Spotted Eagle which is known to the area.

Stonechats (at least 15 seen today) like Chiffchaff have been seen in good numbers throughout our stay.

Passerines of note today included Spanish Sparrow, Corn Bunting, Crested Lark, Black Redstart, Blackcap, Serin, Zitting Cisticola and over twenty wintering Chiffchaffs, the latter of which have been in large numbers during most outings in Spain throughout the past few weeks. 


If you are interested in the history of La Janda there's a good article called 'The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of La Janda' which can be found HERE

A Few More Images of the Day...

Another of the hybrid Eagle

Cattle Egret at one of the water pumps

Marsh Harrier ~ One of at least 9 seen today

A group of Spoonbills on the open rice fields

Thursday, November 24, 2022

📖 🇪🇸 Guadalhorce Revisit ~ Spain 24/11/2022

 🇪🇸 Thursday 24th November 2022 🌤 20C ~ Wind ESE @ 3MPH ~ A few hours at Guadalhorce today and after hearing of a recent reintroduction of Marbled Duck to the site I was hopeful of catching a glimpse. I was unsure how many birds had been released and which Laguna would be best to find them but by sheer luck, I found four birds huddled together on the southern end of the Laguna de la Casilla. 

Marbled Duck at Guadalhorce

During this brief visit today, I decided to spend my time at just two of the hides, and my next stop was Laguna Escondida. Still, no sign of any White-headed Duck here and I've been told since that they have all but abandoned the site due to recent mosquito spraying. A real shame as this was my go-to place for this rare and quirky-looking duck. While here around (80) Shoveler, (4) Little Grebe, Kingfisher and towards the rear of the pool feeding between the reeds (5) Pochard and single drake Ferruginous Duck.

Closer views of the Black-necked Grebes 

Like Monday's visit the Laguna Grande held a large number of Cormorant and Shelduck and today the Black-necked Grebes had increased to nine and were a little closer to the hide.

Slender-billed Gull Laguna Grande

Guadalhorce can be an excellent place to find Slender-billed Gulls and I managed to pick out a single bird along with Lesser Black-backed, Yellow-legged and Black-headed Gulls.

With so many Black-winged Stilts at Guadalhorce bickering is a common sight.

Yellow-legged Gull ~ Laguna Grande

Site details can be found HERE or by clicking on the SPAIN🇪🇸 link at the top of the blog.

A FULL-LIST of today's site visit can be found HERE

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

📖 🇪🇸 Cantera Los Arenales ~ Spain 23/11/2022

🇪🇸 Wednesday 23rd November 2022 🌤 21C ~ Wind NW @ 8MPH ~My first look at Cantera Los Arenales since the massive wildfire in July and a visit full of trepidation. Thankfully the parking area and surrounding quarry were still intact but after setting off up towards Puerto de la Graja it became quite clear that the whole area had been devastated!

Left ~ The quarry just above the carpark ~ Right ~ The devastation becomes clear pretty quickly.

The fire ended up scorching 1,870 hectares in the municipalities of Mijas, Alhaurin el Grande and Alhaurín de la Torre with over 3,000 people evacuated. At the point of writing it's still unclear as to whether the fire was started deliberately or not!

The fire at its peak

Despite the devastation, I decided to walk the entirety of what is normally my turnaround point at Puerto de la Graja, just short of 3,000ft. By this stage Crested Tit, Firecrest and Short-toed Treecreeper would be a regular sighting but the silence was deafening, although occasionally I would hear a Crossbill as it transited overhead. 

This Peregrine Falcon passes unrewarded

While at the very top, a lone Chaffinch passed just below me followed by a sudden woosh of air which gave up a Peregrine in hot pursuit. Thankfully for the Chaffinch, the Peregrine passed by some moments later unrewarded.

Incredibly this Palm emerges from inside a burnt-out husk

Despite the devastation, there are signs of recovery with Palms and Flax-leaved Daphne starting to emerge. 

Lang's Short-tailed Blue butterfly.

Common Darter


On one now well-established plant a Lang's Short-tail Blue butterfly perches and on a scorched and burnt piece of wood, a Common Darter takes a breather, nature is such a robust and wonderful thing.  

Black Wheatear

Dartford Warbler

Female Sardinian Warbler

Having returned to the car I spent some time around the carpark searching the vegetation and rock face and ended on a positive note with a few of the species that reside here Black Wheatear, Dartford Warbler and Sardinian Warbler.

The view from Puerto de la Graja