Arrived in Spain last Tuesday afternoon (10th) for 3 weeks at the villa after a gruelling 36hrs travelling. From Hungary back to the UK and then out the following morning to Spain. Sounds complicated I know but we'd already booked Hungary before I'd decided about my Spain trip!
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| View from the terrace towards the sierras at sunset ~ A magical time of day |
For the most part, I've taken things easy and enjoyed birding from the terrace, always a delight from my high vantage point with
Crested Tits,
Sardinian Warblers and
Serin around the garden. There are currently hoards of
Swifts passing overhead, recently joined by a few
Red-rumped Swallows, plus the occasional Eagle passes and calling
Eagle Owl and
Red-necked Nightjars in the late evening are just surreal. Butterflies are also frequenting the garden along with many interesting insects including
Bee-flies. and
Hoverflies.
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| Greater Bee-fly in the garden. |
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| A Short-toed Eagle hunting over the villa |
For over 14 years I've actually never visited in May and can already see the difficulties I'll encounter from a birding perspective after an afternoon walk at Zapata which can be a good area to search for
Stone Curlew &
Short-toed Lark in the early spring and late autumn. Of course, this is when the fields have been ploughed and the vegetation has fallen back but at this time of year, they are in full bloom with thriving crops and daisies 3ft high making the birding a little challenging! Although there are butterflies to seek out and the Daisies have many advantages.
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| Clouded Yellow taking advantage of the vast daisy fields. |
Even a few hours at Guadalhorce with the notion of photographing the many waders that feed close by the viewing screen at Laguna Grande produced another surprise.
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| Laguna Grande ~ Normally waders feeding in the foreground. |
With the exceptional rainfall this spring and no sluices at Guadalhorce the laguna was full with just a small island showing which was full of roosting
Sandwich Terns and the odd
Mediterranean Gull. On closer inspection,
Common Sandpiper and
Dunlin were also noted.
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| Roosting Sandwich Terns with the odd usurper! |
But despite my surprise, Guadalhorce is never a disappointment and I spent an hour or so here with
Greater Flamingo's,
Glossy Ibis,
Spoonbill,
Whiskered Terns,
Honey Buzzard overhead and of course
White-headed Ducks, for which Guadalhorce is well known. The
Monk Parakeets were as noisy and as boisterous as ever, along with the many
Spotless Starlings.
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| A few White-headed Ducks at the Laguna Escondida today |
On the walk back to the church at Guadalmar where I always park for security the trees and willows are always worth checking out. A
Serin perched briefly on the fence line and I'd heard a
Western Bonelli's Warbler calling and I'm sure I caught the back end as it disappeared into cover but a little more showy was a
Melodious Warbler which did pose briefly for a photo.
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| European Serin |
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| Pretty sure this is Bonelli's Warbler! |
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| Melodious Warbler was more confiding. |
Despite my earlier comments regarding Zapata, the ford was running like a train, no doubt due to the recent rains and did produce the usual waders normally found here.
Black-winged Stilt,
Ringed Plover,
Little-ringed Plover &
Common Sandpiper. Also
Cetti's Warbler,
Nightingale and a few
Cattle Egrets overhead.
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| Black-winged Stilt |
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| Ringed Plover |
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| Little-ringed Plover |
