Marian's 2009 bird-list - Birds from Spain

[madamcoolpix]

Hi, folks! :hi:

I had given up the idea of keeping a thread with my year list in 2009, as I knew I was going to do little birdwatching this year for different personal reasons. But as I seem to be unable to keep track of what I see during the year if I don't build up a thread, and I've done it quite well so far in my scarce outings, I've decided to start it now with the notes I've taken.

No particular aims this year, just to write down the list as I did last year adding some pictures taken during the birding days.

The first day of the year, I "fleed" from my duties for a while to have a walk in the outskirts of my city. And these are the first birds spotted this year:

1 January 2009: outskirts of Oviedo, Asturias, N Spain

1. Yellow-legged Gull (Larus cachinnans)
2. White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
3. House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
4. Magpie (Pica pica)
5. Blackbird (Turdus merula)
6. Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
7. Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
8. Jay (Garrulus glandarius)
9. Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus)
10. Great Tit (Parus major)
11. Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus)
12. Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
13. Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
14. Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)
15. Carrion Crow (Corvus corone)
16. Song Thrush (Turdus merula)
17. Redwing (Turdus illiacus)
18. Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
19. Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus)
20. Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)
21. Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
22. Firecrest (Regulus ignicapillus)
23. Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

Only one picture taken during this gloomy day, this Song Thrush. And to make the thing complete, I lost my little tripod during this outing! :-C It didn't look like a good start for my birding year! ;)

[madamcoolpix]

My second day of birding was excellent, saw loads of stuff and took many pictures. I visited the town of Gijón, because of its varied habitat (the beach, the park, the canal with the river that ends in the beach…). It didn't disappoint me and provided me with many birds for my year list. These are the birds seen and snapped in the beach of Gijón:

2 January 2009: Beach of Gijón, Asturias, N Spain

24. Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)
25. Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
26. Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
27. Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)
28. Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus)
29. Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
30. Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) (Picture a, probably our more "common rarity")
31. Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) (Picture b, I like this one "stepping forwards", |=)|)
32. Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) (Picture c, first time I get close enough to a Kingfisher for nice pics, o:), more in my gallery)
33. Mediterranean Gull (Larus melanocephalus)
34. Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima)

As soon as I can I'll add the second part of this day.

[madamcoolpix]

After exploring the beach, a visit to the local park yielded:

2 January 2009: Isabel La Católica Park, Gijón, Asturias, N Spain

35. Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
36. Chiffchaff (Philloscopus collybita)
37. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
38. Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra)
39. Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
40. Pochard (Aythia ferina)
41. Tufted Duck (Aythia fuligula)
42. Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)

In the park the birds are usually more willing to collaborate and a selection of what I snapped is:

a) Coot
b) Lesser Black-backed Gull
c) Pochard
d) Great Cormorant (loved the way this one was posing with a hanging foot!)
e) Black-headed Gull in winter plumage

Next episode: what I found along the canal! ;)

[madamcoolpix]

And a walk by the canal yielded:

2 January 2009: Canal of River Piles, Gijón, Asturias, N Spain

43. Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) (Pic a)
44. Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
45. Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)
46. Stonechat (Saxicola rubecula)
47. Siskin (Carduelis spinus) (Pic b, it was nice to get male and female in the same frame! o:))

And I spotted the lovely pair of Mallards of Pic c… I just couldn't resist taking a picture! |=)|

[madamcoolpix]

A little effort to make grow my year list before my Christmas holiday finished took me to this great place for a couple of hours. And ticked:

4 January 2009: Villaviciosa, Asturias, N Spain

48. Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
49. Common Teal (Anas crecca)
50. Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)
51. Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)
52. Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus)
53. Redshank (Tringa totanus)
54. Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
55. Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
56. Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta)
57. Dunnock (Prunella modularis)
58. Curlew (Numenius arquata)
59. Gadwall (Anas strepera)
60. Crag Martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris)
61. Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

Very dim light this day, good assortment of birds there but failed shamefully at taking nice pictures (:-C), only a few pics of this Teal were worth keeping:

[madamcoolpix]

As in the brief previous visit to Villaviciosa I missed some birds like Reed Bunting and Fan-tailed Warbler, this weekend I rushed there again. Still no Reed Bunting but added:

11 January 2009: Villaviciosa, Asturias, N Spain

62. Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)
63. Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
64. Fan-tailed Warbler (Cisticola juncidis)
65. Raven (Corvus corax)
66. Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

And photographed the Redwing of Picture a. In my way home, stopped in Gijón again just in case something new was around. No luck, but took pics of several birds in the late evening light: a Chiffchaff "on the rocks" (:eek!:), Turnstone, Purple Sandpiper and Oystercatcher. As a whole, not so bad for an improvised outing! ;)

[madamcoolpix]

At last a bit of "exotic birding"!!! :bounce: This weekend had to go to Madrid for familiar reasons. I managed to visit El Pardo (one of my favourite places around Madrid) on Saturday morning. Loads of birds there, and many to add to the year list! o:)

17 January 2009: El Pardo, Madrid outskirts, C Spain

67. Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus)
68. Cinerous Vulture (Aegypius monachus)
69. Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nissus)
70. Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
71. Eurasian Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus)
72. Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus)
73. Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)
74. Spanish Imperial Eagle(Aquila adalberti)
75. Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
76. Crested Tit (Parus cristatus)
77. Short-toed Treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla)
78. Goldcrest (Regulus regulus)
79. Corn Bunting (Millaria calandra)

And here you have three typical birds found in El Pardo:

a) A Magpie (with a "trophy")
b) Griffon Vulture
c) Corn Bunting

[madamcoolpix]

On Sunday of this weekend in Madrid, I went to the other spot I like the best around Madrid, Rivas Vaciamadrid. It was a beautiful sunny day, birds were everywhere and my year list grew a bit more:

18 January 2009: Rivas Vaciamadrid, Madrid outskirts, C Spain

80. White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)
81. Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
82. Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius)
83. Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala)
84. Green Sanspiper (Tringa ochropus)
85. Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
86. Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
87. Penduline Tit (Remiz pendulinus)

And here they go a few pics of birds from Rivas: Collared Dove, Sardinian Warbler, House Sparrow and White Stork in flight.

[madamcoolpix]

After almost 3 weeks with no birding at all and with serious withdrawal symptoms, I paid a quick visit to a little local park just to try to take some pictures as a tonic. There I photographed the White Wagtail and the Meadow Pipit of the first two pics.

And then I came across a friend of mine who told me a pair of Hawfinches was visiting her garden along with many Bullfinches and other goodies. She invited me to her home the following day to have a try at getting a picture of the Hawfinches and of course I said yes! o:) Sadly it was very dark and raining, so taking pictures was almost impossible with my gear, but got some ticks for my year list and a picture of the Bullfinches.

8 February 2009: Oviedo, Asturias, N Spain

88. Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)
89. Coal Tit (Parus ater)
90. Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes)

[madamcoolpix]

First of all, thanks a load for rating this thread!!! o:) I'll do my best to keep it worth of it!!!

Going through my notes and pictures I've realized that for several days I didn't see new birds but photographed a good bunch of the birds of my area. So, I've decided to add this post with some selected pics just to show you some of the common birds found around my city in winter time. Here you have: a) a Blue Tit, b) a Black Redstart (just love these guys, o:)), c) a Grey Wagtail, d) an absent-minded looking Goldfinch and d) the cute Long-tailed Tit.

New additions to my year list very soon! :t:

[madamcoolpix]

This Sunday I paid the first visit of the year to this beautiful spot, one of my favourites for photography. My aim was not finding anything new for the year list, as I had already seen most of the winter birds found there but had a lovely surprise:

15 February 2009: Gijón Botanical Gardens, Asturias, N Spain

91. Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis)

I didn't expect to see it, let alone to take a few pics of him… turned out to be a bit shy though! |=)| It's the Iberian subspecies sharpei (pale face, instead of black). Photographed too a bold Robin and a lady-Blackbird too busy looking for worms to pay me attention! An enjoyable morning of snapping! o:)

[madamcoolpix]

Another weekend and made no serious plans of birding because of the unfriendly weather forecast. Just improvised an outing to Villaviciosa thinking of taking pictures of the Fan-tailed Warbler and fortunately found a few more birds for the year list (including at last the Reed Bunting), along with my target little bird (pic a).

21 February 2009: Villaviciosa, Asturias, N Spain

92. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
93. Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)
94. Greylag Goose (Anser anser)

And, as usual, I went back home visiting Gijón. No new birds there but found a collaborating Common Starling (pic b) and several Mediterranean Gull in almost full breeding plumage, wow, how beautiful they are like that!!! o:) (pic c)

And on Sunday, a short walk in the late morning in the outskirts of Oviedo provided me with a very welcome Cetti's Warbler that even allowed me a relatively clear shot of it! (pic d)

22 February 2009: Las Caldas, Asturias, N Spain

95. Cetti’s Warbler (Cettia cetti)

[madamcoolpix]

Another family visit to Madrid. No time for real birding in this occasion but managed another visit to El Pardo, expecting to find some of the early migrants I was dying to reencounter. It wasn't wasted time at all, not bad variety of birds around and could take some pictures in spite of the bad light.

28 February 2009: El Pardo, outskirts of Madrid, C Spain

96. Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
97. Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) (Pic a, of a very "pot-bellied" looking one)
98. Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) (Pic b, lucky me, to have it at my eye level… this hardly ever happens to me)
99. Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)
100. Hoopoe (Upupa epops)
101. House Martin (Delichon urbica)
102. Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica)

And the third pic is a pair of Cirl Buntings. They were a bit too far away for my camera but it was great to catch the pair in the same frame, so decided to add it to this thread.

Here I realized that with few and (in general) short outings I had managed to find more that 100 birds so far… and the best was still to come! o:)

[madamcoolpix]

As the weather forecast was reasonable for this new weekend and I was desperate for a proper birding outing (besides, two weeks with no birding at all is inhuman, :eek!:), I took free of duties this weekend and on Saturday I visited this wonderful place for Raptors and Larks. It didn't disappoint me and saw around 60 different species, many of them new for the year list:

14 March 2009: Hoces del Río Duratón, Segovia Province, C Spain

103. Red-legged Partidge (Alectoris rufa)
104. Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis)
105. Thekla Lark (Galerida theklae)
106. Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)
107. Skylark (Alauda arvensis)
108. Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra)
109. Linnet (Acanthis cannabina)
110. Dartford Warbler (Sylvia undata)
111. Red-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax)
112. Black Kite (Milvus migrans)
113. Egyptian Vulture (Aegypius monachus)
114. Woodlark (Lullula arborea)
115. Red Kite (Milvus milvus)
116. Little Owl (Athene noctua)
117. Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia)
118. Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus)

The snapping was a bit chaotic but I'm happy with the birds I got. Here is a selection of species found in the area:

a) Thekla's Lark, the nicest and closest I've ever had!!! o:)
b) Red-billed Chough with nesting material in its bill.
c) Calandra Lark, a bit far away but I like the composition it provided me with.
d) Crested Lark.
e) Little Owl… or better to say, two of them! ;) They were so well camouflaged! :eek!: I don't know how I could spot them!

[madamcoolpix]

And on Sunday (very cool and windy one) I visited this remarkable reedy place, well known for its breeding Bearded Tits and its bird population during migration. I had never been there before, and was very interesting even if was too soon to see it at its best. Missed the Bearded Tit (:-C) but saw other super stuff:

15 March 2009: Laguna de la Nava, Palencia Province, N Spain

119. Marsh Harrier (Circus aeroginosus)
120. Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
121. Wigeon (Anas penelope)
122. Great Egret (Casmerodius albus)
123. Great Bustard (Otis tarda)
124. Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Only stayed there for the morning, had to go back home by couch in the afternoon. And from the couch window spotted a Rook flying by our side for a few seconds! o:)

15 March 2009: near Leon, N Spain

125. Rook (Corvus frugileus)

All the pictures here are from Laguna de la Nava, and give a taste (along with the new year-list birds) of what can be see in the area:

a) A Marsh Harrier surveying the area (chose this view, so you can see what the habitat around looks like, |=)|)
b) A very ruffled Tree Sparrow in the nasty windy.
c) Red Kite, plenty of them around at this time of the year (European wintering birds mainly, I think)
d) A Shoveler drake and his "camera shy" best half (:-O)
e) A Penduline Tit, kind enough to let me take this single shot and come back home with a souvenir of it! o:)

[madamcoolpix]

Migration season arriving and little chances for going out birding due to unavoidable duties… so decided to "sort out my priorities again" (o:D) and visited Gijón hoping to find something new for the year list. Still a bit soon for migrants, it seemed, almost no waders around (for example) but caught up with some goodies:

21 March 2009: Gijón, Asturias, N Spain

126. Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)
127. Sandwitch Tern (Sterna sandvicensis)
128. Sand Martin (Riparia riparia)

It wasn't my intention to post this pic (c) of Sand Martin but finally decided to add it because for once I photographed all the new year-list birds of the day. |=)|

[madamcoolpix]

For the umpteenth time during this winter I had only little time available for birding so visited again Gijón, because it's easy to reach for me and the surprise factor there usually is high. An early morning Sunday visit around the University Campus was relatively successful, as I found and photographed:

22 March 2009: Gijón University Campus, Asturias, N Spain

129. Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)
130. Serin (Serinus serinus)

And the following weekend, just before my Easter Holidays started, went to the Gijón Botanical Gardens where I photographed the Jay and singing Wren attached and picked up another goodie for the list:

5 April 2009: Gijón Botanical Gardens, Asturias, N Spain

131. Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

[madamcoolpix]

Easter holidays at last!!! :loveme: And to be spent with the family in Madrid.

But the happiness couldn't be complete and the weather forecast was dreadful for the whole Easter time! :-C So, a strategy was necessary to make the best of those days: to go out as a little ray of sunshine appeared and go back home with the family when it started to rain… it worked quite well: saw a bunch of birds and my reputation as a formal and reliable girl remained more or less untouched in my family circle (o:D).

So, this is what an early Spring visit to El Pardo yielded for the list:

9 April 2009: El Pardo, outskirts of Madrid, C Spain

132. Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator)
133. Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis)
134. Subalpine Warbler (Sylvia cantillans)
135. European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)
136. Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos)

And to end up nicely this day:
a) I had a wonderful photographic session with a bunch of cooperative Barn Swallows.
b) A singing Nightingale let me take a couple of shots… but in backlight (:-C).
c) I found a Short-toed Treecreeper too busy preparing its comfy nest to pay me any attention. It was carrying feathers to its nest (not in this pic selected though).
d) Plenty of Woodchat Shrikes to snap… not very obliging nor in the best light but I don't want to complain.
e) Managed to get close to a group of Monk Parakeets, providing me with another lovely photographic session.

[madamcoolpix]

After a couple of days raining, a sunny morning arrived and rushed to Rivas Vaciamadrid (the other place around Madrid I love) in the search of more goodies. This is what I got:

12 April 2009: Rivas Vaciamadrid, Madrid outskirts, C Spain

137. Common Swift (Apus apus)
138. Rock Sparrow (Petronia petronia)
139. Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)
140. Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)
141. Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius)
142. Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea)

Sadly most of the stuff was too far away, so this time I'm only posting three pics to illustrate the birds of Rivas: Wood Pigeon, Spotless Starling and Purple Heron (chuffed this one was relatively close, first time I have the chance to snap one perched and in the open, o:))

[madamcoolpix]

Here starts the best part of my year, I think.

In desperation for a bit of adventure, for the month of May I planned several interesting trips, and the first one was to the Canary Islands with my birding team. We visited Fuerteventura just for a long weekend, our duties didn't allow us to stay longer.

Right in the Airport and while sorting out the renting of a car, we spotted the first lifer of the trip in the company of several Yellow Wagtails:

Fuerteventura 01/05/2009

1 May 2009: Fuerteventura Airport, Canary Islands, Spain

143. Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava)
144. Berthelot's Pipit (Anthus bertheloti) :cool:

We arrived to the Island in the late afternoon, so we really didn't have time for much birding but after finding the hotel in Caleta de Fustes (which was quite chaotic) had a look at the sea and found by the shore:

1 May 2009: Caleta de Fustes, E Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain

145. Cory's Shearwater (Calonectis diomedea)
146. Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)

The Following day, the aim was to find Houbara Bustard and Cream-coloured Cursor in the area of Tindaya, and Barbary Partridge and the endemic Fuerteventura Chat if possible. The reddish hues of this desertic area in Spring were amazing, the pictures don't make justice to reality! Along with jaw-dropping with the scenery, we did it again spotting quite soon our two first target birds and other goodies! Wow! :eek!:

2 May 2009: Area of Tindaya, NW Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain

147. Lesser Short-toed Lark (Calandrella rufescens)
148. Stonecurlew (Burhinus oedicnemus)
149. Houbara Bustard (Chalmydotis undulada) :cool:
150. Cream-coloured Courser (Cursorius cursor) :cool:

The desert birds are really hard to see, so mimetic! First pic is the Houbara Bustand and second a Stonecurlew by the road… that was close! o:) Just for fun, I'm adding the dreadful souvenir I got of the Courser… just follow the arrow to find it in the third pic! :-O (I promise not to post this kind of rubbish again, ;)) And the last pic is the endemic subspecies of Common Kestrel dacotiae.

As I have too many pics of our findings for a single post, I'll continue with the report of this day in the following one.

[madamcoolpix]

Continuing with this exacting Saturday, we went to one of the best places in the Island for the endemic Fuerteventura Chat, el Barranco de la Torre. We reached there in the late afternoon, so the activity was quite low. Still, we saw quite a lot of the common birds previously seen plus a few new for my year-list… and another lifer!!! o:)

2 May 2009: Barranco de la Torre, E Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

151. Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea)
152. Spectacled Warbler (Sylvia conspicillata)
153. Trumpeter Finch (Bucanetes githagineus) :cool:
154. Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Chuffed with the Shelduck, only my second one in my life (the pic is a digiscoping attempt, just to immortalize it). Very happy too with finding the Trumpeter Finch after several attempts in S Spain, and with pics of it. The place was full of Spectacled Warblers (pic c), specially juvies, so it was a nice chance to get an image of one…

We had a frustrating glimpse of a possible Fuerteventura Chat, and possible Plain Swifts too but as we were not sure we didn't count them. But decided to go back next morning to try again. You will see what happened very soon! ;)

[madamcoolpix]

Next morning we paid another visit to Barranco de la Torre, this time in the early morning to look for the Fuerteventura Chat… and we succeeded!!! :loveme: And the other doubtful lifer we spotted the day before, appeared again giving great views too!!!

3 May 2009: Barranco de la Torre, NE Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain

155. Fuerteventura Chat (Saxicola dacotiae) :cool: (pic a)
156. Plain Swift (Apus unicolor) :cool:

The Fuerteventura Chat image is another digiscoped record shot.

The rest of the day before taking the plane back home we just drove around trying to find Barbary Partridge, but we didn't. :-C Still, we didn't complain because in the area of Embalse de Los Molinos (W part of the Island) we still had a great view of another lifer, the Barbary Falcon. In this same place we found the Little Ringed Plover for my list, and photographed the Southern Grey Shrike and the Spanish Sparrow of second and third pics. And in the last moment before going to the airport, still found a Squacco Heron in the beach of Caleta de Fustes and had the best photographic session with the Berthelot's Pipits of the weekend (pic d).

3 May 2009: way from W to E of Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain

157. Barbary Falcon (Falco peregrinoides) :cool:
158. Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius)
159. Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides)

Chuffed with the Fuerteventura adventure!!! :bounce:

[madamcoolpix]

During the first week of May a friend of mine told me that the local river mouths were flooded with waders, migration had reached "its climax" with numbers that we had not seen in several years… maybe the local efforts to improve the conditions of these habitats were working finally!!! :bounce:

I had to wait until the weekend to have a look to the "miracle" and I was not disappointed: what a show, so many waders and many of them in beautiful breeding plumage!!! My year list "grew healthy" with the new additions! ;)

9 May 2009: Zeluán, by Avilés, Asturias, N Spain

160. Grey Plover (Pluviales squatarola)
161. Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
162. Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
163. Knot (Calidris canutus)
164. Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)
165. Merlin (Falco sparverius)
166. Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
167. Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)
168. Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa)

Not only the waders made my day, but the unexpected Merlin, a rare bird around here, specially at this time of the year, wow! Took a digiscoping record shot (pic a) to remind me from time to time that I didn't dream! ;) At the same time I digiscoped a Shag (pic b, in nice company of a headless looking Cormorant and plenty of Bar-tailed Godwits). Pic c is a crop of a bunch of Grey Plovers, showing here three different plumages. And pic d is a Whimbrel strolling relaxed by the shore.

Later in the day I went to look for Butterflies to Cabo Peñas, the most Northern spot in Asturias, and the second in Spain. As it happened this year in many areas of Europe, the place was invaded with Painted Ladies… and a surprise paid me a visit: a Hobby passed flying very close!!! o:) Another raptor I hardly ever see in my area, how exciting!!! Sadly, it perched very far away, but managed to take a picture (pic e) to be remembered in posterity! |=)|

9 May 2009: Cabo Peñas, Asturias, N Spain

169. Hobby (Falco subbuteo)

[madamcoolpix]

On Sunday (May the 10th) I went to Gijón in the hope to photograph the great variety of waders crossing my area in their route to the North, as the conditions of the beach allow getting closer to the birds without disturbing them, if you are careful. I hoped to add new birds to the list but no luck. Still, I'm chuffed I got nice pictures of so many waders in beautiful breeding plumage. Here there is a sample of the species found: Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, Redshank and Sanderling.

Next posts will be another exciting adventure during a long weekend! ;)

[madamcoolpix]

As I had already said, during the month of May I organized several interesting outings to make for the scarce birding activities during the winter. This is the second one, now to Monfragüe National Park, during another long weekend.

I went with my birding team, from Madrid. We reached the Park in the evening, so we had not many chances to see loads of birds, but it was enough to add several to the year list and even a lifer!!! o:) It was a baby Eagle Owl, and managed a record shot digiscoping it in the low light of the evening (pic a). Not a great pic but a super souvenir for me!!! :bounce: And next day we spotted the adult too, again in very low light (pic b). And the third pic is the emblematic Azure-winged Magpie, ubiquitous in the area!

15 May 2009: Monfragüe National Park, Cáceres Province, N Extremadura, W Spain

170. Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus)
171. Black Stork (Ciconia nigra)
172. Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) :cool:
173. Booted Eagle (Hieraetus pennatus)
174. Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)

[madamcoolpix]

The following day, we spent the morning in Monfragüe National Park. We saw almost all the emblematic birds of the Park (Black Stork, Spanish Imperial Eagle, Cinererous Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Azure-winged Magpie, etc). We only failed to find the Bonelli's Eagle and the White-rumped Swift (this last one is very scarce and probably a bit too soon in the season too… no excuse for not finding Bonelli's Eagle, :-O). New additions for the year list are:

16 May 2009: Monfragüe National Park, Cáceres Province, N Extremadura, W Spain

175. Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica)
176. Alpine Swift (Apus melva)

And here you have a sample of typical birds to look for in Monfragüe: the beautiful Black Stork (pic a), the majestic Cinereous Vulture (pic b), the smart Blue Rock-Thrush (pic c) and the endangered Spanish Imperial Eagle (pic d, another poor digiscoping, but I couldn't get it while it was flying and showing the white shoulders).

More sightings and pictures from this exciting day in a next post! o:)

[madamcoolpix]

After exploring Monfragüe for an evening and a whole morning, we decided to visit another area close to the National Park to change completely the habitat and try to find more birds. We went to Casatejada and the close Embalse de Arrocampo, an area of marches and lagoons very popular for birders. Here we found:

16 May 2009: area of Embalse de Arrocampo, Cáceres Province, N Extremadura, W Spain

177. Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni)
178. Gull-billed Tern (Sterna nilotica)
179. Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
180. Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus)

Chuffed about finding the Black-shouldered Kite, only my second one!!! o:) But failed to take a picture where it is recognizable! :-C. Other birds photographed there are:

a) Bee-eater. For some reason I've seen very few of these stunners this year, almost no chances for pictures either. :-C
b) A passing by Great Heron in flight.
c) Just had to share here this, loved this Cattle Egret marching so lordly by the Cattle while crossing the road!!! :-O

[madamcoolpix]

We spent the last day of this long weekend looking for steppe birds in the area of Trujillo, further south of Monfragüe N. P. That is well know as a very good area for Bustards and Sandgrouses but we didn't find the good spot (limited time as we had to go back home was a handicap). Still, we saw other typical birds of the area as varied Larks, Spanish Sparrow, many raptors… And two new additions to the year list, both photographed:

17 May 2009: area of Trujillo, Cáceres Province, W Spain

181. Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus)
182. European Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)

And in the way home, we stopped near Oropesa (Toledo Province) and there I managed to photograph two raptors I had failed to snap so far this year: Lesser Kestrel (pic c) and Booted Eagle (pic d). Chuffed with these 4 subjects!!! o:)

Another exciting weekend in the next post! ;)

[madamcoolpix]

I've just realized I've posted over 100 birds photographs so far!!! o:) I'm thinking about struggling to present here at least another 50 different birds! It's good to have an aim!

In the last weekend of May, I received the visit of BF buddy Scottishdude, for a trip in the mountains of my area in quest of high altitude specialties. Our main targets there were Alpine Chough, Alpine Accentor, Snow Finch and Wallcreeper.

From Fuente De, a cable car climbs to an altitude of 1800 m. It was surprising to find loads of snow up there in spite of the time of the year, which made difficult to move around and find birds. If fact, we couldn't find the Wallcreeper, its area was still under a thick white blanket (:-C). But we didn't complain, we had a swell time up there and we found and photographed the other target birds (all lifers for my buddy and one was a lifer for me too):

25 May 2009: Fuente De, Picos de Europa National Park, Cantabria Province, N Spain

183. Alpine Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) (pic a)
184. Alpine Accentor (Prunella collaris) (pic b)
185. Snow Finch (Montifringilla nivalis) :cool: (pic c)

Water Pipit was around too (4th pic), and plenty of Northern Wheatears… and some cooperative Chamois (I'm not adding this last one here because it isn't a bird, but it's in my gallery).

[madamcoolpix]

I'm back after my summer holidays… an unexpectedly long break in BF due to family duties too! But here I am finally, and I continue with the interrumpted report of the Picos de Europa adventure with my buddy Scottishdude.

Dreadful weather forecast for our second attempt with the Wallcreeper! :storm: We then decided to change the plan and to go further South, at the other side of the mountains, to look for some nice weather and other kind of stuff. We visited a couple of Mountain passes, not as high as the destination of the cablecar in Fuerte De but not bad either, around 1100-1200m, which is good for other kind of birds. Great variety and some interesting species new for me this year (and some lifers for my buddy):

26 May 2009: Puerto de San Glorio, Cantabria Province, N Spain

186. Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)
187. Whitethroat (Sylvia communis)

26 May 2009: Alto de las Portillas, Palencia Province, N Spain

188. Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)
189. Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio)
190. Bonelli’s Warbler (Phylloscopus bonelli)

And this is my selection of pictures among the many taken in this super-duper day:

a) Rock Bunting, one of my buddy's target birds… and what fantastic pics he took!!!
b) Tree Pipit. Another lifer for him, and one of the most exciting experiences for me this year. It performed for us singing from several perches, providing us with a wonderful photographic session.
c) Yellowhammer
d) One of the many Northern Wheatears seen during the weekend… this is the closest I had for pics.
e) Red-backed Shrike, a quite cooperative one, stood there for ages.

[madamcoolpix]

I had to visit the University Campus in Gijón this day for working reasons. I know a place there for Melodious Warbler, so went to work with my camera just in case I had a chance for birding after work and could look for this new bird for my Year list. I was very lucky, not only found my target bird and had a super photographic session with it (pic a), but found a lovely pair of Moorhens with 4 chicks (an adult and 3 chicks in pic b) and a cooperative Greenfinch at my eye level (pic c).

11 June 2009: Gijón University Campus, Asturias, N Spain

191. Melodious Warbler (Hippolais poliglotta)

[madamcoolpix]

A weekend in Burgos area. This outing was mainly focussed in finding Butterflies, as the conditions would be great for them according to the weather forecast. Saturday was great for them indeed, so I had not many chances to pay attention to birds. Still, I got the Dipper for the year list and had a try at snapping an Alpine Swift (pic a is the best I got, |=)|)

13 June 2009: Valdelateja, Burgos Province, N Spain

192. Dipper (Cinclus cinclus)

But on Sunday the weather changed and got cloudy, cool, wet and miserable (:-C). Had to forget about finding Butterflies and I looked for some more birds to snap. At least it wasn't wasted time:

14 June 2009: Outskirts of Burgos, N Spain

193. Stock Dove (Columba oenas)
194. Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus)

I'm glad I managed these pics in spite of the very dull light, a lovely quite cooperative Stock Dove (pic b) and a Chaffinch in marching mood under the rain (pic c).

[madamcoolpix]

Middle June and no special plans for the weekend. So I went for a walk along the paths in the outskirts of my city and took the camera with me just in case something interesting appeared. And it did! (|=)|). I had a fantastic encounter with a cooperative family of Spotted Flycatchers that let me take plenty of shots (pic a). And earlier in the morning a family of Stonechats that seemed very interested in having plenty of pictures taken for their family book (|:D|) (here you have the male in pic b, in argument with me, :-O). And the third pic is a Buzzard that passed by quite low… great to have snapped properly one this year, finally! o:)

21 June 2009: outskirts of Oviedo, Asturias, N Spain

195. Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)

[madamcoolpix]

Last weekend of June. Butterflies should be reaching the pic of activity, numbers and variety in C Spain. So, I programmed to spend this Saturday in one of my favourite places for them, in the mountains of Madrid. We climbed from 1200m to 1700m, finding nearly 40 different species of Butterflies… and more birds for my year list! (|=)|)

27 June 2009: Miraflores de la Sierra, Madrid, C Spain

196. Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus)
197. Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca)

I couldn't snap the Honey Buzzard (:-C) but got both male and female Pied Flycatchers with grub (here is the female, pic a) and a passing by Raven (pic b) to illustrate the birds of this area.

[madamcoolpix]

After the exhausting Saturday climbing to look for Butterflies (I'm afraid my age is trying to tell me something, :-O) we decided to take it easy on Sunday. And then we went to Rivas, there were several birds there still to find for the year list: Purple Swamphen, Great Reed Warbler, Red-necked Nighjar, Little Bittern,… But incredibly no traces of most of them!!! :eek!: Only the Little Bittern showed up:

28 June 2009: Rivas Vaciamadrid, Madrid, C Spain

198. Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus)

I'm not showing here the pic I took of it because I have my dignity (:-O). Not brilliant but I got a shot of a Red-rumped Swallow in flight (pic a). And a pic of the most common raptor in this spot, the Black Kite (pic b).

[madamcoolpix]

Had a terrible busy July this year. :-C Very little birding but during one weekend I joined my birding team for one of my favourite birding and butterflying areas in N Spain: the Canyon of Río Lobos (River Wolves, ;), don't ask me why this river has this name, it has no wolves, :-O). Wonderful birding this day, only one new bird for the list but nearly 60 different birds seen and plenty of pictures taken.

18 July 2009: Cañón de Río Lobos, Soria Province, N Spain

199. Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)

These are the pics I've selected to illustrate the birds of the area, all new in this thread:
a) the mega-handsome Hoopoe, quite common but hard to snap (this was relaxed eating by the road, |8.|)
b) absolutely thrilled to have caught this passing Short-toed Eagle, the closest I've ever had! o:)
c) a very familiar view all over Europe, House Martin perched in its nest.
d) here you have my very first decent picture of a male Common Redstart! Chuffed to have found finally a cooperative one! o:)

[madamcoolpix]

Not much time to bird on Sunday because we had to go back home in the afternoon, but still a last effort to find birds in the area during the morning was quite rewarding. Another bird for the list:

19 July 2009: Cañón de Río Lobos, Soria Province, N Spain

200. Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)

and a bunch of good ones to go back home with pics:

a) Crag Martin. I did an effort with this one because I knew it was the only Hirundine from Spain I still had not photographed this year. I'm quite happy with this view showing very well the tail pattern! o:)
b) Rock Sparrow, in an orchard! :eek!: Certainly, you never know… ;)
c) Egyptian Vulture. Still quite far away but notoriously closer than the pic from last year in my 2008 thread. I hope next year I'll get a proper one! ;)

[madamcoolpix]

Summer holidays finally!!! o:)

This year, I spent the first part of my holidays in the area of Burgos, paying visits to different hot spots around. But the holiday started raining! :storm: Terrible birding and almost nonexistent snapping during the first day, although I managed the Carrion Crow calling of pic a. Next day it started very dull too, but things started to improve. Got my first sight of a Nuthatch this year:

2 August 2009: La Quinta, outskirts of Burgos city

201. Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)

and photographed several species in the outskirts of the city: a juvie Great Tit, the Nuthatch (I'm glad I got these two in spite of the terrible dull light) and a couple of Little Grebes in the river.

The events of the afternoon, in a next post. ;)

[madamcoolpix]

And in the afternoon of that same day (August the 2nd) we visited the lagoon of La Nava. We had been there for the very first time in winter and that visit was very successful. Now we wanted to know what it was like in middle summer. We were expecting to see it almost dry and with not much around but… wow, on the contrary, it still had some water and the variety of birds attached to that "oasis" was remarkable. In spite of the variety of species there was only one new for the list:

2 August 2009: Laguna de la Nava, Palencia Province, N Spain

202. Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida)

but could photograph a lot of bird I still had not shot during the year. I'm only showing the most exciting ones of the day:

a) this juvie Black-crowned Night-Heron gave us a good fright, just appeared like a dark ghost from nowhere among the vegetation only a couple of meters away from us.
b) A Gull-billed Gull, there was a good bunch of them but most of the time too far away… still I seized this opportunity with one coming a bit closer.
c) The same can be said for the Whiskered Tern. And I'm happy as this is my first pic of one ever. o:)
d) A flock of Spoonbills flying over our heads. Breathtaking! o:)

[madamcoolpix]

The remaining 5 days spent in Burgos area during this summer holiday were mainly focused in finding Butterflies. Still, I didn't waste my chances of finding new year-birds. I must admit that by now I had found almost all the possible birds present in the area… but there is always something to be found (|=)|):

4 August 2009: Páramo de Masa, Burgos Province, N Spain

203. Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris)

5 August 2009: Canyon of River Riaza, Segovia Province, C Spain

204. Rock Thrush (Monticola saxatilis)

- As I knew there were very few chances left to take a picture of Swifts because they were leaving soon, I tried in Páramo de Masa, as there were quite a good number of them in the sky. Here you have my best result (pic a); a bit pathetic but… ;)
- A bird I heard loads of times this year, saw only a few of them but didn't shoot yet was the Bonelli's Warbler. A good flock of them in Sierra de Ayllón (Segovia Province) provided me with this pic (b) for this thread… Not an easy bird to snap, so I don't complain.
- I had promised not to post shameful rubbish shots (I allow myself some rubbish shot though, |:D|) but this has to be an exception: a Rock-Thrush is always an exciting bird to see, and I wanted to have it illustrating this post (pic c). o:)
- And to finish with this post on the second part of my summer holiday, here you have a lady Hen Harrier who visited us while looking for Butterflies in the coast of Asturias (in the most Northern spot of my region, Cabo Peñas) later in the month. A very welcome sight (pic d)! o:)

There is still a third part of my summer holiday but that episode will arrive later. |=)|

[madamcoolpix]

And here starts the third part of my August holiday. It was a short visit to my BF buddy Scottishdude in Alicante, where he was spending his holiday with his family. But we still had time for birdwatching, even if it was a social/family holiday… there is time for everything, when things are well organized. ;)

The first obvious thing to do there was to visit the famous Santa Pola salt pans to look for Flamingos and Kentish Plover, two of my most desired birds to find in the area. It had plenty of Flamingos (an adult and a juvie flapping wings in pic a) but surprisingly no traces of the Plovers. Still there were Little Terns, Black-winged Stilts and Gulls of several kinds.

And a drive by the surroundings of the salt pans provided me with close views of another couple of beauties that made me very happy: the Roller (pic b) and the Pratincole (pic c). I rarely see these birds because the areas where they are found are quite far away from my Northern home in Spain (it's a quite big country, you know, ;)). So, a big thank you to the Dude from here to help me to photograph these two birds in a fashion I had never done it before!!! o:)

22 August 2009: Santa Pola and surroundings, near Alicante, SE Spain

205. Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)
206. Little Tern (Sterna albifrons)
207. European Roller (Coracias garrulus)
208. Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola)

More images in my gallery.

The story will continue soon. ;)

[madamcoolpix]

After the Santa Pola excitement, we visited another salt pans by the beach of El Pinet. Wow, what a place! o:) There I picked up the Slender-billed Gull (pic a) for the list and had the chance to photograph at short distance a good number of species, most of them not yet shown in this thread, so here you have them to illustrate the birds present in this hot spot: Black-winged Stilt (a very close juvie in pic b), a feeding Avocet (pic c), one of the Black-tailed Godwits feeding and with 99% of the time spent with the head under the water (happy I managed this image with one standing tall, in pic d) and my best result with the Little Tern (pic e, these little demons are really hard to get properly, :storm:)

22 August 2009: El Pinet salt pans, Alicante Province, SE Spain

209. Slender-billed Gull (Larus genei)

[madamcoolpix]

But the surprises around Santa Pola didn't finish yet. In the late afternoon we went with Scottishdude's family to the beach, and there a beautiful Audouin's Gull gave us a super photographic session at short distance, wow! o:)

22 August 2009: near Santa Pola, Alicante Province, SE Spain

210. Audouin's Gull (Larus audouinii)

In the following days I couldn't find new birds for the list, but enjoyed viewing and snapping whatever we found in the surroundings of Santa Pola: Squacco Heron, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Grey Northern Shrike, Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Spectacled Warbler,… are some of the goodies found. Right in the last day of my stage in the area, we visited a very well known reserve close to Santa Pola, El Hondo. Sadly, we had too little time to spend there due to the family duties and with an added handicap for not doing better: the birds were too far away because of the low level of the water. Still, I could see something new:

26 August 2009: El Hondo, Alicante Province, SE Spain

211. Red-crested Pochard (Netta rufina)
212. White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala)

but the pictures I took of these two were shameful and I'm not adding them. So I'm only showing our beautiful posing Audouin's Gull in this post.

[madamcoolpix]

Last day in Alicante and I still had not found the supposedly common and widespread Kentish Plover! :eek!: In a last desperate attempt, we visited another part of the El Pinet salt pans and… Eureka! We got it! |=)| A bit far away but very kindly Scottishdude lent me his 50D+600mm lens and I managed the first pic attached! o:) (Loads of thanks for that, buddy! ;)) Common Terns (pic b, and new for the list) and Mediterranean Gulls were around too.

26 August 2009: El Pinet salt pans, Alicante Province, SE Spain

213. Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)
214. Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)

[madamcoolpix]

Just noticed I reached my aim of 150 birds photographed so far this year!!! o:) But I'm not going to change it now to 200 because I don't want to feel disappointed in Christmas time, LOL! :-O

Well, this is what my next outing provided me with. After coming back from Alicante, a quick visit to the estuary of Villaviciosa looking for waders yielded the Shelduck for the year list and the chance to photograph a few more different birds:
a) Green Sandpiper, very far away, I'm surprised it's well recognized in this pic.
b) Sedge Warbler, as hard to get in its restless activity among the vegetation as ever (:storm:)
c) Peregrine Falcon, again very far away but as it is recognizable here and my chances to photograph Peregrines are usually close to "zero", I'm adding it to my thread in this post.
d) Greenshank, common and regular in the area at this time of the year.

30 August 2009: Villaviciosa, Asturias, N Spain

215. Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)

[madamcoolpix]

Another visit to the stuary of Villaviciosa during the following weekend was extremely fortunate, I had an experience I never had before: watching at least three Bluethoats and relatively close, WOW!!! o:) Only my third encounter with this bird (last year was my second and I was over the Moon) so imagine the happy dance I did when I even managed to get a picture of it!!! :bounce: (pic a) At the very same spot the Yellow Wagtails of our Iberian race perched too (pic b). That rail looked like a very popular perch, I photographed Willow warbler and Fan-tailed Warbler too (but those are already added to this thread and I don't want to bore you too much with pictures, ;)).

6 September 2009: Villaviciosa, Asturias, N Spain

216. Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica)

[madamcoolpix]

September the 8th is a holiday in Asturias, so as I was free of work duties I joined a friend of mine who was going to do a census of migrating Passerines, something I was very interested in knowing how to be done properly.

Nice weather and company and varied birds moving around made a delightful morning. o:) Remarkable species where the Whitethroats, Tree Pipits, one Grey Shrike, one Red-backed Shrike and several Whinchats (finally I could take a picture this year, pic a). But the best of the day was the show of a Sparrowhawk fighting with a Kestrel (pic b is a moment of the attack, not the kind of image I wanted for this thread but I thought it might be interesting to share) and even better was the appearance of an unexpected Black-shouldered Kite, wow!!! o:) (pic c) As far as I know, it's only the fifth record of this bird in Asturias… no doubt they are invading more Northern areas of Spain!

And to make the thing complete, a female Pheasant flew away from our feet, and that made a new bird for the year-list! |=)| Really a fantastic day!!!

8 September 2009: outskirts of Avilés, Asturias, N Spain

217. Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)

[madamcoolpix]

I had no opportunities for birding in a few days, but in a family trip to the coast I took my binoculars and my camera just in case I had a chance to catch up with the seabirds migrating along the coast. The weather was not precisely nice, low light and quite windy but in a short check at the see I saw:

12 September 2009: Luanco, Asturias, N Spain

218. Gannet (Morus bassanus)
219. Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus)

I did an effort to photograph the Gannets (at least they are big and stand out of the dark waters) and so to have a pic to illustrate this post… |=)|

[madamcoolpix]

Very hard 3 weeks in September, with no chances to do proper birding… and knowing from my friends that the migration was being very slow and disappointing, maybe due to the high temperatures and Southern winds that lasted almost all month.

Finally, the first weekend of October I managed to do something successful: I joined some friends on Saturday to do a census of seabirds migrating along the coast. The weather was great and the views of the birds gorgeous… just a pity they were too far away for my camera. The only birds I could snap was a Great Black-backed Gull (pic a) and a Yellow-legged Gull (our most common gull along the coast of Asturias, pic b)

3 October 2009: Faro Vidío, Asturias, N Spain

220. Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus)
221. Pomarine Jagger (Stercorarius parasiticus)
222. Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus)
223. Black Scoter (Melanitta nigra)

And during the night I did something I had never done before: the called Moonwatching, a census of birds migrating during the night and counted looking at the Moon with a scope when they pass though it. WOW!!! That was thrilling!!! o:) An the icing on the cake was a visit a Barn Owl paid us at the end of the session.

3 October 2009: Outskirts of Oviedo, Asturias, N Spain

224. Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

And next day, on Sunday, another visit to Villaviciosa yielded:

4 October 2009: Villaviciosa, Asturias , N Spain

225. Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

But as I told before, the presence of migrant birds was quite poor even here. :-C Still, I don't complain, I consider this a very exciting and successful weekend.

[madamcoolpix]

In my next chance for birding I wasn't really expecting much because of the unsuitable conditions for migration and possibilities of new birds. I decided just enjoy what was around and unexpectedly something exciting (for this Southern area, I know in England for example is a pest, ;)) turned out:

11 Octuber 2009: Avilés stuary, Asturias, N Spain

226. Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

Fortunately, I managed a record shot to confirm I didn't dream and a real adult Hurring Gull appeared in my area! o:)

And next day, with better winds coming from North, I went to the coast and was super to see little birds arriving finally in hordes to my area from the sea: Pipits, Skylarks, Chiffchaffs… A Spoonbill flying with a flock of Yellow-legged Gulls was a surprise as it was a single Golden Plover that passed in a rush in front of me:

12 October 2009: near Avilés, Asturias, N Spain

227. Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria)

Hope more of these arrive soon in good numbers and I manage a picture of one for this thread.

[madamcoolpix]

Almost two weeks without birding (:-C) so the last weekend of October decided to go to Madrid area to make up for the inactivity, in the search for some local goodies. A fantastic day, almost 50 different species reported at Rivas, and with one new bird for the list:

30 October 2009: Rivas Vaciamadrid, Madris outskirts, C Spain

228. Black Wheatear (Oenanthe leucura)

The best of the day was the show of 3 Blue Rock Thrushes in war with 3 Black Wheatears (managed to get one of the Weathears in flight, pic a) and the high numbers of many of the birds seen, specially the Cattle Egrets, up to 3000 when flying to their roosting places at sunset (that was another show, o:)).

I'm adding a pic of two Jackdraws in flight (pic b, quite common in the area but never close enough for pictures) and a Great Crested Grebe with "an edible trophy" freshly captured (|=)|) (pic c).

On Sunday I tried to go out too but it's already hunting season and birds were unnoticeable, silent and concealed!!! :storm: Poor wildlife!!! :-C