John Cantelo
Well-known member
It will hardly surprise anyone who's been following the situation down in SW Andalucia to hear that the cirtensis race of Long-legged Buzzards bred in Spain this year. Records of this Spanish rarity have increased sharply in recent years and birds have summered before (and wintered too come to that). This year I gather that two pairs atempted to breed not too far from Tarifa (being overly cautious, I prefer not to be too precise in a public forum) and one pair raised young (I've hear two or three youngsters were raised). This follows an expanision on population in Morroco apparently. Let's hope that field guides start showing more notice of this race in future since it looks like becoming a permanent fixture in SW Andalucia. Given the relative lack of birders in Spain I wonder how many birds go unnoticed. I had what was almost certainly a Long-legged Buzzard this summer - the thing was just too distant to be 100% certain and headed off into the sun before I could get as much detail as I'd like.
Incidentlally, I also saw Malling Olsen's Danish BoPs book whilst in Spain - the plates are absolutely superb (I'd call them "Jonsson-esque") and the Danish fellow whose book it was assured me, as expected, that the text was of an equal standard! I'll post some photos of the illustrations/text in the books section anon. Perhaps if enough of us bother publishers they'll bring out a English language version
Incidentlally, I also saw Malling Olsen's Danish BoPs book whilst in Spain - the plates are absolutely superb (I'd call them "Jonsson-esque") and the Danish fellow whose book it was assured me, as expected, that the text was of an equal standard! I'll post some photos of the illustrations/text in the books section anon. Perhaps if enough of us bother publishers they'll bring out a English language version
Last edited: