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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Bristol to Ruppell's Vulture (4 Viewers)

Eyes on the sky for that Bataleur - what a monster that would be!

Sounds like an opportunity for some supine birding: key requirements -
  • likelihood of overflight by mega bird
  • deckchair, sunbed, or grassy bank
  • shades,
  • good supply of long cool drinks,
  • patience.

N.B. Controlled substances are contra-indicated as they may result in sightings of dubious veracity and/or credibility and give rise to replies from non-believers such as "only in your dreams", which may also be the case if you succumb to the principal impediment to the effectiveness of supine birding - sleep.

Getting the courser on the basis of no effort at all has prompted me to consider adding some neologisms to the birder's lexicon. A normal (albeit slightly pompous) person might describe your seeing the courser as serendipity.

But on reflection, there are those three dreaded letters d - i - p in the middle of the word which strike dread into the heart of all birders.

Since serendipity is clearly a word no true birder can use in this context, we need a new meaning. Does it make more sense to describe the happy confluence of factors leading to you connecting with the courser as seren-tick-ity?

Hence:

"I was in the right carpark, in the right space, at the the right time, to meet the guy who showed me the cream-coloured courser - pure serentickity!"

We therefore need a meaning for serendipity that is more appropriate for birders:

Two suggestions:

1. Jamming into an even better bird when dipping on a good one
2. The zen-like state of a birder who remains unruffled despite dipping.

Hence:

Meaning 1:
"there was serendipity in missing the Wryneck because unless I'd gone for it I would never have found the Veery in the same spot"

Meaning 2:
"Bob went all serendipity after missing the Spoon-billed Sandpiper on his own patch"

there can be various explanations for meaning 2.

a) a zen-like calm based on the realisation that it really doesn't matter if you don't see a mega bird (generally refers to those for whom this particular dip is the last straw and causes them to forsake birding for good)
b)a state of numbness verging on catatonia that blots out all sense of disappointment and frustration on dipping spectacularly - birders in this condition should on no account be allowed to drive.
c) pretending not to be gutted when everyone else in a group has seen the bird (most often experienced on bird tours and by crews on big twitches)

I digress. Looking forward to hearing what Tarifa delivers Larry.

Cheers
Mike
 
Eyes on the sky for that Bataleur - what a monster that would be!

Sounds like an opportunity for some supine birding: key requirements -
  • likelihood of overflight by mega bird
  • deckchair, sunbed, or grassy bank
  • shades,
  • good supply of long cool drinks,
  • patience.

N.B. Controlled substances are contra-indicated as they may result in sightings of dubious veracity and/or credibility and give rise to replies from non-believers such as "only in your dreams", which may also be the case if you succumb to the principal impediment to the effectiveness of supine birding - sleep.

Getting the courser on the basis of no effort at all has prompted me to consider adding some neologisms to the birder's lexicon. A normal (albeit slightly pompous) person might describe your seeing the courser as serendipity.

But on reflection, there are those three dreaded letters d - i - p in the middle of the word which strike dread into the heart of all birders.

Since serendipity is clearly a word no true birder can use in this context, we need a new meaning. Does it make more sense to describe the happy confluence of factors leading to you connecting with the courser as seren-tick-ity?

Hence:

"I was in the right carpark, in the right space, at the the right time, to meet the guy who showed me the cream-coloured courser - pure serentickity!"

We therefore need a meaning for serendipity that is more appropriate for birders:

Two suggestions:

1. Jamming into an even better bird when dipping on a good one
2. The zen-like state of a birder who remains unruffled despite dipping.

Hence:

Meaning 1:
"there was serendipity in missing the Wryneck because unless I'd gone for it I would never have found the Veery in the same spot"

Meaning 2:
"Bob went all serendipity after missing the Spoon-billed Sandpiper on his own patch"

there can be various explanations for meaning 2.

a) a zen-like calm based on the realisation that it really doesn't matter if you don't see a mega bird (generally refers to those for whom this particular dip is the last straw and causes them to forsake birding for good)
b)a state of numbness verging on catatonia that blots out all sense of disappointment and frustration on dipping spectacularly - birders in this condition should on no account be allowed to drive.
c) pretending not to be gutted when everyone else in a group has seen the bird (most often experienced on bird tours and by crews on big twitches)

I digress. Looking forward to hearing what Tarifa delivers Larry.

Cheers
Mike


You really must stop this.
It is altogether too close to reality.

How about a speculation instead on superserenity or the equivalent, the state when you pick up an unexpected rarity and some super mega then crosses your path, fully documented of course.
 
Larry

Jamming into a CCC....

...For those, like me, who have never seen one is a clear case of serengripity.

What next, an Andalusian Hemipode from the front porch of a bar in Tarifa?


Shi Jin
 
Just down the hill were some Roman ruins where we saw Green-striped White, Crested and Thekla Larks and some green lizards which were much bigger than I thought would occur in Europe.

I'm just looking forward to photos the Green-striped White Lark. Is that an endemic?
 
Where's Wolly?

You lot are absolutely hilarious! We are sitting in a bar in Barcelona laughing our tits off. Serengripitydipity indeed! And blimey I'd better watch where I stick my commas too!

Richard, Ibe Woody spot was on the N379, first obvious picnic area on east side of road after it bends to the south if coming from Sesimbra.

Lots has happened, so I better do this in episodes, starting with:

Where's Wolly?

April 13th, when we saw the courser was pretty windy, but next day was also very wet. We pretty much stayed indoors all day, but did pop out to see the courser again, and more migrants seemed to have appeared along the stretch between Tarifa and Punta Paloma. There were a lot more Short-toed Larks, our first Northern Wheatear, and a fair few Yellow Wagtails (Blue-headed and Spanish). I Was also glad to finally spot 3 or 4 Audouin's Gulls among the Yellow-leggeds.

By far the most interesting bird of the day for me was something I couldn't identify for sure. It was in view for quite some time as it battled northwards against the wind a few hundred metres inland, always remaining too distant for me to be able to work out what it was. The only thing it reminded me of was a Bald Ibis, and I think it may well have been one, if there is such a thing as Bald Ibises of dodgy origin anywhere near here.

Next day we figured it was time to start looking for Wolly, even though it was so windy that looking for warblers seemed like a daft idea. Basically we had limited time. The first spot we tried was the area suggested by, Eddie, the birder who told us about the courser. This was a rough track that heads through scrub-lined canals and fields, inland from where the N340 meets the road to Zahara. This looked like a great area for birding, but it was way too windy to look for warblers, and the track was pretty bad for the van. We picked up a Whitethroat and some Spoonbills before deciding to turn back, bumping into some local birders on the way out who couldn't help with the whereabouts of Wolly.

Next stop was a sheltered bay just north of Barbate, where there was an awful lot of scrubby stuff that looked a bit like tamarisk, but I think is something different. I spent a few hours here trawling with our recording of Wolly-speak (just the call, as we couldn't find the song on xenocanto). I discovered that Sardinian Warblers like it.

We then decided to press on to Coto Donana (Wollyville), but just to the small part of the reserve on the east (south) side of the mighty Guadalquivir river. Visiting the bit where most people go would mean a huge detour via Seville, and we wanted to revisit a spot we'd spent Christmas about 9 years ago. The area is called Pinar de la Algaida, just north of Bonanza, and we parked up for 2 nights there at the Ermita recreation area, seeing a fair few Montagu's Harriers en route. The small lake to the left of the entrance to this part of the reserve produced 2 White-headed Ducks and 3 Red-crested Pochard among the Pochard flock, and a very well-dressed Squacco Heron with the Cattle Egrets. There were also some Common Waxbills, which I've still not seen anywhere they're actually supposed to be! The lake has lots of Night Herons too.

The Ermita has a constant and plentiful supply of displaying Booted Eagles, and plenty of Black Kites, and from there it is possible to exit the pines and explore the reedy drains, saltpans and scrub up to and along the Guadalquivir. This area is thick with birds, so you would have to be a total wally to spend your time wandering from tamarisk to tamarisk looking for what could possibly be the world's least interesting-looking bird (although according to Nicky, Buzzing Flowerpecker is the world's least interesting bird). Examples of some of what I managed to see during the (sadly minimal) time I was not doing this were:-

A jammy adult Imperial Eagle being attacked by Yellow-legged Gulls over the river, Purple, Night (200+) and Grey Herons, Greater Flamingos (100s), Glossy Ibis, Purple Swamphen (6+), Gull-billed, Caspian and Whiskered Terns, Slender-billed Gulls (c10), Collared Pratincoles, Spotted Redshanks (3), Redshank, Greenshank, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Common, Green and Curlew Sandpipers, Spoonbills, Hoopoes, 3 Turtle Doves, Spotless Starlings, Short-toed Treecreeper, Tree Sparrows, Common and Pallid Swifts together, 100s of Short-toed Larks, lots of Crested Larks and a few Calandra Larks, Bee-eaters, Woodchat Shrikes, Nightingales, a Black-eared Wheatear etc. (commas OK there Ads and DMW?)

But, I was in fact spending most of my time seeking out patches of tamarisk and playing this stupid recording.

Mid April is not a good time to play “where's Wolly?”, but I thought I'd give it a go. The limited info I could get suggested that Western Olivaceous Warbler tends to arrive in Spain in numbers in May, but is possible earlier, eg Simon Wates had some on the other side of the Guadalquivir on April 19th one year, in tamarisk. He very kindly gave precise directions to where he saw them (nice one Simon), but we thought we'd try our luck here instead because of time restraints and diesel.

During the evening of our arrival it was still quite windy, and it was clear there weren't many warblers about except for Sardinians and Zitting Cisticolas, but a singing Reed Warbler and a Whitethroat provided some encouragement. The sky cleared by dusk and the wind dropped, so I was hopeful that some migrants might arrive the next day. In the morning, a short distance from the parking area produced a singing Chiffchaff, and a nice surprise in the form of a Western Orphean Warbler in a small tamarisk patch, as well as a Melodious Warbler that burst into song. Setting off on our bikes in the direction of the salinas observatory hide we found what I was looking for: a substantial isolated patch of tamarisk pretty much on the Guadalquivir. I figured that if I was Wolly, that's where I'd first pitch down. Trawling this just produced a single Garden Warbler though. All pretty quiet. Later that evening in the low sparse tamarisks on the ditch bank near the parkup I had a crazy few minutes. I unexpectedly hit a group of 4 or 5 warblers in the same tamarisk. I was on the wrong side of the light, and it was pretty breezy again, but as far as I could make out there were 2 Garden Warblers (one had no tail), a Reed Warbler, a Whitethroat, and a bird that straight away went BANG theres Wolly. Unfortunately I only snatched a few partial brief frustrating views, and when I tried to shift position to get better light, they all split, and I lost the right bird. I'm sure there are heaps of birders out there who would have nailed it properly given the chances presented to me, and I might have stood a better chance if I'd really had my eye in after a couple of weeks heavy birding instead of heavy partying. But basically I realised that there was no way I'd ever really be sure on that occasion for such a subtle bird, and that I'll probably never be that good no matter how many more years I go birding. I realised at that moment that if I ever could get that good, then what it would take (for me personally) would mean I'll have wasted my life.

That night was very clear and still, and I was even more hopeful that more migrants would arrive, so I planned to bike it early to “my” tamarisk patch and see if anything had turned up. Wow! It was thick with warblers! This was incredibly exciting, and I'd started to get my eye in by then. We hadn't seen any Willow Warblers up until now, and they were everywhere. Just one letter out. Willys not Wollys. Never mind. There were also lots of Garden Warblers, always good value when you're playing “Where's Wolly?”. Even a singing Sedge Warbler, and ridiculous numbers of Subalpine Warblers too. Unfortunately I had to head back to the van early, as the Guardia Civil had decided to wake up Nicky and tell her that we shouldn't be parked up where we were. Oh well. Only the 2nd time this trip that we've been checked by the police. Bad timing, but I may well not have scored anyway. On our way out of the park we took the semi-sealed road northwards along the edge of the Guadalquivir, and trawled another belt of tamarisk, picking up more Gardens, Willys and a frustrating possible Wolly.

And that was that. You can't win 'em all, and we really had to start heading north. That's 2 dips out of 3 so far as far as target birds go, but wow, Coto Donana is totally amazing. Missing Wolly is fine by me. Any excuse to come back to this wonderful country.

204. Wheatear
205. Audouin's Gull
206. Yellow Wagtail
207. Red-crested Pochard
208. Squacco Heron
209. Night Heron
210. Purple Heron
211. Purple Swamphen
212. Reed Warbler
213. Whitethroat
214. Melodious Warbler
215. Western Orphean Warbler
216. Turtle Dove
217. Tree Sparrow
218. Swift
219. White-headed Duck
220. Common Waxbill
221. Gull-billed Tern
222. Spotted Redshank
223. Garden Warbler
224. Whiskered Tern
225. Slender-billed Gull
226. Curlew Sandpiper
227. Willow Warbler
228. Sedge Warbler
229. Collared Pratincole

The weather's been pretty duff for butterflies, but there were notably several Bath Whites and Clouded Yellows at Coto Donana.

There's more to come....
 
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The area north of the Algaida pine woods is good for Spectacled Warbler and Lesser Short-toed Lark... and I've often seen Marbled Duck along the road by the river in the ponds between the road and the river.

Further up the old road to Seville from there is a small pond (Laguna de Mejorada) with hundreds of various breeding Herons and LOTS of OLIWA's. If I'd known you were heading back up to the river I'd have given you the details..... Sorry!

That small lake you went to is I think the Laguna de Tarelo (?) It's always on my agenda when I go that way!
 
Dupont's Lark

Okay here's the next bit.

We rocketed across Spain much quicker than we usually travel, finding a reservoir to spend the night by east of Cordoba (sorry Richard, but an Iberian Green Woodie flew past at tea time!).

Next day we noticed that around lunch time it would only be a 30km detour to visit Las Tablas De Daimiel, and stop for lunch there. This proved to be a great decision, as it was a delightful reserve to check out. It even reminded me a bit of gert Shapwick Heath and Ham Wall back in the gert west country. There were several birds singing that sounded like Reed Warblers, but the first one we watched singing was a Moustached Warbler! The other few we saw were Reeds. To me they sound alarmingly similar. A couple of Savi's Warblers were also reeling, but invisibly. We had great views of 4 Garganey, a couple of Red-crested Pochard and loads of hirundines at close range including Red-rumped Swallows and Sand Martins. A couple of Marsh Harriers were quartering the area too.

We went on to park up by an old bridge (we like those!) just south of Cuenca, and spent the next somewhat wet day visiting the impressive Cuenca, and the odd geological formations at Ciudad Encantada not far to the north. Cuenca produced a couple of Alpine Swifts, whereas the Ciudad Encantada was good for a couple of Ring Ouzels, Woodlarks and our first Black Redstarts and Rock Buntings for a while. We headed further northeastwards before finding another old bridge to spend the night on, and when we awoke the first birds we heard were Rock Sparrows, which provided great pre-breakfast views.

It wasn't until late afternoon that we had got to Belchite, and I was rather nervous as we approached the well know steppe reserve of El Planeron. Wolfbirder had sent us the most detailed description of his time at this site (nice one WB), and this prompted us to bypass the first signed track into the reserve, and to take the 2nd (most easterly) one. It was pretty windy, and my memories of hours and hours with just a distant dodgy view at Zeida were starting to haunt me. The vegetation is actually denser here than it was at Zeida. But there are more Dupont's.

This whole area is run by larks. There was a constant confusion of larksong everywhere being blown around by the wind. There are heaps of Crested, Thekla, Short-toed, Lesser Short-toed and Calandra Larks here, and plenty of Dupont's too, but they're not as easy to see. One thing that makes things a bit more confusing at first is that Calandra and Lesser Short-toed Larks chuck in mimicry into their songs, including Dupont's song, which is particularly confusing in the wind.

We drove very slowly with stops a couple of km into the reserve, past the lefthand turn which connects to the first (other) track. We climbed to the low ridge, and then rolled down the other side with the engine off, stopping lots. Just beyond the parking spot on the right, which is at the start of the Sendero Rocin, we discovered there were a few Dupont's Larks singing pretty close to the main track. We soon got to watch one at fairly close range, sing and slope off into cover. Yippee! I was starting to think I'd totally lost my ticknique. We had only been in El Planeron for less than an hour and we'd seen a Dupont's Lark pretty well. This makes Dupont's Lark thousands of times easier to see than Snowfinch, whatever anyone says!

We discovered that the whole area around that parking spot, and along the north side of the Sendero Rocin had a decent density of Dupont's. We spent the night in the parking area, and from the van had superb views of Lesser Short-toed and Thekla Larks, and at one point a Dupont's Lark stood on the main track just downhill from the parking area to be scoped! It was joined by another and they then scurried into cover. An evening stroll up the sendero produced a couple of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse (my first for 30 years!), Stone-Curlews, Wheatears, Montagu's Harrier, and a dramatic dusk view over the wild landscape.

Before dawn, before the other larks started singing, the haunting song of a Dupont's Lark was lovely from bed. In the morning we walked the Sendero Rocin, and discovered that it bends to the left after a few hundred metres and becomes a narrow walking trail. It stops at a higher point where you can overlook some good habitat with useful bare bits. There were 2 or 3 Dupont's audible from here, and Nicky pulled off a classy bit of birding when she confidently spotted and identified a Dupont's Lark at quite some range. This might be a good spot to stake out if you're not having any luck on the tracks in a vehicle. We also saw a flock of 9 Pin-tailed Sangrouse flying around from this lookout. Back at the van a nice male Whinchat was a great little bonus before we decided it was time to press on with our journey.

We also saw Green-striped White here (the butterfly not the lark) which appears to have an isolated population in this part of Spain.

230. Moustached Warbler
231. Savi's Warbler
232. Garganey
233. Rock Sparrow
234. Alpine Swift
235. Ring Ouzel
236. DUPONT'S LARK
237. Lesser Short-toed Lark
238. Pin-tailed Sandgrouse
239. Whinchat
 
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Excellent you saw Dupont's Larry, probably not as hard as often depicted but yet also easy to miss. I am glad my "over-elaborate" report helped a bit and did not hinder!
 
Here's some pics. 1, The van at El Planeron, actually among the Dupont's Larks; 2. Stone-Curlew; 3. Green-striped White

Thanks again WB and also thanks to Jon for that site gen because we very much intend to return to nail the Wolly one day!
 

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This whole area is run by larks.
Sounds quite delightful!

We also saw Green-striped White here (the butterfly not the lark) which appears to have an isolated population in this part of Spain.

Thanks for the clarification - I was still trying to figure out what kind of bird the green-stripe could be! :-O

Enjoying reading your travels again - glad to hear it all seems to be going so nicely (or interestingly when not smoothly ;))
 
Thanks again WB and also thanks to Jon for that site gen because we very much intend to return to nail the Wolly one day!

Well, whenever that is I'll be glad to help. Bit green about Dupont's, I don't seem to get that way now that I have a place in Jimena. One of these days I'll drive to Spain - or praps ferry to Santander and 'do' the mountain birds I still need (Snowfinch for example!!) then find DL before heading south.

Great write-up, sounds even better as I sit here listening to the rain pounding down.....:C
 
We rocketed across Spain much quicker than we usually travel, finding a reservoir to spend the night by east of Cordoba (sorry Richard, but an Iberian Green Woodie flew past at tea time!).
Those peckers are obviously attracted to white vans. Wonder if I should rent one...?

Glad you scored so easily with Dupont's. Brings back memories of a very tense visit to El Planerón many years ago.
 
Just over a week ago there was an Ibe Woodpecker calling and drumming in the Retiro Park in Madrid. He was faithful to one tree at the NW corner of the big lake with the Alfonso XII monument. It's the first time I can recall ever seeing any sort of Green Woodie drum. It was so quiet as to be barely audible but you could see him hammering it out between calls.

A shoe-in for anyone passing throuhg Madrid anyway. The Red Squirrels here are quite cool too!
 
El Planeron is definitely the place for Dupont's. I remember the place where you had the high densities - had one there once at close range hanging in song flight not much above head height. Brilliant stuff.
 
There last night and no joy (some joy as got two lifers yesterday and 65 species en route from france to belchite)! Thursday 26th. Getting ready for another bash this morning - its 6.30am and we are staying in Lecera.

Come on Duponts.....
 
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