Southern Spain - Pt 2 - April 2016 (1 Viewer)

So the time had finally come for my long planned return to Spain using my last free flights through NatWest Yourpoints.

Tuesday 19th April:

A late afternoon flight from Gatwick with BA (via e-bookers) and a rapid transit through Malaga airport, picking up a car from Dollar / Hertz (booked through Rentalcars), followed by a long drive west in the dark, saw me arrive just before mid-night at my first night's base near Rodalquilar.

Wednesday 20th April:

Up and out early to get to my chosen spot near Cuevas de los Medinas in the Sierra Alhamilla, to look for a certain lark species, before dawn - the first bird of the trip being a Little Owl perched on a roadside post. As sunrise came and went no luck with hearing the target singing but added Thekla Lark, Barn Swallow, Black Wheatear, Sardinian Warbler and Iberian Grey Shrike from the site or elsewhere up the road northwards and back.

Once I thought it was too far past dawn to be likely to see my main target I set off back to the hotel to check out, picking up what were to prove to be the commonly seen roadside species on the way: Kestrel, Feral Pigeon (some of which looked very good for Rock Dove), Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Magpie, Spotless Starling and House Sparrow. Plus a heard only Cetti's Warbler singing from the scrub outside my room window. Leaving the hotel, a brief stop at a small bay on the west coast added Yellow-legged Gull and a couple of Sandwich Tern.

I then returned to the Cabo de Gata area to drive and walk around the tracks through the coastal scrub areas I did not visit in October at Las Almoladeras. Still no lark but had a couple of Red-legged Partridge on the sandy tracks, numbers of both Common Swift and Pallid Swift overhead with a few each of Red-rumped Swallow and House Martin mixed in, heard only Cuckoo and Hoopoe and a brief view of a male Golden Oriole in one of the few trees.

A late afternoon drive around the minor roads of the Desierto de Tabernas area added Crested Lark, Jackdaw and Carrion Crow on the edges of the cultivation; Goldfinch, Greenfinch, a nice male Pied Flycatcher and a small flock of Spanish Sparrow in a patch of trees with a single White Wagtail alongside the near by small stream.

The birds of the day, however, were frustratingly brief flight views of a European Roller and, the first lifer of the trip, Great Spotted Cuckoo.

Finished a long day with a drive to a hotel in Guadix.

Thursday 21st April:

The irony not being lost on me that yesterday had been a drizzly one when I was in what was supposed to be the most arid part of Spain and what is apparently Europe's only true sub-desert, I was glad to see a bright clear sky as I set off for the Hoya de Baza area.

From the main road, seeing the usual roadside / settlement type species seen yesterday on the way, I took the Canal de Jabalcon service road as a detour towards Benamaurel. A route I thoroughly recommend when you can drive along as slowly as the car will manage with the windows down looking and listening for anything interesting. My first stop was right at the start of the track to listen to the rattling of both Corn Bunting and Serin - a nice comparison - in the rough fields and track-side trees along with Linnet and the usual common species. A raucous call alerted me to a Great Spotted Cuckoo flying over close by. Patches of trees further along also added singing Nightingale and Blackcap. As the landscape became more arid Larks, Stonechat, Black Redstart, Rock Bunting, Iberian Grey Shrike and Northern & Western Black-eared Wheatear were all seen and Cuckoo & Hoopoe heard only again. Overhead a single Alpine Swift was noted in the flocks of other hirundines.

Beyond the underground rock-cut dwellings where cultivated land becomes dominant a small man made reservoir had a few each of Little Grebe, Black-winged Stilt, Common Sandpiper & Redshank around the edges plus a small flock of Yellow-legged Gull. There were also a couple of Great Spotted Cuckoo around the edges that gave even closer and better views and Red-legged Partridge in the fields. Further on in a more rocky section I stopped on hearing and seeing a group of 3 European Bee-eater fly over and whilst watching them a Roller flopped out of a nearby shrub and flashed vibrant blue as it joined another on a cliff. While scoping this pair I also picked out a Little Owl in its roosting hole on the cliff face.

Further drives along the minor roads on the route Benamaurel-Castillejar-Galera-Cullar produced similar species.

I then returned to Hoya de Guadix doing the route I did in October in reverse (Cenascuras-Gorafe-Alicun-Fonelas-Benalua). I had apparently missed feeding time on this occasion but there were still a few European Griffon Vulture around the feeding site cliffs. I walked along the track towards Gorafe thinking the habitat looked particularly 'larky' but saw only Crested / Thekla types. But I did add Black Wheatear and Sardinian Warbler for the day and had a small flock of Red-billed Chough enjoying the thermals off the outcrop edge and a passing Raven.

Off to Jaen for the night.

Wednesday 22nd April:

Off to the wooded sierras of the Despenaperros area today; leaving the main Autovia de Andalucia at Santa Elena and winding towards Aldeaquemada stopping at the first Collardo to follow a couple of way-marked trails. The first, down-slope through natural forest to an archaeological site, added familiar woodland species to the trip list such as Mistle Thrush, Great, Blue, Crested (not so familiar but always good to see) & Long-tailed Tits, Chaffinch, Jay and a heard only Robin - my only one of the trip! The cave at the end of the sendero hosted a lone Crag Martin. The second walk up to the mirador had many of these species and the usual finches plus provided a bit more exotic fare in Sardinan Warbler, Rock Bunting, Serin and heard only Golden Oriole & Hoopoe.

A bit further along this scenic road I parked at a trail-head and did an 8.5km walk through the pine woods. Many of the same species as earlier were seen and the birding was a bit quiet but I did see a cute Firecrest and heard Cuckoo, Nuthatch and Great Spotted & Green Woodpecker. The highlight was a low circling light morph Booted Eagle soon joined by another.

Later in the afternoon I went to the Collardo de La Cimbarra walking firstly to the bottom of the Cascada de Cimbarra, where a Grey Wagtail bobbed around the torrent, and then to the viewpoint above the waterfall where Swift, Barn Swallow & House Martin hawked overhead. A couple of Griffon Vulture and a flock of Chough soared distantly over some crags. The approach road from the village to the car park is excellent for Iberian Magpie, with a number of small flocks of 2 - 5 in the scrub all along the track, as well as Great Spotted Cuckoo and I also had good views of a Woodchat Shrike. Before leaving the area I tried to walk downstream from the lower car park / pic-nic area but the high water levels of the stream halted progress just beyond the end of the 'formal' area. But there were Nightingales & Cetti's Warblers singing loudly from the stream-side vegetation, Bee-eaters overhead and, birds of the day, great views of a male Golden Oriole 'zinging' yellow at the top of a small leafless tree not far away, with the more demure but never-the-less still stunning female close by on another branch.

A late afternoon / early evening drive around some of the winding minor roads of the Sierra de Andujar was very scenic adding Crested Lark and, a close contender for bird of the day, a fine male Montagu's Harrier sailing over the farmland. I called short my visit however as traffic began to build with incoming visitors for the upcoming religious procession of the Virgen de la Cabeza. So headed south to my base for the next 2 nights near Carcabuey.

Nice one Pete. You mentioned Green Woodpecker, so I thought I'd give you a heads up on it being a recent split, in case you'd missed that going on. Your birds being Iberian Green Woodpecker P. sharpei. :t:

Cheers Larry. Yes, Iberian Green Woodpecker is turning into a bit of a nemesis bird for me - it has been one of my targets on the last two trips to Spain but I have had them as heard only both times; enough for a trip list but I would prefer to see it before I add it as a lifer (hence the vague reference only). There's always next time, I suppose.

Saturday 23rd April:

[Just noticed the date for my last entry should be Friday 22nd May not Wednesday! But its too late to edit the post.]

Started the morning at Laguna Salobral with many of the usual common and farmland species around the disused building & car park but with a nice purring Turtle Dove in a nearby tree. The site guide I was using suggested this seasonal lake had no surrounding reed fringe but one has since developed and a walk along the track towards it through the olive groves proved there were both Reed and Great Reed Warbler singing within alongside Cetti's Warbler and Nightingale. The disadvantage, however, being that the lower track no longer provides views across the water. On the return walk along the same route I had a fine yellow male Melodious Warbler singing in a tamarisk. Back at the car park a Common Whitethroat alighted briefly in a small tree. The walk along the cycle-way was dominated by the expected finches etc. but the lake proved to be almost dry from the raised viewpoint - to the point that three low Grey Heron flew straight over.

Later in the morning I took a slow drive around the minor roads of the Sierras Subbeticas via Cabra, Zukeros & along the track from Luque to Carcabuey seeing the expected dry ground larks, Black-eared Wheatear and Stonechat but mainly hoping for raptors. I picked up a couple of Griffon Vulture and a large flock of Chough around the crag of Albuchite but the only new species was a circling Short-toed Eagle. Great views from the top at Virgen de la Sierra but no new species.

So back to a wetland, at Laguna del Rincon. The screen near the car park provided good views over the permanent water with a few Little Grebe, a single Great Crested Grebe and quite a number of smart Black-necked Grebe, numerous Coot and ducks represented by a few Mallard, a larger number of Pochard and Red-crested Pochard and up to a dozen White-headed Duck. A path then leads to a tower (locked) and another screen looking over a temporary pool with a lot of marginal mud which had a few each of Black-winged Stilt and Avocet in the shallow water and Little Ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper around the edges. The path from the tower peters out just beyond the (also locked) brick hide and a circuit of the main lake is no longer possible but the walk back gave me views of a hunting Marsh Harrier.

Last stop of the afternoon was at Laguna Amarga & Laguna Dulce. A nice little spot with many of the above wetland species seen plus a small flock of Greater Flamingo, a few Moorhen around the edges, a pair of Gadwall and a number of Shoveler. I also had another Marsh Harrier, Hoopoe and Bee-eater here plus a few Sand Martin in among the other hirundines.

Sunday 24th April:

Back to searching for elusive open country birds today in the north west of Cordoba province, setting off early on a foggy morning but it had cleared by the time I started a circuit of the local roads around Fuente Obejuna - Los Blazquez - La Granjuela seeing the expected passerines but adding just Red-legged Partridge in the fields. The usual farmland birds were seen plus a nice male Whinchat on a fence post and numerous Zitting Cisticola became the soud-track of the day. I then drove to Belalcazar via Valsequillo and Hinojosa del Duque. The whole area was good for raptors with Black Kite, Common Buzzard and Sparrowhawk in addition to Griffon Vulture, Kestrel and Montagu's Harrier.

I then slowly did the 60km of mainly rough (and sometimes very rough) tracks to Estacion de Belalcazar and then Santa Eufemia. At the crossing of the Rio Guadamatilla there was a flock of 10 Cattle Egret along with a couple of Little Egret. Where the track runs parallel to the river I stopped for a White Stork on the edge of the channel and checking upstream a group of Grey Heron also included a Black Stork. A bit further on a small flooded area in a track-side field held another White Stork plus a pair of Black-winged Stilt, a single Greenshank and a White Wagtail. The larger Rio Zujar had numerous circling and nesting White Stork, a few Mallard, a single Cormorant mid-stream and a Little Ringed Plover on a sand-bank. Both rivers had the expected Swift and hirundines hawking overhead.

The latter part of the track was very rough and required too much concentration on avoiding damage to the hire car to scan the surrounding landscape as well as I would have liked. The surfaced minor road that completed the triangle back to Belalcazar however did allow for more attention to be paid to the birds with Hoopoe, Bee-eater, Iberian Magpie and Black-eared Wheatear all seen. But the highlight of the day was good binocular and then scope views of 2 female Great Bustard walking along a cultivated strip between crops. I had seen one of the Salisbury Plain reintroduction scheme's progeny at Otmoor (Oxfordshire) complete with wing-tag but this sighting seemed much more like getting a lifer!

A long day in the car ended heading south to Osuna for the night.

Monday 25th April:

Started the morning just after dawn in the Lagunas de la Lantejuela area - so early in fact I'm not entirely sure which lake I ended up at! Anyway, I walked along the edge of a lake to the soundscape of Nightingale and Cetti's, Great Reed and Melodious Warblers. An unknown call alerted me to a Gull-billed Tern overhead followed by another and then more and they eventually settled on a sand-bar in the lagoon. Setting up the scope also I picked out a pair of Shelduck in the little water remaining and a couple of distant Stone Curlew on the wide mud margin.

I then drove around the West Guadalquivir Valley farmlands, the minor road from south of the railway west of Lantejuela to Osuna being particularly productive. Stopping to check out a lump in a ploughed field that turned out to be a clump of soil I picked out 20+ Collared Pratincole in the field. A bit further on I stopped on hearing a new song that by a process of elimination I presumed to be a distant Calandra Lark. I also had Red-legged Partridge and a female Yellow Wagtail, unassigned to sub-species.

The next venue was Laguna de Fuente de Piedra - what a great place:
- from the raised area around the visitor centre thousands of Flamingo on the vast lake, a few smaller waders too far out in the heat-haze to be identified plus a closer lone Lesser Black-backed Gull;
- a walk along the track south alongside the railway added Turtle Dove, Reed Warbler, Stonechat, Serin, Corn Bunting and the usual finches plus a near constant stream of Gull-billed Tern and Black-headed Gull over;
- the pool below the centre had Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveler, Pochard, Red-crested Pochard, White-headed Duck and Coot plus Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Common Sandpiper and Ruff;
- from the car park a boardwalk crosses a scrape-type area and I was surprised how close to the waders it was possible to get here; binolculars not required to see the subtle beauty of the summer plumage of Little Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint;
- the path continues the other side between a scrub area and some cropped fields and provided Hoopoe, Crested Lark, Whinchat, Woodchat Shrike, Sardinian Warbler and Zitting Cisticola. But the main event was a flock of 7 male Lesser Kestrel hunting close by;
- the lake alongside the entrance track was also interesting with many of the previous species plus a few Redshank, 10+ Wood Sandpiper plus a noisy flock of Whiskered Tern that arrived, circled a few times and left to the south;
- the smaller pools the other side of the centre added Little Grebe, Little and Cattle Egret, Moorhen and Grey Heron;
- all the pools had Swift, Barn Swallow and House martin hawking overhead at times;
- El Vicario hide was quiet as it was hot by then;
- at Cantarranas there was a Pied Flycatcher in the trees by the car park, Bee-eaters over and a Red-rumped Swallow zipping in and out of the window holes of the open sided building at the mirador but only distant views of the Flamingos on the lagoon;
- other species seen overhead around the area included White Stork, Black Kite, Montagu's Harrier, Kestrel, Spotless Starling, Magpie and Jackdaw.

This site was more than worth the bulk of the day but I still had time to head to Lagunas de Campillos but finding Laguna Dulce to be dry, overgrown and quiet I headed on to Teba seeing Griffon Vulture, Short-toed Eagle, Buzzard, Kestrel and Raven around the sierra. Another drive around some of the minor roads on the way to Alcala de Guadaira for the night.

Tuesday 26th April:

Headed to the East bank of the lower Guadalquivir today, starting at the Salinas de Bonanza seeing the expected Flamingo, Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Little Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Common Sandpiper and Redshank plus a lone Spoonbill and a few Sanderling, with Yellow-legged Gull and both Common and Pallid Swift overhead.

Passing back through the habitation, seeing the common roadside / town species, the next location was the Laguna de Tarelo - a small freshwater lake between the houses, farmland and pinewoods but a bird-rich spot. Many Coot and a few Moorhen and Grey Heron were around the vegetated edges of the water; Little and Great Crested Grebe on the open water with Mallard, Gadwall, Pochard, Red-crested Pochard and White-headed Duck; Nightingale and Cetti's and Reed Warblers singing from the fringing scrub. The main interest, however, was on the small island in the middle which housed a noisy, squabbling and crowded colony of Cattle and Little Egret and Black-crowned Night Heron with a couple of Squacco Heron lurking deeper in the roosting trees. A single Glossy Ibis flew in to land on the mud surrounding the island, joining a Greylag Goose.

I then took a marked trail leading from the screen and around the La Algaida pinewoods. At times it seemed a little quiet but then there would be a rush of activity: House Sparrow, Great and Blue Tit and Goldfinch around the car parking area; Blackbird, Serin, Pied and Spotted Flycatcher and Tree Sparrow in the pines deeper into the forest; Sardinian Warbler and Melodious Warbler in the more open scrubby areas; a large kettle of thermalling Griffon Vulture rose from the flat land beyond the trees; numerous Black Kite, the odd Common Buzzard and up to three Booted Eagle circled above the trees; but Green Woodpecker was again heard only! At the north end of the woods where the road meets the Trebujena canal a White Stork was nesting in the top of a roadside pine.

I then followed the canal towards the river and then over the marismas towards the Salinas de Monte Algaida. Zitting Cisticola and Corn Bunting called from the small scrubby bushes, with Red-legged Partridge, Crested and Greater Short-toed Lark and Spanish Wagtail in among the sparse vegetation. Barn and Red-rumped Swallow and House Martin hawked low down and a Montagu's Harrier was seen further off. Looking out over the main channel of the river a couple of Cormorant flew downstream.

By late afternoon a drive across the Marismas de Trebujena just added Kestrel, Magpie and Raven to the day's tally plus Spotless Starling, Collared Dove and Feral Pigeon once the higher agricultural land was reached.

At the end of the day I drove the 5km rough track to the Lagunas de Espera. The information centre at Laguna Hondilla is abandoned and whilst you can get in through a pedestrian gate the view over the water is obstructed by the peripheral vegetation, as are the views from the track alongside the fenced boundary. So I didn't bother going to the other two lakes and the only species added here for the day was a Marsh Harrier.

Hotel in Chipiona.

Wednesday 27th April:

Reasonably early start today heading along the N-340 towards La Janda, turning off at Facinas to head along the track towards Benalup which was barely passable at the start but I persevered as I was expecting much of this area. The main avian features of this track were apparently evenly spaced Corn Bunting, Stonechat and Crested Lark singing from the fence posts and distant hunting Montagu's Harriers. Alongside these and the usual species to be expected in this type of landscape, highlights were much better views of a close, singing Calandra Lark, some flyover Collared Pratincole and singles of Spoonbill and White Stork in field ditches. At the north western end Black Kite and Buzzard became common plus a circling Short-toed Eagle. The small pool by the junction provided the promised Purple Swamphen. The next section of road had a number of Partridge and Pheasant. A bit further south towards Las Lomas there is a large mixed colony of Egret and Glossy Ibis in the track-side trees, almost within touching distance. After also driving the Canal Track I headed towards the coast at Barbate.

Firstly the Barbate Pinewoods, walking from the car park to the tower at Tajo, where all the expected woodland birds were seen or heard, including Spotted and Pied Flycatcher, but also adding the only Wren of the trip and a nice singing Iberian Chiffchaff in the trees, a few Yellow-legged Gull on the cliffs and a single Shag just offshore.

On the other side of the town I called in at the estuary of the Marismas de Barbate where there were a few waders including a Common Ringed Plover, a couple of Kentish Plover, a few Sanderling and a lone Whimbrel. I also had good views of a small flock of Northern Bald Ibis in a horse pasture alongside the road to Zahara; the sighting of these strange birds only spoiled a little by a couple of them wearing little backpack tracking units.

Last hotel of the trip in Zahora.

Thursday 28th April:

Travel day today but I had a little time after packing and checking out before having to return the hire car. I initially thought of going to Sierra de la Plata near Bolonia but decided I was likely to be too early in the year for the White-rumped and Little Swifts. So I headed instead to the Alto del Cabrito watch-point near Tarifa. Despite having set off in bright sunshine the clouds built through the morning and by the time I got up to the watch-point the cloud base was not much higher up the hillside. It soon became apparent that the conditions were not going to be good for migration so I set off for Malaga airport taking the longer route to avoid paying any tolls.

Car returned safely, the flight to London City left almost on time - despite the best efforts of French air traffic controllers.

So the end of a great trip. Some good weather (one drizzly day and one overcast with the rest bright and sunny) and nice scenery. Only 4 out of a potential 11 target species seen (but I was almost certainly too early for some and one or two of the others are possibly mythical) but a lot of good bird sightings plus great views of some species I had only seen briefly or distantly previously.

I probably should have mentioned at the start that the site guide I used was "Where to watch birds in Southern & Western Spain" by Garcia and Paterson.

Few mammals seen: just Red Deer in North West Cordoba, a couple of Egyptian Mongoose and an unidentified vole species.

Nicely planned itinerary!

Hi Pete,

Nice report, but I wish you had contacted me before hand as I think my 120pp of notes on birding sites in and around Cadiz ('Birding Cadiz Province') might have helped you to track down several species you missed and put you onto a couple of alternative sites. Although you were a bit early for White-rumped Swift, Little Swift are around in April (and some even winter). At Espera, the best pool is often the one furthest from the track (esp. for Crested Coot) and there's an equally good site nearby along a less tricky track which might have been worth a quick look. I won't go on, but PM me with your email address if you'd like a copy of my notes for 'next time',

Thanks Fernando.

Hi John, you kindly sent me a copy of your notes when I had some questions during the planning period for this trip but, unfortunately, I neglected to take the printed out version with me (I blame it on age) and could not remember the sites in enough detail to try any out. Yes, I should have persevered with the Espera site and perhaps walked to the further lagoons. The species I was referring to in my being too early were really Isabelline Warbler and Rufous Bush Robin but I knew I couldn't get the timing right for everything. The suspected mythical ones, by the way, being Dupont's Lark, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse and Little Bustard! Spanish Imperial Eagle is, I think, very much down to luck. I didn't put enough effort in to dawn and dusk attempts for Red-necked Nightjar. Still, 'next time' is certainly on the cards.

foresttwitcher said:

Thanks Fernando.

Hi John, you kindly sent me a copy of your notes when I had some questions during the planning period for this trip but, unfortunately, I neglected to take the printed out version with me (I blame it on age) and could not remember the sites in enough detail to try any out. Yes, I should have persevered with the Espera site and perhaps walked to the further lagoons. The species I was referring to in my being too early were really Isabelline Warbler and Rufous Bush Robin but I knew I couldn't get the timing right for everything. The suspected mythical ones, by the way, being Dupont's Lark, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse and Little Bustard! Spanish Imperial Eagle is, I think, very much down to luck. I didn't put enough effort in to dawn and dusk attempts for Red-necked Nightjar. Still, 'next time' is certainly on the cards.

Click to expand...

I thought I had, but your comment about only using Garcia & Paterson threw me and I've sent them out to an awful lot of people recently. A shame you didn't try the site I recommend near Benalup for Little Bustard as I have 100% record of seeing them there. I know what you mean about P-t Sandgrouse in the area as I find them very tricky (though not in Extremadura)