Malaga & Cadiz provinces, 24 Feb 2007 (1 Viewer)

A trip report that I'll have to post in stages. I hope you can be bothered to read it. |;|

Part one


Cadiz & Malaga Provinces Trip

24 February to 3 March 2007

Based at Estepona
We flew by Easyjet from Newcastle at 06.30 on Saturday 24th February. The best thing about flying at this time is that you arrive with some useful birding time at your destination. The downside is the lack of sleep the night before. I went to bed at midnight, expecting a couple of hours, but as soon as the light went out the brain went into gear and I was still awake when the alarm went off at 2.15.

I’d pre-booked a car at Malaga over the internet through all-inclusive-car-hire.com, a service agency I’ve often used. They were offering a Clio-type car with air-con for about 62 quid for the week. In the event the car I was given was a larger model Kia Cerato for the same price. It actually cost a bit more than the stated price because of the hire-company the agency used on this occasion. There are several different hire companies they use. The usual practice is that you return the car with the same amount of petrol as when you started, either a full or a part tank, but this company has a different method. They charge you for a full tank when you pick up the car and ask you to return it empty. They win in two ways with this method, firstly you always return the car with a bit of petrol sploshing about in the tank that you’ve already paid for and secondly – and more significantly – they charged 62 euros for the full tank when it only cost 41 euros at a petrol station to fill it from empty to full, so they’ve craftily added the difference of 21 euros to your quoted hire cost. Even then, it’s a cheap hire of a car in excellent condition. This one only had 17,000km on the clock and usually they have done even less than this. I’m not complaining.

Our base was a comfortable and well fitted apartment in the centre of Estepona. We’ve stayed in the general area several times in the past, but this was the first time we’d actually stayed right in the town. It was only 5 minutes walk to the shops and restaurants which was a plus, but even in February the parking situation in town was a nightmare and I had to drive around several blocks looking for a parking space whenever I returned from a day’s birding, It’s easier in the villages.

It’s a great area for birds in the south west corner of Spain, particularly during the spring and autumn migration periods and even in winter there are still representatives of several species that are normally considered migrants staying on. Sadly the amount of birding habitat on the coastal strip has been diminished, particularly in the past few years by the upsurge in building of urbanisations and their ubiquitous golf courses. Perhaps the recent goings-on with the Mayor’s department at Malaga will put the brakes on a bit.




Day 1, Saturday 24th February 2007.
Weather , Fine, clear skies, 25C, but brisk N wind.

Rio Guadalhorce Reserve, Malaga.

We were lucky with our arrival at Malaga. We landed roughly on time at 10.35 and our cases were some of the first onto the carousel, then a short walk down the ramp to the car hire office, where for once there was no queue and we collected our car in record time. Within 55 minutes of the Boeing 737 touching the runway we were at the reserve. No flight into Malaga is complete without a trip around this excellent reserve less than 3km from the airport car hire area. It’s worth building in a three hour delay in reaching your digs.

The first bird of the day was a Gannet, which I saw flying over the sea beneath the aircraft as we came in on our approach to the airport. As we arrived at the reserve and even before we’d left the car at 11.30 we saw Yellow legged gull, Crested lark, Serin and Zitting cisticola . The walk onto the reserve across the beach at the river mouth gave us Black headed gull, Sanderling, Lesser black-backed gull and Meadow pipit. On reaching the first tamarisk bushes and reed areas at the first of the pools it became clear that the wind was going to be a problem and we would struggle to see one of the target birds of the trip, bluethroat and other small stuff. A couple of what looked suspiciously like Lesser Kestrels passed by, but I was only 75% certain of the identity. A common Kestrel hovered over the scrub.

The pools held Cormorants in full breeding plumage, Shoveler, Grey heron, Mallard, White headed duck (about a dozen), Black winged stilt, Little egret, Pochard, Dabchick, Gadwall, Greenshank, Black-tailed godwit, Redshank, Little ringed plover, Coot, Green sandpiper, Kentish plover, Tufted duck, Spoonbill, a lone Shelduck and three immature Greater flamingo.

The bushes and vegetation held Chiffchaff, Stonechat, Cetti’s warbler, Sardinian warbler, Greenfinch, White wagtail, Blackbird, Hoopoe, Black redstart and Robin, but as expected no sign of the elusive bluethroat. A speculative glace through the bins at a bush on the east side of the reserve found a male Penduline tit occupying centre stage.

An Osprey carrying a fish flew in to land on its favourite perch on one of the trees in the centre of the reserve. A pale phase Booted eagle quartered the area and as we walked around the reserve a bird that occupied the same bit of sky as had the eagle revealed itself at close range as the first Black kite of the trip.

Overhead flew Spotless starling, Monk parakeet, Swallow, Sand martin, House martin and, as we’d almost completed the circuit of the area, the only Red-rumped swallow of the trip flew low over our heads and across the river.

Sandwich terns hunted along the shore-line and a scan through hundreds of gulls on the sea gave us a solitary Mediterranean Gull in breeding plumage.

The common stuff such as house sparrows, collared dove etc gave us a total of 57 species while we were still only a five minute drive from the airport. It was now time to drive to Estepona to find our apartment, but on the way we stopped off at Miraflores, an urbanisation near Fuengirola, in the hope of locating a common bulbul that had been reported as frequenting the area. A short drive into this vast area of housing with well vegetated gardens soon brought home the futility of the task, so we headed off to find our base.

That took less space than I'd thought, so here's part 2 as well.

Day 2. Sunday 25th February 2007.
Weather. Fine am. 21C on the coast, cool at altitude, Low cloud & mist in afternoon

We got off to not the best of starts, sleeping in until after 8 o’clock, primarily because we were knackered from the day before and in my case 28 hours between getting up and going to sleep. It got worse when just after we hit the motorway slip road out of Estepona I was asked “Do we need the maps today?”, meaning that we had to drive on to the next junction and go back for a restart. The restart brought us our first Cattle egret which flew by as we rejoined the motorway.

The 49 km of road from the coast at San Pedro de Alcantara to Ronda is a well built and surfaced road following recent improvements. Unfortunately it is also 49km of continuous curves, meaning that unless you are one of the many locals of suicidal bent there are no real opportunities to overtake. The traffic proceeds at the speed of the cement mixer in front, so you might as well relax and enjoy the drive content in the knowledge that if you did overtake, you would simply catch up with the next queue behind the trip-bus half a mile ahead. As we reached the highest section of road among almost bare limestone mountains, five Griffon Vultures put on a spectacular display as they soared at road level just next to the only available pull-in for miles. A pair of Choughs and a Crag martin joined in the entertainment.

Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park

After passing the highest point, the road starts its decent and after a few kilometres we turned off. The entrance to the park is on the outside of a left hand curve and is marked by a large green hoarding Just inside the park entrance is a picnic area which is usually worth a look, often holding southern grey shrike. A short wander around the flat grassy area around the barbeque pits and the bushes beyond gave us Corn Bunting, Jay, Rock bunting, Chaffinch and a Woodlark singing its heart out from a power line at the campsite. The eagle sitting on a rock just before the campsite is a stone carving and it’s a good place to find rock bunting. Unfortunately there were no shrikes this time.

Driving on along the recently repaired track through the oak woods we saw what seemed like dozens of jays, often three at a time, but the only other new birds were Blue tit and Great tit. In the summer months this road is closed off to vehicles at the far end because of fire risk, but at this time of year it is open all the way to Los Quejigales picnic area at the top. Unfortunately we’d chosen to go on a Sunday, as had dozens of other families and walkers. This no doubt contributed to the fact that the area around Los Quejigales was almost devoid of birds. In October there were dozens of finches, including my first Spanish brambling record. A distant dot resolved itself into the first Short-toed eagle as it passed overhead. A stop at the parking area next to the open barrier in the way down gave us Crested tit. In the past I’ve seen ibex and mouflon at the top and bottom of this track respectively, but no mammals today – too much disturbance.

The Cartajima road

Whenever I pass this area I call in for an insurance tick of black wheatear. After leaving the park and turning right onto the Ronda road we traveled for about a kilometer or so, passing a garage and taking the left turn marked for Parauta and Cartajima. Ignore the Parauta turn-off a few hundred metres along the road and continue on until 4.1 km after joining the road you come to a spectacular silver-grey limestone cliff on the outside of a bend that conveniently also has a pull-in area. Within 5 minutes of stopping we had three Black wheatears, a male and two females, hopping around the gully that runs up the right-hand side of the cliff. Strangely there was no blue rock thrush this time. A couple of hundred metres back in the direction in which we’d came we stopped opposite a red-roofed farm house and got Thekla lark, Linnet, Rock sparrow and Red legged partridge to add to the list.

Puerto de las Palomas

The guides tell us that it’s a good place for Alpine accentor in winter, so bypassing Ronda we headed up though Grazalema to the pass lying at about four and a half thousand feet to see if we could have some luck this time. Driving up beyond Ronda on the Seville road in brilliant sunshine we overtook about 60 black kites that appeared to be migrating north. A glance over towards Grazalema revealed wisps of cloud touching the peaks at the pass.

The road up to the pass from Grazalema often thows up a black wheatear or two – but not today. We’d just seen what turned out to be the only black wheatears of the trip. As we drove up it became obvious that the wisps of cloud were here to stay and they had built up into a solid overcast.

The car-park at the top held no birds at all, just a collection of chatting visitors and a bloke in a car listening to the news on his car radio with the volume turned up loud enough to ensure that everyone present was kept up to date with the current affairs. I sent out on a mission to find the accentors and leaving my wife in the comfort of the car I went to explore the hill-side between the car-park and the weather station. Weather conditions varied from calm on the lee slopes, to a strong wind where the hillside funneled the breeze up from the plain below. The view over the Embalse de Zahara three and a half thousand feet below was stunning – or it would have been if only I wasn’t standing in a cloud. The hillside produced no accentors, just a steady supply of black redstarts, half a dozen chough and a kestrel. Back to the car to try something else.

Montejaque

Back down to the Ronda – Seville road and a turn-off to the village of Montejaque. Don’t drive far into the village – you can’t get out the other side and as you go further in the streets narrow to moped-width. Turning is a sod. By now the cloud had decided to let us have a bit of drizzle to add to the fun.

A couple of kilometers back from the village I stopped to scan some fields on both sides of the road. Griffon vultures were overhead and a bird of a different jizz turned out to be a Bonelli’s eagle heading off on a mission of its own. Back into the car and a bit further on I could pull off onto a flat field entrance on the right hand side. A male Cirl bunting gave us a greeting from a bush. A couple of hundred metres further along the road, opposite a farmhouse with a pack of barking terriers was another area to pull in. Exploring this revealed a track that led through bushes and more open areas to a dam. Four or so largish pipit-shaped birds flew off from some rocks as we walked down, but apart from pale bellies and sandy-brown backs I got nothing on them. Once more we found no accentors, but we got our first Blue rock thrush of the trip and an unexpected Green woodpecker near the dam.

A day low on species count but we were now up to 79 for the trip.

Culinary tip

We went out for dinner and although many restaurants were closed on a Sunday in February we found a cracker. An Argentinian grill restaurant called La Casa de mi Abuela (“my granny’s house”) that stands down a side-street just off the sea front at Estepona – turn in at the Banco Pastor and there it is in front of you. I’ve had a few steaks in my time but their entrecote with pepper sauce was up there with the best of them and only 16.50 euros. My wife’s solemillo of pork with mushroom sauce was just as good. Nice décor too. Words of warning, however, if you don’t like beef or pork don’t go. This is Argentinian and they don’t do poncy chicken, fish or vegetarian nonsense.


Day 3. Monday 26th February 2007
Weather. Another fine and sunny day with temperatures in the low 20s

San Enrique

We set off for La Janda as our main destination, but on the way we stopped of at a location that’s a particular favourite of my wife’s. We parked along the track and walked past the orange groves that give the place such a heavenly scent when the blossom is out and had a stroll through the wood by the Rio Guadiaro. The track gave us little egret, Blackcap, cirl bunting, Dunnock and Tree Sparrow. The wood was full of birds. Great spotted woodpeckers, chiffchaffs and blackcaps in particular seemed to have picked it as a venue for their annual get-together. There were also Wren, Willow warbler, Woodpigeon and Kingfisher.

Tarifa beach

Migration proper wasn’t underway yet, so we didn’t stop at any of the watchpoints and went straight to Tarifa beach. On the way we saw the first of the trip’s hundreds of White stork. Arrival at Tarifa gave us good numbers of Cattle egret, but the beach was strangely quiet. A scan of the sea gave us good views of the tuna fishing boats and crews, but not much else. The gull roost held Audouin’s gulls amongst the yellow legged gulls and lesser black backs and a few sandwich terns. The beach also gave Turnstone and Kentish plover. I’d thought the onshore westerly wind may have brought a few shearwaters in, but none were seen. The construction of a new boardwalk path along the area behind the dunes all the way from the football stadium north across the river and beyond has opened up the area more to dog-walkers and strollers. On the grazing area next to the boardwalk Skylarks shared their space with the resident crested larks.

(PS Imagine my delight to find on checking Rarebirdsinspain when I got home that there had been nine bald ibises - two without tags - at Tarifa on Saturday 24th (the day we landed) and the following Saturday 3rd (the day we took off)).

La Janda

The approach past Facinas gave us our first Hen harrier, a ringtail taking its chances amongst the forest of giant wind turbines that have sprung up in huge numbers over the past couple of years stretching from Facinas for miles towards Zahara de los Atunes on the coast. Turning off towards Zahara in a forlorn hunt for the mythical little bustards that ancient legends claim haunt the fields we stopped and found Calandra larks displaying among the many corn buntings. Back across the road in La Janda there were white storks and cattle egrets on the approach to the canal track. Driving along the track gave us hen harrier, kestrel, Marsh harrier, Lesser kestrel, Green sandpiper, Lapwing, Curlew and spoonbills, but the water level in the canal was low and we didn’t see the expected water birds such as purple gallinule.

Across the canal bridge we examined the trees for our hoped-for bluethroat, but without luck. We did chance upon a group of three penduline tits feeding in the top of a willow just next to the car, and at the second bridge at the other end of the trees I got what is so far my best ever view of a short-toed eagle when one landed on the top of a power pole only 60 or 70 yards away from our parked car. It even gave me time to set up my scope and Coolpix to get some stunning photographs – or they would have been in my shutter release bracket hadn’t chosen that particular moment to become misaligned. I pressed the button, the camera focused and - nothing. The shutter wouldn’t fire. I made adjustments just in time for the bird to fly off. The air was blue. When I was checking my photos that night I found that somehow I’d managed to get a single shot of the eagle and one of the empty power pole, so it wasn’t a total loss.

Further along the track we saw Pheasant, Moorhen, Blue headed (Iberian) wagtail, Jackdaw, booted eagle, hoopoe, and more black redstarts. Disappointingly we saw no black-winged kites on this trip. We doubled back after we reached Benalup where I came to a startling conclusion. There are indeed hundreds of little bustards there, but they have developed a strange skill that means that at the approach of a birder their plumage mysteriously rearranges itself to provide a perfect copy of a red-legged partridge.

The track north-west from the canal bridge produced another surprise. Three black swans resting on a pool, obviously knackered from their long flight north from the land down-under.

Bolonia

We left La Janda and drove to the coast at Barbate and south to Zahara, but saw nothing of note. We then went to stake out the cliff above Bolonia in the hope of seeing little swift in the late afternoon. The first bird we saw was a small falcon that appeared to be a merlin that swooped over the top of the cliff across the road and disappeared behind the pines. This was closely followed by two adult Egyptian vultures. A short while later the “merlin” came back and landed on the cliff a short distance from the car, giving great views to reveal that it was actually a juvenile male Peregrine with the russet breast of the Mediterranean race. A small dark bird swooping along the cliff face caused the pulse to race for an instant, but this little swift turned out to be a crag martin. Better luck next time.




End of day three, 104 species.

Here's away for part 3.

Day 4. Tuesday 27th February 2007
Weather. A beautiful cloudless, windless day. T-shirt weather even at 4,000 feet up a mountain. About 22C.


El Torcal.

Because the sojourn in the clouds on Sunday had resulted in failure, alpine accentor Plan B swung into action. Setting off early we headed east towards Malaga then north to the mountains of El Torcal at Antequera, acting on information kindly provided by John Cantelo. Before we got to the mountains proper we turned off up a track on the road just east of Villanueva de la Conception and climbed for 2 or 3 kilometres.. Plenty of blackcaps, thekla larks, black redstarts, chiffchaffs etc. We then carried on to our destination.

The approach road to the mountain is impressive, but our occasional pull-ins revealed nothing. We arrived at the car park at the head of the road to find it busy with groups of English and German ramblers out for a walk in the mountains and chatting excitedly about the enjoyments to come in their particular chosen pastime. Having determined that they would most probably all set off in a particular direction, I collected my stuff and headed in the opposite direction, quickly coming to a place of calm and tranquility, made even more beautiful by the total absence of wind. Chough turned overhead and black redstarts and thekla larks scurried everywhere. The odd blue rock thrush added to the picture. Griffon vultures left the cliff somewhere beneath us and soared past us at eye level. The only sounds were bird-song and the gentle clanking of the bells on the necks of a nearby flock of sheep. A glimpse of what looked suspiciously like a tawny pipit was tantalising, because I had it almost identified with confidence when it flew off. Garcia’s book says they arrive in March, but this was still late February. It may have been early I suppose.

A few minutes later my day (and the trip) was made. My target species, Alpine accentor, passed by only metres away. Unfortunately no opportunity for photos, but I had my lifer.

It was time to pull up a boulder and sit having lunch to the sound of larks, redstarts and sheep bells.

Bliss.

On the way down I spotted two ibex grazing on the hillside, nicely in range for photos. Scanning of the bare grassy area produced no more accentors, but that was bearable.


Rio Guadalhorce reprise

Following the success of the morning and taking advantage of the calm conditions and the warm feeling inside we decided to go for a bonus and see if we could track down a bluethroat or two. With this in mind we drove back to the Guadalhorce rivermouth for an easy afternoon.

We went to the area nearest to the first pool, an area of reeds, tamarisk and water that looked very bluethroaty to me even on Saturday when it was too windy. This time we got lucky and a beautiful male white-spotted Bluethroat in breeding plumage put in an appearance long enough for me to grab three of four digiscope shots. It came back half an hour later and this time I was ready with the video camera on my tripod. I was about 30 seconds or more into recording some nicely framed shots of it hopping up a bough when I noticed I’d left the camera on “pause”. Doh! I set the camera running only to have the bird depart after about 5 or 10 seconds of real recording.

We had a relaxing spell at the reserve, just taking it easy and not thrashing ourselves. While we were having a chat with a couple from Norfolk I caught sight of the tail of a small dark snake disappearing into the grass at the side of the path. They had just seen another snake a short while before making a meal of a rodent. This reminded me of an unusual road kill that we’d found the day before at Benalup – a beautifully marked and apparently intact rodent that at first I thought may be an edible dormouse – a species that I’d almost forgotten existed. I was nearly right. It seems that the fist-sized bushy-tailed little fellow with the highwayman’s mask is a garden dormouse, Eliomys quercinus.

The reserve still had most of the birds we’d seen on Saturday, including the osprey, white headed ducks and flamingoes, but we had the addition of Common sandpiper, Razorbill (on the sea) and a single Stone curlew that flushed from the top of the beach as we left.

Day 4 over. 109 species, only five additions, but two of them at least were quality birds.



Day 5. Wednesday 28th February 2007
Weather. Started off fine, but increasing mist and cloud persisting until mid-day in the Cadiz area. Fine clear and warm pm. 21C

Today was time to head north into Cadiz province to track down, among other things azure winged magpies at Algaida forest. Many have searched for them (including me) and many have failed.

We left Estepona in beautiful clear weather and headed west to take the A381 north towards Jerez. To those who repeat the mantra that more roads mean more traffic, I invite them to look at the example of the A381. Five years or so ago it took me almost two and a half hours to drive from Estepona to Jerez. It was a major undertaking, not because of the distance (about 130km) but because of the road itself. It was a winding single carriageway road where traffic traveled at the speed of a cement mixer – of which there were many. Work had just begun to upgrade it to a dual carriageway. In the past year or two it has been dualled all the way to Jerez and today we made the 130km trip to Laguna de Medina in only 1 hour and 10 minutes. Has the road attracted more traffic? It has not. It is empty with about 3 or 4 vehicles a minute traveling in each direction. It is possible to travel for miles and not see another car in your mirror, while overtaking hardly at all. The road has freed up the congestion, but not attracted more traffic than that which had used the road before. Rant over.

(Whether this was a good use of EU funding to produce an under-used road is another issue).

Traveling north it became cloudier and eventually misty conditions prevailed. At Laguna de Medina itself it was even thicker with fog hanging over the water, so we gave it a miss and traveled on to Trebujena.

Trebujena marsh, Salinas de Monte Algaida,

It was still misty when we reached Trebujena on the new A2000 road north from the Jerez A4 bypass and driving down to the marsh where Stephen Spielberg filmed the oft-trailed sequence of the fighter aircraft flying low over the star’s head in “Empire of the Sun” we could see no sun at all. Pulling up at the first of the Salinas we found 7 Grey lag geese and moving slowly on along the river-side track we found Snipe, with greater flamingo, Avocet and spoonbill on the pools to the right. The road was busy with cyclists and by now it had dawned on me that we had turned up on one of Spain’s many public holidays. The pools were generally quieter than I’ve known them on previous visits, with few ducks and the pond near the co-operative sheds that usually holds purple gallinule was today not even holding much water, never mind birds.

Three Black storks flew across the track ahead at the Salinas de Monte Algaida and landed on the salt-marsh. Stopping the car where they crossed I was able to digiscope them through the thinning mist – an adult and two juveniles. A marsh harrier quartered the land. Further on, at the start of Salinas de Monte Algaida the track which is normally OK in summer was impassable because of rutting and recent rainfall.

We had planned ahead for our trip to the marshes and we’d brought a fresh can of Autan mossie spray with us. For some reason however we had turned up on a marsh while the mossie spray had remained back in the apartment in Estepona. The flies aren’t bad here in the dry conditions of autumn, but this time of year it’s different. At first we were pestered by some black midges that came in through the car windows and snacked on our arms if we let them. I got out of the car to look at some Lesser short-toed larks and walked out onto the salt-marsh to try to close the range on a pair of buzzards that had landed in some nearby trees.

Big mistake. Out came the big-hitters. Brown mosquitoes came up from the damp vegetation mob-handed and started having a party on my defenceless body. These things had a great time and effectively scotched any idea I had of walking along the edge of the Salinas towards Bonanza. A damage assessment later put the count at 13 bites on my face and head with another 23 on my hands and arms, all collected in the space of a few spray-free minutes on the marsh. Be warned.

Birds in the area included flamingoes, Magpie (quite rare in these parts), Grey plover and Dunlin in their hundreds that flew in from the river on the rising tide.

Algaida Forest and Laguna de Tarelo, Bonanza Salinas

The import of the public holiday quickly became apparent as we reached the forest. By now the sun was out and so were hundreds of people using the picnic areas for their proper purpose and using the roads through the forest to play on their mopeds and mini motors. Azure winged magpie was clearly out of the question, but a new Plan B was being hatched for them.

We traveled on to the far and of the wood and called in to Laguna de Tarelo where the egret roost on the island held cattle egrets, little egrets, Night heron and a single Squacco heron. The lake held Great crested grebe, 30+ white headed duck, Red crested pochard and Black-necked grebe.

We entered Bonanza Salinas from the village side and came across Slender-billed gulls all smart in pale pink feeding among the black headed gulls on the water and loafing about on the banks. Further on two Raven flew up from a group of yellow legged gulls and posed for the camera on a power-pole. Many more avocet were here than on the river-side pools, but wader numbers in general were lower than I expected. The big shallow pools closer to the river may have held more waders, but the attack of the vampire mosquitoes had ensured that any chance of going there was out of the question.


Time for home. End of day 5. 124 species – getting better.

And the final bit, part 4.

Day 6. Thursday, 1st March 2007
Weather. Much like yesterday, but with less mist. Cloudy in the morning traveling north. Fine clear and warm pm. 21C. Fine all day at Estepona

Today my wife declared a girl’s day off. She would have a day prodding around the shops of Estepona, with the afternoon catching some sun on the balcony. I was off out on my own.

Benalup

I headed off first to Benalup, but rather than approach it through La Janda, I took a much more direct, quicker route. I took the A381 north for Los Barrios and then turned off onto the Ca212 beyond the Embalse de Charco Redondo. I was there in only 70 minutes, including a couple of stops along the way for such stuff as the 50 black kites that were milling around in the fields where I turned off the main road.

The plan for this morning was of course doomed to failure, since it consisted of looking for little bustards that had all morphed into red-legged partridges as soon as they heard of my approach. Never mind. I got some photos of an obliging black kite sitting on a power pole as well as adding Ringed plover to the species list. I traveled down as far as the farm at La Janda, hoping for black-winged kite, or possibly great spotted cuckoo (I had three here at the same time of year in 2005), but without luck. I then took the road from Benalup in the direction of Vejer until I turned north towards Medina Sidonia to look at the fields around the village of Naveros. The habitat looked great. To prove it the fields were full to bursting with red-legged partridge. I saw a Mistle thrush on a roadside wire on the way.

Laguna de Medina

As I approached the lake on the dual carriageway I noticed a solitary dark bird standing in a field, so when I took the laguna turn-off I doubled back past the laguna car-park to investigate. A solitary juvenile black stork stood obligingly while I rattled off a few pics through the scope. Back at the car-park it was worth getting out of the car because there was no fog today. It’s worth was proved when just before the end of the first board-walk, partly obscured by reeds I saw a hoped-for Crested coot close in, pottering about near the drowned tamarisk bush. I got some photographs, hoping for the best from my manual focusing made necessary by the wall of reeds between me and my target. At home the results turned out to be not great, but better than I thought they might be. Other birds on the lake were shoveler, coot, red-crested pochard and great crested grebe. No purple gallinules.

The crested coot was still there when I came back from the far end half an hour later, and I got better views when it was chased out into the open briefly by a common coot, before it made its way back to the comfort-zone of the reed margins and tamarisk.

Algaida forest reprise

Plan B from the day before swung into action. I reasoned that the birds would have been disturbed by all the high-jinks of the public holiday, but would later move to reap the benefits of any scraps left around the picnic areas, ie today. I ignored the Laguna Tarelo altogether and went to the Algaida recreation area that lies along a track running to the right not far inside the forest. As I went along it became clear that the wood’s many ravens were very active nearby and as I got towards the far end of the area a bird caught my eye as it flew across the track into a pine tree. I put a move on and found at least 13 Azure-winged magpies foraging around the area, occasionally dropping to the ground, but quickly disappearing back into the canopy. When perched they were invisible, even when nearby, but they could be counted as they flew across the track. Job done, jinx broken. The second lifer of the trip.

I completely forgot to check the laguna which was just a few hundred metres back and carried on to the other large picnic area. No azure-winged magpies there, but two pale booted eagles roamed around just above the canopy.

The pools at Trebujena marshes were a little more interesting than they had been the day before and I found a group of Spotted redshank and a single Ruff. A Red kite hunted nearby and a male marsh harrier hunted along the road side, almost oblivious to me watching it from behind the car. Black kite and an adult female hen harrier hunted further along. The mossies went hungry. I’d brought my spray.

End of day 6. 131 species.

Back out to Granny’s place for another of her fine steaks, a couple of beers and a nice bottle of Rioja, followed by a few glasses of stronger stuff back at the apartment.




Day 7. Friday, 2nd March 2007
Weather. Fine, clear skies, c 25C

All the dashing about on the longer trips for the hard stuff like accentors and exotic magpies had been done and we saved the last day for looking at some familiar patches closer to base.

Refugio de Juanar

Travelling north from Marbella towards Coin you soon come to the turn-off for this reserve which lies on the east slope of El Concho, the unusually shaped mountain that provides a backdrop so beloved of all the presenters of those trashy property shows trying to sell property in Puerto Banus. Parking at the car-park at the top of the road, we walked through the woods and olive groves and added Firecrest, Coal tit, Short-toed treecreeper and Nuthatch to the list. Signs of wild boar rooting were all over the place, but there were no animals to be seen, unlike on an occasion a few years back when we stood beneath a huge pine tree to shelter from the rain and then first one, and then two more wild boar came trotting along the path towards us, unaware of our presence. A couple of giant pine cones pitched in their direction dissuaded them from coming too close for comfort.

Sierra Crestellina

We spent an hour in the early afternoon watching from the pull-in at the side of the road to Gaucin. The sky was as usual here full of griffon vultures which landed and took off from their perches on the cliffs. There was also a pair of short toed eagles displaying at the southern end towards Casares, along with a soaring peregrine and a Sparrowhawk. A wave of black kites came through from the direction of Gibraltar on migration, and just before we moved on an adult Bonelli’s eagle showed just above the northern end of the ridge. Crag martins flew along the face.

Rio Genal

At the bottom of the hill beneath the Sierra Crestellina the road crosses the pretty little Rio Genal and a track leads down to the water’s edge. Unfortunately it also led to a bloke throwing sticks into the river for his dogs to chase, so we moved a little further upstream and made the final additions to the trip list with Grey wagtail and Song thrush. A pair of green woodpeckers showed well in some trees across the river, but the moment my camera swung onto them they vanished for good. We drove back to Estepona by the interesting, but bird-free (on this occasion) road through Jubrique over the Sierra Bermeja after a short stop at Benarraba where a collection of griffon vultures on a perch overlooking the road gave us an irresistible photo opportunity.

End of day 7. Total species 138 (including lifers Alpine accentor and Azure-winged magpie).

(140 if you include three-quarters of a tawny pipit and three tired Australian swans), |;|




There were certainly some good birds on the trip, but I had some puzzling omissions from the list. No purple gallinule, shearwaters or southern grey shrike for instance, and the hoped for black-winged kite at La Janda kept away (I saw three there in October). The shearwater omission could certainly be put down to lack of effort, but the others had plenty of opportunity to present themselves. That's birding, I suppose.

Full Trip Species List

Species List

1 Little Grebe, Tachybaptus ruficolus. Present on most wetlands
2 Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus. Laguna de Medina and Bonanza area
3 Black Necked Grebe, Podiceps nergicollis. Laguna de Tarelo. None at Guadalhorce
4. Gannet, Sula bassana. Offshore in small numbers
5. Cormorant, Phalcrocorax carbo. Groups at Malaga and the Bonanza area
6. Night Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax. 13 plus at Laguna de Tarelo
7. Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis. Common in large numbers, particularly in the west of the area
8. Squacco Heron, Aedeola ralliodes. A single bird at the heron roost, Laguna de Tarelo
9. Little Egret, Egretta garzetta. Common, especially near water.
10. Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea. Common on large areas of water
11. Black Stork, Ciconia nigra. Three (1 adult) at Algaida Salinas, one (imm) Laguna de Medina.
12. White Stork, Ciconia ciconia. Widespread and common in the west of the area.
13. Spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia. One at Gudadalhorce reserve, groups in Bonanza area
14. Greater Flamingo. Phoenicopterus ruber. Three at Gualdalhorce reserve, Hundreds in the Bonanza area, some elsewhere.
15. Greylag Goose, Anser anser. 7 on the small pools north of Trebujena
16. Shelduck, Tadoma tadoma. A single bird at the guadalhorce reserve
17. Gadwall, Anas strepera. Small group at Guadalhorce reserve
18. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos. Common and widespread, generally paired-off, but flocks numbering many hundreds in the north-west pools at La Janda
19. Shoveler, Anas clypeata. Common and widespread on water bodies
20. Red-crested Pochard, Netta rufina. Small group at Laguna de Tarelo, larger numbers at Laguna de Medina
21. Pochard, Aythya ferina. Small numbers at most water bodies
22. Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligala. Small number at Guadalhorce reserve
23. White-headed Duck, Oxyura leucocephala. 30+ at Laguna de Tarelo, about a dozen at Guadalhorce reserve
24. Black Kite, Milvus migrans. Occasional single birds at several locations, large groups, apparently migration at Sierra Crestellina, A381/Ca212 junction and north of Ronda
25. Red Kite, Milvus milvus. A single bird hunting over saltmarsh, Salinas de Monte Algaida
26. Egyptian Vulture, Neophron percnopterus. Two adults above Bolonia. 26 Feb
27. Griffon Vulture, Gyps fulvus. Everywhere there was suitable terrain.
28. Short-toed Eagle, Circaetus gallicus. Widespread in small numbers – including Los Quejigales, La janda, Sierra Crestellina
29. Marsh Harrier, Circus aeruginosus. Common at La Janda and Trebujena/Bonanza area
30. Hen Harrier, Circus cyaneus. As Marsh Harrier, but in smaller numbers
31. Sparrowawk, Accipiter nisus. A single bird soaring at Sierra Crestellina
32. Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo. Sinles at La Janda and Algaida forest. A pair at Salinas de Monte Alagaida
33. Booted Eagle, Heiraaetus pennatus. Single birds (pale phase) at several locations including Guadalhorce reserve and La Janda, a pair at Algaida forest and three near Benalup
34. Bonelli’s Eagle, Heiraaetus fasciatus. Single birds at Montejaque and Sierra Crestellina
35. Osprey, Pandion haliaetus. Single birds at Guadalhorce reserve and Salinas de Monte Algaida
36. Lesser Kestrel, Falco Naumanni. Small numbers at several locations, including La Janda (widespread) , Bonanza Salinas and two possibles at Guadalhorce reserve, Malaga
37. Common Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus. Common and widespread
38. Peregrine, Falco peregrinus. One juvenile male on the cliff above Bolonia, another soaring at Sierra Crestellina
39. Red-legged Partridge. Alectoris rufa, Widespread in large numbers, particularly in the area between Tarifa and Jerez
40. Pheasant. Phasianus colchicus. Common between La Janda and Benelup
41. Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus. Surprisingly small number of sightings, Mainly in La Janda.
42. Coot, Fulica atra. Widespread on and water body. A pair with new chicks was seen on a pool at Algaida on 28th February.
43. Red-knobbed (crested) Coot, Fulica cristata. A single bird near the boardwalk at Laguna de Medina
44. Black-winged Stilt, Himantopus himantopus. Common at water bodies
45. Avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta. A single bird swimming at Trebujena marshes, larger numbers at Bonanza Salinas
46 Stone Curlew, Burhinus oedicnemus. A single bird at the top of the beach at the Guadalhorce reserve
47. Little Ringed Plover, Charadrius dubius. Several locations including Guadalhorce reserve
48. Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula, A flock feeding on a wet field between Benalup and La Janda.
49. Kentish Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus. Guadalhorce reserve, Tarifa
50. Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatarola . Salinas de Monte Algaida
51. Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus. Loose flocks, mainly at La Janda
52. Sanderling, Calidris alba. Guadalhorce reserve and Tarifa beach
53. Dunlin, Calidris alpine. Flocks numbering several hundred individuals flying in from the tide to Salinas de Monte Algaida from Rio Quadalquivir
54. Ruff. Philomachus pugnax, A singe bird at Trebujena marshes
55. Snipe. Gallinago gallinago. Odd birds in the Trebujena marsh area
56. Black-tailed Godwit. Limosa limosa. A group of half-a-dozen at Guadalhorce reserve
57. Curlew. Numenius arquata. Single birds at La Janda and Salinas de Monte Algaida
58. Spotted Redshank, Tringa erypropus. Three at Trebujena marshes
59. Redshank. Tringa tetanus. Common at wetlands, especially near the Guadalquivir
60. Greenshank, Tringa nebularia. Guadalhorce reserve and Trebujena marshes.
61. Green Sandpiper, Tringa ochropus. Odd birds at Guadalhorce, La Janda, Trebujena
62. Common Sandpiper, Tringa hypoleucos. A single bird at Guadalhorce reserve
63. Turnstone, Arenaria interpres. Tarifa beach
64. Mediterranean Gull, Larus melanocephalus. One amongst large gull flock on sea at Guadalhorce reserve
65. Black-headed Gull, Larus ridibundus. Common and widespread
66. Slender-billed Gull, Larus genei. Numbers into double figures feeding on Bonanza Salinas
67. Audouin’s Gull, Larus audouinii. Several on Tarifa beach
68. Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus, Common and widespread along the coast.
69. Yellow-legged Gull, Larus cachinnans. Common and widespread
70. Sandwich Tern, Sterna sandvicensis. Guadalhorce and Tarifa beaches
71. Razorbill, Alca torda. One on the sea at Guadalhorce reserve
72. Rock Dove, Columba livia. Feral pigeons common, better credentials inland
73. Woodpigeon, Columba palumbus. Common in wooded areas
74. Collared Dove, Streptopelia decaocto, Common and widespread
75. Monk Parakeet, Myopsitta monachus. Several around the Guadalhorce reserve, but not the large numbers seen on previous visits.
76. Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis. A single bird on the Rio Guadiaro at San Enrique
77. Hoopoe, Upupa epops. Odd birds at widespread locations
78. Green Woodpecker, Picus viridis. A single bird near Montejaque and a pair at Rio Genal, Gaucin
79. Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dendrocopus major. The wood at San Enrique was bursting with them. Odd birds elsewhere.
80. Calandra Lark, Melanocorypha calandra. In fields next to the road to Zahara de los Atunes
81. Lesser Short-toed Lark, Calanrella rufescens. Small flocks at Trbujena marshes, and more especially at Salidas de Monte Algaida.
82. Crested Lark, Galerida cristata. Common and widespread
83. Thekla Lark, Galerida theklae. Common at higher levels, Sierra de las Nieves, El Torcal, Pueto de las Paloma, etc.
84. Woodlark, Lullula arborea. Sierra de las Nieves and probably other suitable locations
85. Skylark, Alauda arvensis. Scattered on grazing area alongside the new boardwalk behind Tarifa beach
86. Sand Martin, Ripatia riparia. Small numbers at Guadalhorce reserve
87. Crag Martin, Ptyonopregne rupestris. Present sporadically in smaller numbers than expected. Most at Sierra Crestellina
88. Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica. Widespread in small to moderate numbers
89. Red-rumped Swallow, Hirundo daurica. A single bird over Rio Guadalhorce at Malaga
90. House Martin, Delichon urbica. Guadalhorce reserve and Estepona town
91. Meadow Pipit, Anthus pratensis. Common, particularly on areas near the coast.
92. Yellow Wagtail, Motacilla flava. Three birds of iberiae race with white wagtails at La janda
93. Grey wagtail, Motacilla cinerea. Only one bird found at Rio Genal, Gaucin
94. White Wagtail, Motacilla alba. Widespread and common, particularly near water.
95. Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes. San Enrique wood and elsewhere
96. Dunnock, Prunella modularis. One, San Enrique
97. Alpine Accentor, Prunella collaris,. One at El Torcal, Antequera
98. Robin, Erithacus rubecula. Guadalhorce reserve and several other locations
99. Bluethroat, Luscinia svecica. A white spotted adult male (cyanecula) at Guadalhorce reserve
100. Black Redstart, Phoenicurus ochruros. Common and widespread, particularly on higher ground, but also down to sea level.
101. Stonechat, Saxicola torquata. Everywhere
102. Black Wheatear, Oenanthe leucura. A male and two females next to the Ma518 road near Cartajima
103. Blue Rock Thrush, Monticola solitarius. Mantejaque, El Torcal and other locations
104. Blackbird, Turdus Merula. Common and widespread
105. Song Thrush, Turdus philomelos. Gaucin
106. Mistle Thrush, Turdus viscivorous. Near Benalup
107. Cetti’s Warbler, Cettia cetti. Common and widespread in suitable habitat
108. Zitting Cisticola, Cisticola juncidis. Common and widespread in suitable habitat
109. Sardinian Warbler, Sylvia melanocephala. Common and likely to be encountered in any area of scrub
110. Blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla. Common and widespread. In some places it appeared that every bush had a pair. San Enrique wood was full of them.
111. Common Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita. Common and calling in any area of woodland or scrub.
112. Willow Warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus. One in the wood at San Enrique
113. Firecrest, Regulus ignicapillus. Benahavis and Refugio de Juanar
114. Crested Tit, Parus cristatus. Los Quejigales, Refugio de Juanar. Several at each location
115. Coal Tit, Parus ater. Refugio de Juanar
116. Blue Tit, Parus caerleus. Common in woodland
117. Great Tit, Parus major. Common in woodland
118. Nuthatch, Sitta europaea. Refugio de Juanar
119. Short-toed Treecreeper, Certhia brachydactylata. Refugio de Juanar
120. Peduline Tit, Remiz pendulinus. One at Guadalhorce reserve, three at La Janda
121. Jay, Garrulus glandarius. Dozens in the woods below Los Quejigales
122. Azure-winged Magpie, Cyanopica cyanus. 13+ near picnic area in Algaida forest
123. Magpie, Pica pica. Present in very small numbers, Salidas de Monte Algaida and Algaida forest
124. Red-billed Chough, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax. Common on mountains.
125. Jackdaw, Corvus monedula. Common in area from La Janda northwards, but apparently absent further east.
126. Raven, Corvus Corax. Present in large numbers at Algaida forest, but also present elsewhere as pairs or single birds.
127. Spotless Starling. Sturnus unicolor. Everywhere
128. House Sparrow. Passer domesticus. Everywhere
129. Tree Sparrow, Passer montanus. San Enrique orange groves
130. Rock Sparrow, Petronia petronia. Near Cartajima
131. Chaffinch. Fringilla coelebs. Common in open woodland
132. Serin. Serinus serinus. Common everywhere
133. Greenfinch. Carduelis chloris. Common where there were trees and bushes
134. Goldfinch. Carduelis carduelis. Turning up all over the place
135. Linnet. Carduelis cannabina. Near Cartajima and La Janda
136. Cirl Bunting. Emberiza cirlus. Montejaque, San Enrique and elsewhere
137. Rock Bunting, Emberiza cia. Sierra de las Nieves, Refigio de Juanar, Benahavis and various other locations
138. Corn Bunting. Miliaria clandra. Anywhere where there was somewhere for one to sit, one would be there singing.

Total Species for trip: 138.

Great report, and very informative too. Thanks Alan. :clap:

I never have what non-birders at least would call such an intensive birding trip, but 138 species in a week is a good total. I am glad that you enjoyed the other good things in life while you were there, too, like La Casa de mi Abuela.
Allen

Allen S. Moore said:

I never have what non-birders at least would call such an intensive birding trip, but 138 species in a week is a good total. I am glad that you enjoyed the other good things in life while you were there, too, like La Casa de mi Abuela.
Allen

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I always enjoy the good things in life, Allen. A good day out, topped off with a nice meal, a glass or twelve of various beverages - you can't whack it. B

Excellent report Alan, just a shame we couldn't celebrate Alpine Accentors together with a glass/bottle of vino or 2, or 3, or ........!!

B hick!

Black Wheatear said:

Excellent report Alan, just a shame we couldn't celebrate Alpine Accentors together with a glass/bottle of vino or 2, or 3, or ........!!

B hick!

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Some time maybe Peter, there's every chance that I'll be back that way in the autumn. I'll be in Catalonia in May.

Alan Seaton said:

Some time maybe Peter, there's every chance that I'll be back that way in the autumn. I'll be in Catalonia in May.

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Good stuff, Alan. I'm very pleased my info helped you to get a tick, but I do think it was a bit mean of you to see Crested Coot at Medina when you know I keep dipping them there!

John

Alan Seaton said:

I always enjoy the good things in life, Allen. A good day out, topped off with a nice meal, a glass or twelve of various beverages - you can't whack it. B

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Yea! A month today I will hopefully be doing just that in Barcelona! My 12 glasses will include horchata (orxata) as well as more famous beverages, always great after a hot day's birding.
Allen

Allen S. Moore said:

Yea! A month today I will hopefully be doing just that in Barcelona! My 12 glasses will include horchata (orxata) as well as more famous beverages, always great after a hot day's birding.
Allen

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I'll be in that area in the first two weeks of May, based inland on the Ebro. It's a lovely area and a different set of birds, ranging from the coastal species in the delta, through the steppes at Llieda and Candasnos, up to the Pyrenees. Looking forward..

By the way, i've just realised the error in my maths in part 2 of my report. I must have been still asleep when I wrote it. I was up from 8am Friday until after middight Saturday. That's 40 hours not 28. No wonder I was getting dozy in the Carrefour on Saturday evening when we were getting the supplies in.

Nice report Alan and some good info too.....I obviously missed this report at the time.

Thanks.