Marian’s 2008 Year List (1 Viewer)

[madamcoolpix]

More from the holidays!

One of the birds we were looking for, the Olivaceous Warbler, finally appeared in Hoya de Baza, but found it again in N Almería Province days later. It was good to see this lifer twice! Sadly, it was impossible for me to get a pic…

6 August 2008: Hoya de Baza (Granada Province)

212 – Olivaceous Warbler (Hippolais pallida)

Next day we visited the Puerto de la Ragua, in Sierra Nevada mountains, to look for the famous Apollo Butterfly. No Apollos, but instead I got another new bird of the year (pic 1):

7 August 2008: Puerto de la Ragua (Granada Province)

213 – Citril Finch (Serinus citrinella)

And the following day, we went to the highest peaks in Iberia, in Sierra Nevada, to continue looking for the Apollos and… to see the guy in the second picture! |=)| What an experience to have these cuties so close! They are extremely tame in the Veleta Peak (almost 3400 m) and look for crumbles left by the trippers. During the winter, they go down to the skie station, at lower altitude… to do exactly the same!

8 August 2008: Veleta Peak, Sierra Nevada (Granada Province)

214 – Alpine Accentor (Prunella collaris)

 

[madamcoolpix]

Sorry for taking my time to update this, I'm quite busy in my "real life", so my "cyber life" has to wait!

Yesterday I had a look at the pictures taken on August the 10th in Sierra Nevada. This second visit to the high mountains was more a Butterfly session, so I didn't see new birds for my list. But checking the pictures, there are a few new snapped birds (fancy this: all against the bright blue sky, ) so I though I'd add a post with them. They are:

a. A Rock Sparrow. It was quite close, but I regret it didn't let me take but this shot and the angle is not the best to see all the features, only the head stripes.

b. A Hen Harrier, at almost 3000 m! :eek!: Not something I was expecting to see in this place!

c. A huge flock of Red-billed Choughs took-off from who-knows-where and filled the sky with their characteristic shape and their unmistakable sound. A very nice view! Here is a detail of one of the shots taken to the sky.

 

[madamcoolpix]

Still posting stuff from my holiday… a bit of patience, folks, not much left now!

On August the 11th, we paid a second visit to Cabo de Gata and in the way there we stopped in Tabernas Desert, a good spot for larks and other typical birds of very arid ground… but not so good in August! Only Black Wheatears and Thekla’s Larks seemed to feel at easy there. The first picture is one of the Black Wheatears that dared to move around in such unfriendly plot of land!

Once in Cabo de Gata, we had another great day in the Salinas, with new opportunities to take pictures and more new birds:

11 August 2008: Cabo de Gata (Almería Province)

215 – Slender-billed Gull (Larus genei)
216 – Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)

Again I had a go at digiscoping and got the Kentish Plover of the second pic.

Third image shows an assortment of Curlew Sandpiper poses… and a bum!

And the last picture shows two Little Terns enjoying life at the salinas shore. I had forgotten about snapping these in the first visit to Cabo de Gata, so I've "rescued" the image for this post. I had not seen Little Terns for several years, and had forgotten how little they are (well named bird! ). They are lovely Terns!

 

[madamcoolpix]

Sorry once again for the delay updating! Next week I'm leaving for working reasons and I'd like to finish with the stuff from the holidoys before I "fly away"!

On August the 12th, we started the long way back home. We did a couple of strategic stops for birding and this post belongs with the first one: Sierra Mágina, where we enjoyed some views of migrating raptors over the tops of the mountains. But we saw too a couple of additions to the list that I really wanted to find:

12 August 2008: Sierra Mágina (Jaén Province)

217 – Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetus)
218 – Bonelli's Eagle (Hieraetus fasciatus)

Sadly, too far away for my camera! :-C Instead Sierra Mágina had a good population of Red-rumped Swallows, so I spent quite a long time trying to get one in flight. I'm posting the best of these results.

Very soon, the last of the updates from the holidays! It is a promise!

 

[madamcoolpix]

And (finally, ) here is the last update from the Southern holidays. In the afternoon of August the 12th, we stopped in the famous Tablas de Daimiel, even if in August the level of these lakes should be minimum. But it wasn't!!! Still, there were not many ducks and other water birds but there were many of all other. I could find a couple of extra birds new for me this year and take pictures of many others:

12 August 2008: Tablas de Daimiel (Ciudad Real Province)

219 – Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola)
220 – Common Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)

And these are the birds selected to illustrate this visit:

a. A Roller. There were two on the wires but the beautiful adult was much warier than this other less-experienced-in-life specimen.
b. The view of nearly 200 Collared Pratincoles flying together over the marshes was a fantastic sight to see! o I've cropped the image trying to show as many as possible but having the species perfectly recognizable. I've even got an intruder. Where is Wally?
c. A Sand Martin in flight. Really, this has been my holiday for experimenting on flight shots!
d. A couple of juvenile Reed Buntings. They looked really nice so well exposed on the tree-top, but I regret the beautiful male refused to show up -C).
e. A Willow Warbler, a bird we have mostly in Spain during migration and failed to capture it when I saw it in Spring. I had better chances now in late Summer, because they are now more numerous than in Spring.

 

[madamcoolpix]

I'm back home after attending a Chemical Meeting for a few days (no birding at all! :-C) so I can now keep updating this thread with my last findings during the Autumn migration.

I've been visiting some strategic spots to find Waders and Seabirds. Although I've already found most of the Waders suitable to be seen in my area, I've not taken pictures of most of them. And the Seabirds are seen mainly at this time of the year in my area, during migration.

Villaviciosa (as I've mentioned earlier this year) is great in Autumn migration. My first visit during this season yielded many different Waders but only a new one for the Year List, the Oystercatcher. This visit was very short (my duties only let me spend there a couple of hours) and the tide was too low to have close views for the camera, so I only got the Whimbrel attached.

23 August 2008: Villaviciosa (Asturias)

221 – Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

 

[madamcoolpix]

My first attempt this year at finding seabirds during Autumn migration was partially successful, specially because for the first time since I have the camera I had the opportunity to take pictures to the Gannets! :bounce: It was a misty afternoon, and under the mist the birds migrate closer to my coast. The Shearwaters were still too far away for the camera but had nice views with the telescope. The update of the list is as follows:

28 August 2008: Luanco (Asturias)

222 – Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus)
223 – Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus)
224 – Cory's Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea)

No traces of Skuas though -C).

I'm attaching a picture of the misty-Gannet () and a Yellow Wagtail taken a bit later under the sunshine. I noticed it doesn't look like an iberiae (it has yellow throat instead of white and the auriculars are pale instead of dark) only when I looked at the pictures at home. I wonder if this is the C Europe flava... it is the closest I've found but I'm not 100% convinced. When I have the time, I'll post it in the Q & A Forum with other views... If somebody wants to help...

 

[madamcoolpix]

Yesterday I had a look to the pictures taken during an inspection looking for waders and found that I got a few pictures of new ones for this thread! :bounce: This day I even found a new bird for the year List!

29 August 2008: Zeluán, by Avilés (Asturias)

225 – Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

And the pictures are:

a. Oystercatcher.
b. A couple of Redshanks.
c. The Red Knot, the poor thing looked a bit scruffy!

 

[madamcoolpix]

My first day of birding in September was quite disappointing from a photographic point of view, almost all the pics are cringe-worthy with the birds hardly recognizable. But the birding was great, got several new ticks for the list!

I spend the morning in Villaviciosa again, and the visit yielded:

8 September 2008: Villaviciosa (Asturias)

226 – Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
227 – Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)

And in the afternoon, I had another try at sea-migration to find Skuas. Once again no luck, but saw more Shearwaters: along with the Cory's there were:

8 September 2008: Luanco (Asturias)

228 – Mediterranean Shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan)
229 – Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus)

At least, I got a bird to illustrate this post, and it is the most important one for me from the day, the Sedge Warbler. We only get them around here during migration. They are not uncommon but harsh to find. I'm over the Moon with this pic, as it is only my fourth Sedge Warbler and the first time I find one since I have the camera! :bounce:

 

[madamcoolpix]

I couldn't spend better an unexpected chance to visit the coast! I had to go to Gijón for working reasons but took my binos and camera with me “just in case”. And here it is what I found:

17 September 2008: Beach of Gijón (Asturias)

230 – Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica)

Only my second Bluethroat in nearly 30 years birding!!! :bounce: The other one was a female too (about 15 years ago), but I don't complain it wasn't a male, particularly for having the camera with me to immortalize the event.

Later, along the river that ends in this beach, I had my first good opportunity with a Grey Heron this year. This picture is not precisely the best quality in the series I took, but probably it is my favourite, looks like having a good laugh! :-O

 

[madamcoolpix]

I hate to post views of my birds as poor as these but I hate even more to add a post without pictures at all! :-O

This update comes from a busy day when I visited a couple of places. In the morning, I went back to Villaviciosa hoping to get pictures of the waders I had still not photographed. I found these two, Green Sandpiper (picture a) and Ruff (picture b) but sadly both were very far away. I decided to add them here as I'm sure I won't have new chances for them this year, and at least they are perfectly recognizable…

And in the afternoon, I paid another visit to my favourite spot for migrant seabirds to find Skuas… and finally I succeeded!!! :bounce: I had the best views so far of a Great Skua! Oh My God! How I enjoyed the moment!!! o

20 September 2008: Luanco (Asturias)

231 – Great Skua (Catharacta skua)

 

[madamcoolpix]

A visit to Gijón Botanical Gardens in very late September yielded an unexpected tick for my Year List, the Rose-ringed Parakeet. I suspected there was a small population well established in the area, as I saw them flying in the surroundings before, but I had no binos with me then to confirm the ID. It was great to see them properly and to take a few pictures! :bounce: And as the migration was still going on, I captured a few summer migrants too, here you have a Pied Flycatcher (picture b) and a Whinchat (picture c):

28 September 2008: Gijón Botanical Gardens (Asturias)

232 – Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

 

[madamcoolpix]

Another bird ticked off for the Year List! o

Last Sunday visited Rivas-Vaciamadrid, in Madrid outskirts, in a family trip but took the binos and camera just in case. It turned out to be a good idea because the place was full of Storks and spent a while snapping them in flight. Surprisingly, in the far fields at the other side of the motorway, where a white carpet of Storks was covering the land (there must were about 1000 Storks!) a single and solitaire Black Stork had been set aside by the others. The poor thing was finally frightened away (picture a, sorry about the quality but it was really far away). This sighting was quite unexpected, I assumed all Black Storks should be in their way to Africa by now! There were a couple of Red-rumped Swallows too, another out-of-season bird.

Later I managed to capture a Sparrowhawk soaring around (picture b, manoeuvring).

12 October 2008: Rivas-Vaciamadrid (Madrid)

233 – Black Stork (Ciconia nigra)

 

[madamcoolpix]

While waiting for the new wintering birds to arrive, I've been checking my archives and found several pictures of summer migrant birds that had not shown up here for a reason or another. I thought on adding a post with them, as it is sure I won't take new pictures of them this year (all are gone by now).

a. A Nightingale in a misty morning.
b. Odd this, but I really had no opportunities to take pictures to a very common bird as the House Martin is. The only ones I took were to a couple of cute babies popping their lovely heads out of the nest. A very familiar sight all over Europe really...
c. It is obvious why I didn't post this picture from the Andalucian holiday before! But it is the first time I have some part of a Common Tern in a frame! :-O
d. A rear view of a Whitethroat.
e. A Reed Warbler giving me grief among the leaves. I expected to get something a bit better later in the year but it wasn't possible.

 

[madamcoolpix]

On Saturday, I took some friends of mine (who are starting to be very interested in birdwatching) to see the hordes of Gannets in migration by the Asturian coast. They really enjoyed the show, and so I did, with the ice on the cake of a couple of new additions to the year List! |=)|

25 October 2008: Luanco (Asturias)

234 – Grey Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius)
235 – Common Guillemot (Uria aalge)

Sadly, no pictures at all! :-C I hope to get a chance to take pictures of these two later in the year, if there are storms in the sea and they come to take refuge in the local estuaries.

 

[madamcoolpix]

And next Sunday my friends and I joined again in another birding outing along the coast, looking for late migrants. I found a couple of new ticks for the list.

26 October 2008: Zeluán, by Avilés (Asturias)

236 – Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria)

It provided me with an amazing photographic session! :bounce: I'll post a few of those shots in my gallery sometime, when I have a little time.

And later, in a visit to the most Northern point in my region, I saw:

26 October 2008: Cabo Peñas (Asturias)

237 – Parasitic Skua (Stercorarius parasiticus)

At last, the migration of Skuas is being better now, in middle Autumn.

 

[madamcoolpix]

Again late with my updates… |^| Sorry about that...

This is from two Sundays ago, dreadful weather then, but this bunch of brave girls decided to face stoically the unfriendly conditions and spent a great day trying to find unusual birds swept away by the storms of the week. To find Spoonbill, Scoter, Shearwaters, Wheatears,… was very exciting for beginners like my friends are... and I enjoyed them all too. But for me, it was more thrilling to see 3 Kittiwakes passing in migration relatively close to the coast, I had not seen one in many years! o

2 Noviembre 2008: Luanco (Asturias)

238 – Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)

Only one picture from this Seaside visit: Shags are now seen in small numbers but widespread along the coast. Here you have a juvie and an adult enjoying a good old scratch.

 

[madamcoolpix]

I paid a new visit to Villaviciosa, as most of the wintering birds should be there by now and I have no pictures yet of most of them. I spotted the first Wigeons of the winter and that's a new tick for my Year List! o

9 November 2008: Villaviciosa (Asturias)

239 – Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope)

But the snapping was terribly disappointing. Lapwings, Snipes, Common Teals, Osprey, Wigeons… all them were too far for my camera and I couldn't take pictures showing them at least recognizable! :-C The only new bird to illustrate this thread that I got was this Curlew, still in the distance but shows the huge bill beautifully. I love these guys! o

 

[madamcoolpix]

At last I catch up with the updates! :smoke: The bad weather of last weekend didn't allow me to go out, so I had time to check the pictures from the previous weekend, and this is the new stuff to add to this thread.

An early morning walk in Oviedo outskirts provided me with the only recognizable Cetti's Warbler pic I've taken so far. A miracle, as the light was extremely poor and the restless little thing only showed up for a couple of seconds (picture a). Later, I went to Gijón for another walk and to check if any new winter birds had arrived at the local park. I was delighted to see Pintails there again after a few years! o And double delighted as it was a new bird for the year list (picture b)! |=)|

16 November 2008: Gijón (Asturias)

240 – Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

 

[madamcoolpix]

Due to awful weather and a flood of familiar duties I couldn't go out birding for a whole month!!! :-C That has spoilt the great mark I had reached in my year list, I don't think I've ever found 240 species within Spain in a year, let alone to snap about 180.

There are only about 12 days left to do something more, but I don't give up!!! Let's see if things improve. Meanwhile, I'm adding some more birds snapped during the year but that I didn't post for different reasons:

a) A distant Kingfisher… obviously, I was waiting for a better opportunity (which didn't arrive! :-C)
b) European Starling, taken in March, and getting its summer plumage. I must confess I just had forgotten about this pic! :eek!:
c) Shelducks digiscoped in Cabo de Gata (Almeria) during the August holidays. Another picture I didn't remember about taking it!
d) Little Stint in Gijón, during the Autumn migration.
e) A desperate attempt to take a picture to a Red Kite: from the car window at 100 Km/h, in the motorway, and in a dim and rainy day… I tried this because in Autumn/Winter there many in the plains of C Spain, and fly close to the cars in the roads. I'm relatively happy with this result, given the circumstances!