Marian’s 2008 Year List (1 Viewer)

[madamcoolpix]

Here they are, a few more new birds snapped during my walk to the coast last Friday: a Moorhen in the canal leading to the beach, a Little Egret foraging in the rocky area of the beach and one of the pedestrian Ruddy Turnstones that use to enjoy the local promenade.

 

[madamcoolpix]

In the way back last Friday, I visited the local Park to try some other photographs of new birds for the Year List. This is what I got:

1 - A Lessser Black-backed Gull
2 - A Chaffinch stuffing himself
3 - A Black-headed Gull already in breeding plumage.
4 - A couple of Tufted Ducks. I'm happy I've got them before they leave!

 

[madamcoolpix]

Yesterday, during my lunch break, I visited the Botanical Gardens of Gijón and surroundings. There I got another new bird for the list:

15 February 2008: surroundings of Gijón Botanical Gardens

79 - Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

And I took some pictures of other birds. New ones this year are: a female Blackcap, a Goldfinch and a Linnet.

 

[madamcoolpix]

At last a bit more of proper birdwatching! We were going to spend the weekend in Burgos area (NC Spain) but the weather conditions made us change the plan. On Saturday it was so misty in the planes of Central Spain that decided to visit an area of mudflats in the Northern coast, Santoña (Cantabria Province). In the way to the coast we did some stops that provided some more birds. This is the final account of new birds for the Year List:

23 February 2008: San Felices del Rudrón (Burgos Province)

80 – White-throated Dipper (Cinclus cinclus)

23 February 2008: Pantano del Ebro (Cantabria Province)

81 – Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

23 February 2008: Santoña (Cantabria Province)

82 – Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
83 – Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata)
84 – Black-necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
85 – Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
86 – Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)
87 – Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
88 – Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa)
89 – Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
90 – Great Egret (Casmerodius albus)
91 – Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra)
92 – Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)
93 – Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)
94 – Greylag Goose (Anser anser)
95 – Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)
96 – Sandwitch Tern (Sterna sandvicensis)
97 – Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)

In this birding day the birds were too far away for my camera to take decent pictures. I’m including the Eider because here it is a rarity and I know I will not have another chance to find one this year to photograph. So, the pictures are:

a. A Black-necked Grebe almost in breeding plumage (a sight I’ve rarely seen)
b. A Common Sandpiper
c. Two of the three Eiders present in the place, far away and in backlight, to make the thing complete C)
d. A bunch of Black-tailed Godwit in flight showing why they are called so ()

 

[madamcoolpix]

Sunday was a dull, cloudy and miserable day. I don’t know why we decided to pay a visit to Urrez, in the mountainous area of Sierra de la Demanda, but we are very happy we did: we found several interesting birds, for example, we only saw Pheasant once in Spain and Fieldfare three times… and of course I’d never before had a chance to take pictures of them.

24 February 2008: Burgos City

98 – Crested Lark (Gallerida cristata)

24 February 2008: Urrez, area of Sierra de la Demanda (Burgos Province)

99 – Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
100 – Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa)
101 – Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)
102 – Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)
103 – Rock Sparrow (Petronia petronia)
104 – Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)
105 – Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
106 – Common Skylark (Alauda arvensis)
107 – Woodlark (Lullula arborea)

Even if the light was dreadful for taking pictures, here you have:

a. Our shy lady-Pheasant, getting away as soon as possible.
b. A Mistle Thrush
c. A male Yellowhammer
d. A twiggy Fieldfare (), the closest I could get to him with the camera.

 

[madamcoolpix]

I've not done birdwatching in more than 2 weeks, and when I come back to this thread, what do I find? Magically, it has now some lovely stars!!! o Thank you for that to whoever added them, it is very encouraging and I promise to do my best to make this thread worth of them!

Today I've started my Easter holidays. I'm spending the weekend in Madrid area and I've travelled by coach. From the window I've seen good numbers of raptors (Griffon Vultures, Red and Black Kites, Buzzards, Kestrels, Harriers,...) and the first Swallows of the season. So I have a few new things to add:

14 March 2008: Oviedo-Madrid

108 – Black Kite (Milvus migrans)
109 – Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
110 – Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Sorry, no pics taken from the coach!

 

[madamcoolpix]

On Saturday (15/03) we visited Aranjuez, in the Southern extreme of Madrid Province, as the weather forecast was nicer for that part. We were very happy to see that several of the early migrants were already there: all kinds of Swallows and Martins, Hoopoe and Black Kite. The birding was very good, with almost 50 different species seen. This is the update:

15 March 2008: Aranjuez (Madrid Province)

111 – Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops)
112 – Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus)
113 – Stock Dove (Columba oenas)
114 – Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica)
115 – Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)
116 – Sand Martin (Riparia riparia)
117 – Common House Martin (Delichon urbica)

And here you have a few pictures of birds from Aranjuez:

a. Stock Dove
b. Great Crested Grebe
c. Marsh Harrier

 

[madamcoolpix]

Spanish Imperial Eagle!

On Sunday (16/03) we went back to El Pardo, as in the previous visit we had missed the Spanish Sparrow and the Spanish Imperial Eagle, two of the specialties from there. Again we saw almost 50 different species there but the highlights were both target birds. I took pictures of the wary Spanish Sparrow for the first time and the Eagle was faithful to the meeting and it was there, at the spot and the time we expected it to appear! The views with the binos were great, but it was too far away for my camera. Still, I’m posting a collage with some of the pictures taken, as this is the first time I’ve snapped the adult and the features are well shown.

16 March 2008: El Pardo (outskirts of Madrid)

118 – Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis)
119 – Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti)

If I take better pictures of these two birds during the year, I’ll post them here… they are worth of a second showing ().

 

[madamcoolpix]

Last Saturday we visited Valdelateja area, North of Burgos City, a great place both for birds and butterflies. The area is quite mountainous, with cliffs and slopes and with same patches of forest and tall trees by the river. So it holds a good variety of species. These are the new birds for the Year List found in this area:

29 March 2008: Valdelateja area (Burgos Province)

120 – Eurasian Wryneck (Jynx torquilla)
121 – Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus)
122 – Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus)
123 – Marsh Tit (Parus palustris)

Other raptors in the area: Peregrine Falcon, Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Black and Red Kites (in the moorland of the vicinity) and plenty of Griffon Vultures.

And a few pictures taken there:

a. A Dipper
b. A Great Tit singing his little heart out.
c. One of the two Egyptian Vultures soaring over the village at noon.
d. A very bad-mannered Marsh Tit, which kept turning his back on me. This is a local and not common species, and this is my first time at taking pictures of him… I hope next time it shows me his lovely face, .

 

[madamcoolpix]

A lifer!

Last Sunday we headed south of Burgos City running away from a very dark cloudy front coming from the North. So we reached Sepúlveda area and the Natural Park Hoces del Duratón, a fantastic place for raptors and larks. As the dreadful weather caught up with us too soon, we almost had no time to do birdwatching but we did the most of it as we got a lifer! Dupont’s Lark, an endangered species and a specialty in the area. The Year List follows like this then:

30 March 2008: Hoces del Duratón area (Segovia Province)

124 – Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus)
125 – Common Raven (Corvus corax)
126 – Dupont’s Lark (Chersophilus duponti)

From now, lifers will appear marked bold… if there is any ().

I consider myself lucky to have snapped this Crested Lark bearing in mind the unfriendly conditions we faced for photography:

 

[madamcoolpix]

On Saturday I had a great long walk in the outskirts of my city. I was expecting to find many new migrants but no, they seem to be still in their way. I’m not surprised because this looks Autumn instead of Spring!

Still, I found some traces of Spring making progress in the shape of:

5 April 2008: Outskirsts of Oviedo (Asturias)

127 – Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)
128 – Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin)

I couldn’t manage to snap these two properly, but got two tiny things for the first time this year:

a. This is a collage I made to show how “urban” Fan-tailed Warbler can be in my area (backgrounds are first a car, second a wall, )
b. A Wren in the undergrowth (I’m glad I managed to take this in spite of the mist and dim light).

 

[madamcoolpix]

Last Sunday, we had a dim and miserable day but it wasn’t raining, so I had a try at finding more migrants. I went to Gijón, visited the Botanical Gardens (nothing new was moving there) and then took a nice walk to the coast in the hope of finding some waders in the beach. And this worked! I ticked for the Year List:

6 April 2008: Beach of Gijón (Asturias)

129 – Sanderling (Calidris alba)
130 – Dunlin (Calidris alpina)

In spite of the poor light I had a great time taking pictures of Terns and Waders, as they were quite cooperative. Here you have some of them:

a. A Sandwich Tern… the beach is just by the city, you know ().
b. A Ringed Plover, already in breeding plumage.
c. A Dunlin in breeding plumage too.
d. A couple of Sanderlings foraging in the wet sand.

 

[madamcoolpix]

On Saturday, I paid another visit to the beach of Gijón hoping to find more new waders for the Year List, but there were not much new around, only Grey Plover along with the same seen last weekend. But I was surprised to find 6-7 Purple Sandpipers at this time of the year!

Then I visited the local park just for taking pictures and I saw a Pied Flycatcher competing with Chiffchaffs at catching flies. I think I saw a Willow Warbler too, but as I’m not sure I’m not counting it.

In summary, the update of the Year List is this:

12 April 2008: Gijón (Asturias)

131 – Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
132 – Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca)

And the pictures are:

a. The Grey Plover of the beach, quite relaxed… until I got a bit too close (I preferred to leave him in peace than getting better pictures, I was happy with this one).
b. I hope you don’t mind I repeat posting a Purple Sandpiper! I quite like this stretching… |=)|
c. A Collared Dove in the local park.

 

[madamcoolpix]

Yesterday, we had sunshine at lunch time so I paid a very quick visit to my patch by the University Campus. It was full of Butterflies flying around (surely, taking advantage of this temporary warm ambiance) and spotted my first Whitethroat of the season! It was delightful to experience a bit of Spring atmosphere after so many dismal days! o

16 April 2008: Outskirts of Oviedo (Asturias)

133 – Common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis)

Sorry, no pictures this time! |8(|

 

[madamcoolpix]

A rather quick visit to one of my patches in the outskirts of Oviedo on Saturday morning provided me with another new bird for the Year List and some pictures:

19 April 2008: Outskirts of Oviedo

134 – Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)

And some birds snapped during this morning are:

a. A male Bullfinch. I had already posted my first Bullfinch picture in this thread but it was a very poor shot. Now, please let me share my first decent Bullfinch picture (|=)|)!
b. A Peregrine Falcon. It can’t be seen in the picture because it was in backlight, but it has just caught something that I think was a Song Thrush. What a show, to see it hunting!!!
c. A male Blackcap. With this, I’ve posted the pair! o
d. A male Greenfinch.

 

[madamcoolpix]

Another quick birdwatching session last Saturday: in the afternoon, before the threatening dark fronts coming from the sea got to my place, I visited a very popular estuary of my region, Ría de Villaviciosa, excellent for migrants in Autumn. It is not as good in Spring as in Autumn but still a good place. I ticked another couple of species for my list there:

19 April 2008: Ría de Villaviciosa (Asturias)

135 – Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)
136 – Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

I'm very happy with these two sightings: the Black Tern was in breeding plumage (and I usually don't see it so beautiful) and the Black-winged Stilts were my first ones in my Province, Asturias! I took pictures but they were too far away, I prefer to wait for a better chance to post them here.

Instead, I snapped these other two for this thread:

a. A couple of Crag Martins. A little colony seems to be trying to nest in the roof of an old building in the estuary. I hope they are lucky!
b. A Raven soaring… it is easier to take a flight shot when they do this! |=)|

 

[madamcoolpix]

The weather forecast for Sunday was dreadful, but fortunately the morning started bright and sunny, so I paid another very quick visit to Villaviciosa again. Only could get one more new bird:

20 April 2008: Ría de Villaviciosa (Asturias)

137 – Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava… iberiae, of course, )

But I took pictures of quite a number of birds. New for this thread are:

a. Barn Swallow. In fact, this is the first picture I take of a Swallow this season.
b. The Black Tern in breeding plumage was still there. In spite of the distance, I did my best to get a shot where it could be recognizable, and I succeeded.
c. Greenshank.

 

[madamcoolpix]

Yesterday, I had a very exciting walk from work to home: I saw a male Hen Harrier flying over the buildings by the University Campus (I had never before seen one in the outskirts of Oviedo!) and finally I found:

24 April 2008: Outskirts of Oviedo

138 – Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)

I wasn’t expecting to find anything so I didn’t take my binos neither my camera with me C#%|=@|@&|!|!!!). So, today I did take them just in case. Of course, I didn’t see the Harrier but the Wheatear was still there and I took some pictures in a rush. And at the same time I could welcome another old friend I’ve missed during the winter:

25 April 2008: Outskirts of Oviedo

139 – Common Swift (Apus apus)

I’m glad I didn’t update this thread yesterday, so I can add another bird and a picture to the post and so it looks nicer! |=)|

 

[madamcoolpix]

Yesterday we spent the day in Villafáfila, and we had a FANTASTIC birding day, with 60 different species. This must be the best place for Great Bustard in Spain… and possibly in Europe! It is guaranteed there. The variety of habitat (steppes, lagoons, farmlands, etc) makes this place a paradise for birdwatchers (|=)|). Even the way to Villafáfila from Burgos (where we spent the night) was a birding-party…

26 April 2008: way from Burgos to Villafáfila

140 – Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra)
141 – Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)
142 – Little Owl (Athene noctua)
143 – Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni)
144 – Montagu’s Harrier (Circus pygargus)
145 – European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

26 April 2008: Villafáfila area (Zamora Province)

146 – Great Bustard (Otis tarda)
147 – Gadwall (Anas strepera)
148 – Gull-billed Tern (Sterna nilotica)
149 – Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
150 – Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
151 – Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

I took many pictures, and here you have a few easy to process. As soon as I can process the others I will post them:

a. A Corn Bunting singing his little lungs out.
b. A male Lesser Kestrel (there were loads of these beautiful Kestrels in the area)
c. Spoonbill
d. I managed to take this single picture of the Barn Owl as it passed by. It was one of the hits of this trip, as it is only my second view of one, my first view with binos and my first picture of one.

 

[madamcoolpix]

Finally I had some time to process a few more pictures taken in Villafáfila. Here you have:

a. A Gull-billed Tern in flight.
b. A Red-legged Partridge, caught during a run.
c. A male Mantagu’s Harrier, having a rest on the road.
d. A Black-winged Stilt. The lagoons were plenty of these elegant guys. There were many Avocets too but the pictures didn’t turn out good enough… I prefer to wait for a better chance to post it in this thread.
e. The star of Villafáfila: the magnificent Great Bustard. In cases like this, I really regret lacking a proper camera to shoot birds!