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

Birding in Alicante Province (3 Viewers)

I stay with my mum and rely on her for travelling around and she is happy with this. Normally I manage Las Urrutias, La Mata, El Fondo, Lo Monte, San Pedro del Pinatar, Clot De Galvany, Cabo de Palos and a few smaller areas we have found. No target species for me.
 
3.5 weeks to go before my return to Murcia, hopefully Autumn migration will have started. I intend to post daily sightings of birds and locations of
anything worth noting.

My Twitter page for those of you that use it is......@ralphpsamuels
 
Reports from another site today for the Salinas at San Pedro include...Curlew Sandpiper, Broad Billed Sandpiper and an American's job, Short Billed Dowitcher.

Hope they stick as I will be there in two weeks
 
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Swallows going South

Today, Monday 25th September 2017, starting at dawn there has been a steady procession of swallows flying South over the Rio Segura where the N332 crosses it. Around 08.00 there were tens of thousands in large flocks and they later thinned out (about 10.30) to about 50 birds in sight at any time for the whole day. It is now 19.15 and they are still passing over at that density. Europe must now be empty of swallows !!!
 
Some good birds in the last few days including Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Black-winged Kite and the first returning Spotted Eagle.

See here www.finesystem.co.uk/birdwatchingcostablanca/sightings.html

Last winter there were two adult Spotted Eagles with white plastic rings (causing a lot of confusion for a while).

Tonn has the ring 7X - which can look like XL in some views - the other bird is also believed to be wearing a ring starting with a 7 and was frequenting the North gate area. It would be really useful to get any further details on this bird (assuming it returns).

A photo showing the ring number would be invaluable :t:
 
I was supposed to be in Gran Alacant for the next six weeks, but unfortunately builder problems (!) means our house still isn't ready.

Had a 4 day visit over last weekend, little time for birding but one bird of note was in the Clot de Galvany - actually there were two calling but I only saw this one. It is at the "dry hide" which seems to be a regular autumn location for Wryneck, you have to be patient though!
 

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Lining up a trip (for a friends party) at the beginning of November - sadly to Benidorm! Anyway, I see that I'm near El hondo (about an hour) so there are some benefits. I know that Spotted Eagles are there during the winter months.

As for access to the reserve I will not be available on a Saturday morning but on reading around I can overlook various parts of the reserve - Costa Blanca bird site has some maps. Does anyone know which hides will I be able to access? I don't want to reinvent the wheel so sorry if someone has already pointed these out.

Do I have targets? Well I think in addition to the above a Marbled Duck would be nice otherwise I'm happy to potter about exploring... Vistabella Road seems a good spot.

Also I see that around Benidorm is going to be worth exploring - in addition to the 'mountains' are there some marshes worth exploring? My twitching extends to about an hour in terms of driving so wouldn't want to go much further than El Hondo...

As I said I'm happy to explore but don't want to miss the obvious or the 'absolutely must do if you're in the area'.

Thankyou in advance...
 
Spent the morning at the Salinas San Pedro, here's a list of birds of note plus all the usual....

2+ Curlew Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Spotted Redshank, 2 Redshank, 4+ Dunlin, 2 Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover, 3 Turnstone, 6 Black Tailed Godwit, 20+ Ruff, 30 Slender Billed Gulls, 25+ Auduoins Gulls, 100+ Black Necked Grebes. Big roost of Jacdaw's & Little Egrets leaving reeds at first light. Swift, 20+ Swallows over property
 
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Thanks Bafty that one is going on the list!

I see that El Hondo even had Pallid Harrier, Sociable Plover the last couple of winters as well as the obvious!!
 
You can only access through the north gate on saturday morning, but anyway you can expend a full day around the four Vistabella road hides plus the reception centre (it was easy to see there the Marbled ducks + coots), better early in the morning before people arrives. Also check the hide at Catral (tower) as one of the spotted eagles likes the area. So even if you cannot manage going to El Hondo on Saturday, don't forget to go there. Everything depends on the amount of water, let see what happens with the october's "gota fría" rains.

As said above, San Pedro saltpans (including also the area around Molino Calcetera and the "golas" there, with many waders) are worth a visit.
 

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