Withymoor - Amblecote, Stourbridge..... (2 Viewers)

Fri/Sat.....

A total of 5 visits in 2 days, desperate for a wader or what?

The main migrant feature is still shedloads of Chiffchaffs with an estimated 30+ in 2 loose groups feeding in the poolside vegetation. Searching thru them is certainly testing, they are mixed with various Tit spp but anything 'flicking' its wings is a Phyllosc. Unfortunately no Redstart.....yet. A solitary male Blackcap associating with them ystda was the first that i have clocked for a week or so.

House Martins are well into double figures (25+) which is a good number for WM. Numbers have been boosted by the slightly drabber juveniles. Friday saw a couple of Sand Martins put in an all too brief appearance at tea-time, the first i have recorded this year (and probably the last) whilst ystda saw a solitary Swallow at just after 7a.m. on a very pleasant early morning visit.

Swifts noted on most visits either over the pool or in the middle distance. Several Buzzards including scrutinised distant birds for possible Honey characteristics - to no avail but roll on a couple of weeks or so and there will be plenty of raptors to look at:eek!: Grey Wag and Heron also.

The torrential showers of ystda aftnn covered the recent low edge but the resident area is still available. Bedroom window has now been left open for the possiblility of migrant nocturnal waders, Craig had an Oystercatcher over Halesowen the other night so you never know.....

Here is a link to some nice shots of a Caspian Gull moulting to 1W @ Dunge. Check the proportions of its relatively small pear-shaped head to that killer-driller bill. http://birdingthedayaway.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/caspian-gull-1st-w-dungeness-kent-170814.html

Laurie:t:

BacksHurt of the Day - Try as i might i have trawled the Internet to try and find Stevie in the company of a non media-related female (hmmmm), instead i have had to settle for the lovely Clare Balding who freely admitted on Desert Island Discs that she considers her most redeeming feature is that she is no threat to anybody's marriage!

Sun 24th Aug.....

A 3 1/2 round trip down the canal to Wordsley Basin along to the Pools @ Bells Mill and back around to the pub for several B

Quiet, to say the least. Not much aerial activty with Buzzards being the most prominent (1200-1530). Calling Chiffchaffs at several localities but nothing of passerine note.

I got to the Bells Mill complex to find the old pool completely dessicated and the 'new' Breach Pool reduced in size and surrounded by Bulrushes. A peek over the vegetation and a large Blackish and White chequered bird flew off low and quick over the river to the new fishing pools. In the meantime a very close female/juv Sparrowhawk quartered the edge of the pool like a small Harrier diving twice into the clumps after prey.

I returned to the canal and moved on to the new fishing pools which are still in a state of flux and there it was, much as i thought - a young.....Shelduck:eek!:.....This would be an excellent spp on any of the bits of water around here except perhaps the 'Valley and was totally unexpected. It does beg the question where was it hatched?

The new pools are not finished yet but are a good shape with plenty of edge and several nice islands. The angle of the edge is about 45 degrees so i don't anticipate any wader activity long term but it should pull things down from time to time. Also present was an adult Little Grebe.

Attached is a picture.

Laurie:t:

Looks like you are going to be seeing a lot more of your hero soon Laurie http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/28925801 Hope you can control yourself with all those tight sequined clothes

That one slipped by me.....I don't think he'll ever come out he will just emerge gradually

Woke up this morning (cue Blues guitar strumming) to more rain beating incessantly on the window but the dulcit tones of a proper birder, Stourholes' very own (drum roll)..... Brett Westwood and one of my favourite birds the Green Sandpiper:eek!:

As for BacksHurt, i can think of another 4-letter word for that programme

Looks like a cr@ppy, changeable, week drying out gradually:C

The weekend saw the anniversary of this http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/24/newsid_3019000/3019810.stm - you will need either Media or RealPlayer to view the vid. I lived in South East London (Forest Hill) at the time and in my youth had used the 'Silver Blades' @ Streatham and have fond memories. Just imagine being able to skate around with a couple of Penguins in with you! What would happen today with 'Elf and Safety'? They probably would have put off the Normandy landings these days if the pollen count was too high!

Below - Pingu @ Streatham and BOTD features our 'hero' during the filming of yet another reeelly dangerous crocumentary and shows the moment where a Hippo (sorry, no pale wing-panel here) has swam half way up the Limpopo to tell the boy to p1ss off as they already have David Attenboro's autograph.

By the time i had finished typing this post an article on the endangered Madagascan Pochard was on Radio 4's 'Today' programme.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/28897118

Laurie:t:

Yesterday.....

Nice day, more like August should be, perhaps an 'Indian Summer' with a settled September is on offer? Depends on the Atlantic depressions and the Jet Stream.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_summer

Things have gone quiet, if that's possible around here.

No Swifts for a couple of days and numbers of House Martins reduced to a handful. Still feeding and calling Chiffchaffs altho only here and there, these parties must be birds moving thru? There does seem to be a few Sparrowhawks about. I see hunting bird(s) every day and hardly, if ever, record Kestrel locally these days.

Bird of note down at WM was a very dark Grey Heron. OK not Black or dark enough to brace yourself for reports of a Reef Heron doing the rounds but certainly the darkest bird i have seen and when it flew off it was even more noticeable at a distance but still 2-toned on the upperwing. just a heads up that's all.

I have'nt been to the annual BirdFair @ Rutters. Had i gone this year i would, hopefully, have purchased Martin Garners' new ID 'Challenge' (Autumn) guide c/w his autograph to add to the many monikered books that i still have lying around somewhere. Unfortunately the, oft-promised, lift never materialised and so the Christmas card list reduces by one

Present @ the assemblage were 2 of my 'heroes' both of whom i have met in the past and one (whose autograph i have LS) the other up @ Flammers 'oop North namely Ian Wallace, known affectionately as DIM Wallace. To say DIM is a character would be putting it extremely mildly. He has a penchant for hats and is seldom found in the same one on 2 consecutive days. Even windy seawatching will see his cranium adorned in something impractical and gaudy. His style of illustration has been a benchmark for wannabee thumbnail sketchers everywhere and his incisive narrative flows like honey. A good friend of mine, Steve Cale, has a similiar style as do lots of other excellent birders and bloggers that illustrate and annotate their bird lists illustrated 'in the field'. Lars Svensson has been and still is one of the leading lights in pushing the frontiers of bird identification within the context of the Western Palearctic. His 3rd edition Ringers Guide was part of most birders hand-luggage visiting the Scillies in the 80's.

DIM also wrote and illustrated the classic 'Birdwatching in the 70's' - beg, borrow, buy or.......steal a copy. I still re-read this book every few years:eek!: Ian pestered all the County Recorders for a decades worth of records and then wove it into a narrative of migrants, rarities, colonising breeders and weather patterns into a truly absorbing read c/w his telltale sketches illustrating, very simply, the pertinent features. It is a regret that the subsequent decades have not been treated in the same fashion by either Ian or somebody as ably qualified.

Maybe the last 30 years have not been covered because there is'nt anybody who fills his boots?

Below - Lars Man Standing, nice but DIM and BIT70's and a melange of hats.

Laurie:t:

DIM also wrote and illustrated the classic 'Birdwatching in the 70's' - beg, borrow, buy or.......steal a copy.

Click to expand...

Would you believe it... I picked up a copy of that very book (and subsequently put it back down:brains at Studley car boot last Sunday! I bet the bloke only wanted 10p or some such for it. Never associated Ian Wallace with that Ian Wallace.:C

Oh dear, Claudy, you won't be making that mistake again!.....Car Boots on a Bank Holiday weekend - that's you pigeon-holed

Perhaps we can arrange an assignation down @ the Goldfish Bowl and you can borrow mine? Better still, JTB is more or less the same age as me (i think more, technically) he is bound to have a copy or maybe the more youthful PhilA might be able to help? He seems keen enough to (should) have acquired one during his birding career.....

It's the sort of book that once you pick it up you just can't put it down altho you seem to have managed

Yesterday a very pleasant 1 1/2 hours spent down @ WM was dominated by young things. Several foxes sunning themselves on the Railway Line would have been mainly young cubs, i'll post a picture. Down at the puddle itself, on approach, i could see 40+ House Martins feeding. This no doubt due to the low cloud and high humidity. A large % of juvs including birds still being fed in the air. The bushes contained good numbers of very active Chiffchaffs including a juv being fed by a flycatching adult. Along the edge there was an adult female Grey Wag feeding a solitary young bird. A lone Swift scythed thru the Martins like a knife thru butter.

Several distant Buzzards were scrutinised before cycling over to the West Hagley Fields. Only a cursory visit (nothing notable) as i received a phone call from a birding mate who fancied a couple of B and as one of the pubs i use had Thornbridge 'Jaipur' on tap @ 5.9 i did'nt need to toss a coin!

Some of the early IPA's (India Pale Ale) were specifically brewed for the colonial troops and were slightly weaker but more trustworthy than the local water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_Pale_Ale

Weather not too bad with a ridge of high pressure building on Sunday.

Another book i re-read, as it only takes a couple of hours, is Richard Millingtons' 'A Twitchers Diary'. It's a visual feast and starts with the Hampshire Scops Owl on the cover. A year bumming about with his mucker SJMG and then selling us all the memories.....I too remember twitching Little Egret:eek!: I remember saying to Richard whilst perusing some of his 'For Sale' drawings down @ the 'Cressa on St Marys that i thought that the eyes on some of his birds were just a tad too big. To which he agreed and replied that they sell better! - what do i know?

Below - another one not to be put down in a hurry.

Laurie:t:

A single visit to WM and the West Hagley Fields did'nt produce anything of note over the weekend so i opted for a bash around Forge Mill Lake and Swan Pool over at the Valley which has been receiving some decent coverage of late and additional updates from YamYam so if you can't beat 'em............

I posted sightings on that thread but it was nice to see a large group of Lapwings locally and a couple of paddocks that were overrun with Spotted Flickers 12-15 in the area i looked at. Easily the most i have seen in one small area in this country away from Norfolk (Permit Only).

As i have'nt been asked whether Withymoor is participating in the Saturday All-Dayer i would have thrown my efforts in with the Valley Boys but i am cycling to Bridgnorth for the beer festival being held at the Severn Valley Railway stationB I will, however, post an all-dayer from Tarifa sometime next week.

Summer is officially over so traditionally the weather should now improve because the 'kidz' have gone back! A return to the conditions of June and July albeit slightly cloudier but warm and dry. This is due to a strengthening ridge of high pressure that is edging its way up from North Africa. This bodes well for my two-week jaunt to Andalusia(No Permit) and should benefit you lot whilst my skies are darkened by raptors:eek!:

Talking of which - a YouTube link to the 'Champions of the Flyway' Spring birdrace @ Eilat.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIrHupa19RY and another to an amazing video of a Peregrine that took to feeding a brood of Herring Gulls!.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwdxo32NelY&feature=youtu.be

The report on Breeding Birds during 2013 is now available and makes the usual interesting read.....http://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/u16/downloads/reports/bbsreport13.pdf

And finally - i have'nt seen a Turtle Dove in the UK this year altho i did click with a few in Majorca in June and today is the day that the last Passenger Pigeon shuffled off this mortal coil:C in 1914.....the last of some estimated 3 Billion birds - a sobering thought.

In addition to the above, a link hot from Birdguides - http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=4578

Laurie:t:

Below - Martha, my dear.

Tue 2 Sep - Withymoor.....

A very pleasant 2 hours:eek!: spent down at the Golden Puddle ystda in very pleasant and welcome sunshine with a grand total of 2 cigars smoked!

Upon arrival the usual Mallard loafing around and about 40 Black Headed Gulls either picking emerging insects from the water or hawking them in the air with a solitary adult LBB Gull preening itself on the 'Snooker Table'. Plenty of calling and feeding Chiffchaffs adjacent to the South inflow flycatching from the Alders and a couple of feeding Grey Wagtails. No Flycatchers, unfortunately, altho the-one-and-only Paul Allan Legge did score with a singleton up on the cut on Sunday (he did txt me the good news but i was well into double-figures over at t'Valley). He will, however, be out and about locally today so you have been warned!

A Kingfisher called, briefly, as i was half way thru a cigar and shot across in front of me. I have'nt seen one here for several months so that was a welcome site as was a hunting female-type Sparrowhawk that quartered the edge of the pool before 'kettling' up and away. Upon arrival i always scan the pool and comb the edges before mooching around to sit down in case anything is present and flies off whilst starting the rounds. I had been sitting for about 10 mins when up popped a juvenile Little Grebe which duly dived several times as it was being mobbed by a BHGull. They can be surprisingly elusive against the edge vegetation. This is the first record since the couple of Spring birds. Other sites that i have visited in the area seemed to have done well with breeding Little Grebe this year so there could be one or two records hopefully. Further around near the North Inflow and there was another group of Chiffchaffs flycatching. The areas adjacent to both inflows offer both cover and shelter depending on where the wind and the sun is and can hold quite a few birds when there is seasonal movement. The belt of taller trees in-between can also be good but is more difficult to work as is the embankment section. I have done a map highlighting the areas. Also attached a couple of piccies, one each of both the Grebe and the Kingy. This was taken on a Samsung digital point-and-shoot that i always carry with me, it has an optical 10x but despite the limitations is excellent for quickly snapping stuff as it has an image stabiliser facility and a burst shutter setting.

The Kingfisher looks to be a defiinate male but possibly not a full adult as it had a bit of White on the lower breast (not seen on the attached image) and a very 'speckly' crown. The attached link to the excellent Spanish ringing site is a must-go for aging and sexing of birds imo.....http://www.ibercajalav.net/img/282_KingfisherAatthis.pdf

The 2012 report on Rare Breeding Birds is now out, in BB, it might be available in full elsewhere at some stage but the Birdguides link is a taster.....http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=4579

And finally.....Todays featured bird on Wikipedia is the Siberian Blue Robin for all those hardy souls who are making the trek North to the Shelties:eek!:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_blue_robin

Laurie:t:

The joint was jumping.....

3rd Sep.....

Spent half an hour with TOAO PAL ystda c/w with rough-looking mutt (dogs looking like owners etc). We heartily concurred that the place was alive with Chiffchaffs. All the areas highlighted in the map held birds, an estimated 50-60+ possibly 75 or more. A good mix of adults and calling juvs some birds still being fed by a parent.

A stunning male Sparrowhawk cut a Goldfinch out from a passing flock and nearly ended up with dinner, close but no cigar but still exciting to watch as it twisted and turned only yards away flinging its legs and claws out a couple of times - who needs the Serengeti? 3 Buzzards 'kettled' over and a total of 3 Swifts and a juvenile House Martin put in an appearance. The juvenile Little Grebe was still present for a second day. A couple of CC's were sub-singing but apart from a male Blackcap the other day i have'nt managed any other spp:C These must be fresh birds moving thru most days? I spent a couple of hours down there, which is unheard of, whilst Paul mooched off up the cut. It just shows that when there is the right combination of nice weather and things feeding (plus an actual cigar) a little local patch is no longer a 'chore':t:

I have been familiarising myself with the brides' birthday present which along with the recently acquired 'freebie' 2nd Brompton seems destined to be new additions to my gear portfolio. I refer to her camera a lovely Canon SX260HS.

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/canon_powershot_sx260_hs_review/

The great thing about taking photos these days is the ease of snapping away, the quality and portability of the equipment and the lack of expense in viewing the results. I don't do DSLR's etc and do not wish to go down the road of being a 'tog' - i am primarily a birder and rarely use a scope altho i have several. I recently bought an Opticron MM3 c/w an excellent quality zoom from Brians place in Worcester. It is a 50mm objective lens and is so compact and portable. I have adapted an iphone 4s i was given and it is a very good and convenient combination. I have also been using the ipad Air i purchased recently. Not a device that immediately springs to mind for photographic purposes but the lens is superb and the tablet acts as a huge viewfinder and i intend using it to record raptor migration whilst in and around Tarifa shortly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1XWhHVCSwc

Embrace the technology - no Luddites here! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

The SX260 is equipped with a 20x optical zoom. Like a lot of 'snapshot' cameras these days the focal length of the lens is about 25mm. In the old days it used to be a 50mm so it starts as a wide angle. This means it has a range of 25-500mm optically, that's pretty impressive:eek!: The digital zoom takes it to 40x i.e. a 1000mm and coupled with a superb image stabiliser it means that, carefully held or supported you can get some pretty good results. I can flick thru settings very quickly to set for a burst of upto 10 images depending for how long i hold the button down. All this on HD of 12mp giving photos of 3/4mb. Alternatively i can also video stuff in HD and then cut a still out on a computer. For the little local patches that i do where nothing much happens and stuff is'nt too far away it is ideal for record shots etc.

Below - Withymoor @ 25mm with Red arrow highlighting a feeding juvenile Grey Heron and from the same position the bird at 40x (1000mm equivalent) zoom. Plus a very dangerous breed of local dog - Do not approach

Laurie:t:

Thur 4th Sept.....

Much less activity at WM ystda with just 1 1/2 hours and a single cigar smoked.

Chiffchaffs were much reduced with about 15+ feeding in one of the sheltered areas but it did include a male Blackcap and both spp engaged in a bit of sub-song. The juvenile Little Grebe appeared to have departed for pastures new. Grey Wagtail and Bullfinch noted and about 30 BHG's and a juvenile Grey Heron. A couple of Swifts were actively feeding, scything up the sky into edible chunks - not long now.....

Half an hour spent in the grounds of Stourbridge Crematorium proved fruitless. An hour plodding the paths around the top area of the West Hagley Fields yielded both Swallows and House Martins hawking over the cereal stubble and a single adult Whitethroat in one of the hedges. Got to Mary Stevens Park to see the gulls just departing ca60 BHG's leaving a solitary adult Heron in the bushes preening itself in the sun.

If anybody is wondering why there are even less Police on show than usual it's because they are all in South Wales:C

Below - Golden Puddle panorama, i took it lying down with my bins on my chest and a cracking shot of 3 Ospreys in South Wales

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Boeing_V-22_Osprey

Laurie:t:

I will probably post on one of the Spanish threads but it's a bit of an anti-climax at the moment:eek!:

The winds (very light) are in the West, a 'light' Levanter would be better - luks like birds are rising above Gibraltar/Algeciras and over the Straits:C

In 3 1/2 hours i had 4 Booted Eagles, 1 Short-Toed Eagle and a few local Kestrels - BOP wise.....

Laurie:C

Better today..........http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=538

Laurie:t:

Friday was a more balanced session with a good mix of STE/BK/BE in the 2-300+ volume. Double figures of Sparrowhawks, 3 Peregrines, 25 Alpine Swifts and a couple of Tree Pipits......

A late morning brunch and B in Seville (mid to upper 30'sc) produced 5 Griffons, a Buzzard and a Booted Eagle

Below - Tarifa montage.

Laurie:t:

Withymoor, Amblecote and Seville.....

For those that have never visited (my second) i would thoroughly reccomend the place. To walk around at 9PM onwards @ 27c you would never think that there was supposed to be a recession!

My birding has been limited to stuff overhead, local parks/gardens and the mighty Guadalquvir - one of the two main river systems of this wonderful country, the other being the Ebro.

The parks are verdant and spacious but as expected a tad too 'laid out' altho not as bad as the geometric offerings across the Straits. There is not much in the way of the shrub level consequently i have'nt seen a great deal passerine-wise, Blackcaps and Spotted Flicker along with local spp. TBF there probably is'nt much passage at present.

The dreaded and ubiquitous Ring-Necked (i wish i could) Shite-Hawks are everywhere, surely an unexploited niche for city Peregrines?

Overhead whilst having a few B the day before ystda yielded 5 Griffons, a Buzzard and a Booted Eagle in an hour - better than nothing:eek!: Pallid and Common Swifts are about, Turtle Doves move thru in the morning and i had a solitary, juvenile, Night Heron ystda.

The river is a big 'un and has some 'edge' in places which offers suitable spots for singing Cetti's and whilst having a cigar a passing adult Caspian Tern offered some unexpected variety.

Seville offers, above everything, a glimpse into the Golden 'Age of Discovery' when Spain and being Spanish was the dogs'.....It boasts the largest Gothic cathedral in the World and as an adjunct interred inside are the mortal remains of some bloke called Columbus the 'discoverer' of America. Tell that to the ancestors of the Clovis people who came across the Bering straits some 13k years ago. It's a great place for churches if that's your thing. Personally i prefer the Royal Tobacco Factory that inspired Bizet's operetta, Carmen, particularly the moody 'Habanera'.

A link to an English-translated version - hairs on the back of yr neck stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQggleNPmkU

In addition there is the Plaza de Espana a superb sweep of a building and much-used for film locations such as my perennial favourite - Lawrence of Arabia and oh, something to do with Star Wars i think.

The cuisine is something else - the home of Tapas which i, personally find too bitty but is has to be done. The Cathedral was rumoured to be the first place in Europe where Potatoes were cooked and can you imagine being without Chilli, Chocolate, Tomato's, Peppers and Sweetcorn? Oh sorry, i had forgotton about Brierley Hill Altho i think they have thoroughly embraced the fags and spuds.....

Off to the edge of Donana (yes, i know it's as dry as a bone) to El Roccio but more of that later.

Laurie:t:

Below - Carmen, Plaza de Espana and the Royal Tobacco Factory a University since the 50's.

A first venture out after a long lay off through a combination of injury and recent prostate op saw me bimble along the Stourbridge arm of the canal towards wordsley. The first half of walk unremarkable except for a group of 45 mallard by the cottage/house/bungalows ( on return they had dispersed in both directions).I took a left at the basin bridge (before crossing it) this goes through a spinney of sorts,mainly hawthorn, just a few house sparrows,a wren, blackbirds and on an open piece of grass a green woodpecker. The path then goes into horse field. This was full of Corvids, magpies,jackdaws, carrion crows, rooks. Also pair of goldfinches flying over. Turned right out of field over bridge back onto towpath. This is where the walk lifted, as I hit the towpath a grey wagtail flew past and dropped towards the river at Bells Mill so I decided to drop down the bank and see if I could pick it up with the bins. Dropped on it almost immediately but better than that it had dropped on the same boulder as a Dipper. My first for the year and couldn't believe it was on my doorstep rather than up in Wales where I spend a lot of time. Waggie flew off but Dipper stayed and I watched it for about 15 minutes. Then unbelievably a Kingfisher flew on to a branch in front of me. Managed to get some shots albeit a bit ropey of Dipper on my compact (remain unable to lift my bazooka lens)
Will upload once i've taken off camera. Subsequently I managed to get back home with the pain offset by the viewing. Regards Dennis.

Hi Dennis -

Nice to see somebody is out and about, posting!

You did well with the Dipper mate. They are breeding somewhere along there but i think it is by the house with the dogs barking. I generally look by the bridge but it is very dependent on what rocks are exposed and the level of the river. The new breach pool is worth a walk around as is a scan over the new fishing pools - the juvenile Shelduck was still there the day before i came away on holiday just over a week ago. The pools are not open until Spring 2015 i had a word with a contractor and he said there should not be a problem with accessing it for bird recording just liase with the owner nearer the time.

Hope yr improved health gets you out and about a bit more locally.

Laurie:t:

Hi Laurie, i have enclosed 2 pics, one a crop of first of dipper seen at Bells Mill this morning.Bit far off for my compact but i guess better than no pic at all. Regards Dennis

I will post some notes on El Rocio - fascinating place but here's a link to ystda and tda up @ the nearest watchpoint to Tarifa.....

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=265960&page=19

Laurie:t:

El Rocio, Withymoor, Stourbridge.....

El Rocio -

Probably the least fruitful 3 days spent birding but a taster for a Spring visit sometime mid-April with a week here and another in Extramadura.

It is a most unusual location. 'Founded' hundreds of years ago when a chap established a hermitage dedicated to the Virgin Mary, OK not original but.....It is now an established pilgrimage with numbers approaching 1 million annually, mostly during the Pentecostal week when the room we had, overlooking the marshes, goes from 50 to an eye-popping 250 euros a night:eek!: Due to the fact that the town has no paved or tarmac roads it lends a 'Wild West' feel to the place. The locals voted to keep it the way it was when the hermitage was established which means it's sand, sand and more sand. The Pilgrims still come on foot or horse or horse and carriage. Cars are welcome but here 1 BHP is king. There are ranch-style tie-ups outside all the houses and bars and 'Cabelleros' have priority. As somebody who was bought up on a sixties TV diet of Bonanza, The High Chaperral and The Virginian i thought i was stepping back in time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermitage_of_El_Rocío

As fully expected the 'marshes' are, at present, just a series of large paddocks with horses and wild Iberian Red Deer at this time of year the ground waiting patiently for the Autumn rains as is most of Spain. If not actually 'falling mainly on the plain' this is where it will end up. El Rocio is the popular base for the Coto de Donana - probably Europes' most important nature reserve? - a bit like Pensnett without the Red Deer. The Parque National is just outside the hotel with no entry so obviously i wandered a bit further away and crossed the fence. I worked a little creek first thing producing 7 wader spp and a juvenile Black Stork each morning and ventured further away in the afternoon the highlight being a pair of Western Imperial Eagles, my second sighting of the trip. Plenty of Flycatchers of both spp with chats and flocks of Spanish Sparrows to add. The meadows held, literally. hundreds of Yellow Wagtails which seemed mostly to consist of the 'raspy' Iberian type but also included the odd 'flava'-UK model. Griffons and Booted passed over and i picked up some woodland spp and 4 Ravens. The weather was changeable to say the least with some heavy rain, light showers and strong, blustery winds on 2 out of 3 afternoons which meant birding for small things impossible:C

I have been on a pilgrimage of sorts. When i was about 15 years of age i remember seeing a book in my local library in Forest Hill (South-East London). I initially thought it had been put on the wrong shelf as it showed some people on horses with some sand-dunes as a backdrop. The book was called Portrait of a Wilderness and was written by a bloke i had never heard of (at that tender age i still thought i knew more than i really did) - Guy Mountfort http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Mountfort. The book covers a series of expeditions in the late 50's, about the time i was born, to the, then privately owned, Donana area of Andalucia. Local naturalists valued it's importance and managed to persuade General Franco to not allow a combination of drainage, afforestation and peicemeal development to degrade the habitats. Fortunately Franco was a keen hunter, particularly his own people and common sense prevailed. I visited a couple of the reserves visitor centres and i thought it was a pity that the contribution of the UK naturalists/birders appears to have been omitted? OK the locals lobbied the government but the pressure put on internationally by Mountfort and his mates should not be underestimated and acknowledged imo. Anyway, several years later i had the privelige of attending a lecture by GM at the Regents Park Meeting Rooms on the subject of wilderness with the accent on the Donana expeditions. By that time i had purchased a copy of his book and had it autographed but unfortunately i lent it to somebody when i worked in Norfolk and do not have it in my posession any more!

I bumped into one other British birder and having established that we were both from the Midlands, him Derbyshire and me the Black Country i enquired - in the time-honoured way if there was 'much about'? To which he replied 'there's a Temmincks @ Upton Warren'! Oh to have my finger on the pulse, i thought he must have been paid to say that. You could'nt make it up

Back in Tarifa until tomorrow.

Laurie:t:

Below - El Rocio, paddocks, High Street, montage and Mountfort.