ANDALUCIA AMAZING MIGRANTS TOUR REPORT 4th-11th SEPTEMBER 2017

Transcription

1 ANDALUCIA AMAZING MIGRANTS TOUR REPORT 4th-11th SEPTEMBER 2017 Participants:- David & Linda Bosworth, Felicity Hoare, Karen Hunt, Mandy Myers, Don Osbourne & Vivien Yule Tour Guide for Norfolk Birding Chris Mills Migration, migration, migration! Migrating adult male Honey Buzzard - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Migrating juvenile Booted Eagle - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

2 Accommodation We returned again to the wonderful accommodation and hosts at Huerta Grande! Its geographical location is very close to the raptor watch-points. The migration overhead set in the beautiful woodland, with passerine migration outside the chalets are all great reasons for using this as our accommodation. The accommodation consists of a lovely set of houses, rooms and timber lodges set in 7 hectares of a forest of Laurel and Cork Oak trees. All rooms were en-suite or with separate private bathrooms plus each came with a small lounge area a kitchenette complete with a fridge, plus tea and coffee facilities. The rooms are clean and simple with modern comfort. There is a 20 metre pool where you can cool down and then look upwards and watch the migration above you! The food was excellent, our hosts Katrin, Juan Carlos, Juan Julien, & Miguel the resident bird guide provided us with brilliant food, birds and drinks. Also thanks to Simon Tonkin and Nicky for up to date local information as well. Food Each morning we were treated to cereal, muesli, juices, bread, toasts, jams, cheese, hams, tea & coffee! A real, filling & healthy breakfast! Plus early breakfasts were prepared for us on two mornings as well. Packed lunches were generally, a selection of cheese, Iberian meats, egg, tomatoes in French sticks, crisps and lots of wonderful fruit plus cereal bars & juice. Evening meals were taken at Huerta Grande on six evenings. They provided us with an excellent range of three course meal with a glass (or more!) of wine for 15 euros. Trip Report The following trip report is an overview of the locations and wildlife. An extensive bird systematic list is included at the end of the report. If you are interested in joining the trip or visiting Andalucia, please feel free to drop me an at chrismills@norfolkbirding.com. We can also put you in contact with local birding guides if you are just interested in one or two days birding.

3 4th September Day One I collected the group from Gibraltar airport, their plane arriving on time and we soon had everyone and their luggage in the minibus heading for the accommodation at Pelayo just West of Algeciras. As we passed the harbour area the first Yellow-legged Gulls were noted, plus as we headed west roadide White Storks were sat atop nests and several groups of Spotless Starlings were seen. As we reached Algeciras, I could see a cloud of bird, time to divert and pull over! We tumbled out the minibus on to some rough ground and everyone stood looking skywards. A super bit of aerial migration to greet the group! A spiral of c200 White Storks, plus several Honey Buzzard and a juvenile Montagu s Harrier, a lovely start to the trip. We reached the accommodation around 12.30pm had some cold drinks and everyone headed off to their rooms and got their luggage unloaded. A flock of Bee-eaters flew over calling but too high to see and a few Griffon Vultures were much closer. We then headed out for a nice leisurely afternoon raptor watching. We set up at the westerly migration watch-point of Cazalla. The passage was steady, with a some lower birds and an ideal introduction for the group who were less familiar with the wide array of raptors. We struck instant gold with two sought after species! A superb juvenile Ruppells Vulture came by at close range, the cream tram lines against the all dark juvenile plumage, very clearly obvious. This was followed shortly afterwards by a juvenile Bonelli s Eagle, this did a complete circle of the vantage point and was on view for around 15 minutes, superb stuff. We were kept nice and busy throughout the next couple of hours with 7 Black Stork, c20 Egyptian Vulture, 20+ Griffon Vulture, 20+ Booted Eagle, 6+ Short-toed Eagle, 5+ Honey Buzzard, c10 Black Kite, Marsh Harrier, 20+ Sparrowhawk, plus lots of Kestrel sp.! Later in the afternoon we headed down on to one of the old coastal military roads, where we able to get some closer views of the raptors, also several groups of Barn Swallows went dashing past heading out south. Though the best was to come, a migrant and noisy flock of low flying Bee-eaters, were suddenly upon us and afforded thrilling views at eye level. We were all very satisfied, but with several clients starting their day in the small hours we headed back to Huerta Grande. However, even at the swimming pool there was no respite with more birds to be seen! Nice groups of Pallid Swift, 20+ Alpine swift, c25 Honey Buzzard and a migrant Osprey passed south. A great start to the trip, we all then relaxed over a lovely three course evening meal with a glass of wine.

4 5th September Day Two Several of us awoke to 2-3 Tawny Owls calling, and one bird flew over my head as I headed to breakfast. Post breakfast we had a walk around the around the grounds of Huerta Grande. It started off slowly, though several Firecrest showed really well. After a quiet spell in the woodland we headed out into an open area and we scored with a really nice hour or so of birding, with birds appearing in front of us throughout. A nice mixture, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, several Sardinian Warbler, 2 Common Redstart, several flocks of Spotless Starling, a nice mobile flock of c50 Serin, also Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, and a real bonus 2 Hawfinch, the last one perched out at the top of a tree. We teased out a Short-toed Treecreeper after several brief views, it eventually gave good views in front of us. A nice flock of c40 Bee-eater flew over and also overhead were c40 Griffon Vulture, Booted Eagle and a Short-toed eagle. We then headed west again we called in at the watch-point and it was clear many raptors were circulating, rather than crossing to Africa, in the strong winds. We headed down to the old military road and for a couple of hours and had great views of the raptors. Many were passing at eye-level or even below us, a nice selection, 20+ Egyptian Vulture, 30+ Booted Eagle, 10+ Shorttoed Eagle, Osprey, 20+ Honey Buzzard, 200+ Black Kite, Marsh Harrier and a stunning Osprey. Also passing us a few more Bee-eaters, plus Common and Pallid Swift. There was a good number of Kestrels, 1-2 were identified as definite Lesser Kestrel, but many were left unidentified, though the numbers of birds suggested most were probably Lessers! We lunched and enjoying the spectacle before heading off for La Janda. We arrived at La Janda wetland area early afternoon, it was getting hot but we managed several productive stops. On arrival there was a nice group of 100 White Stork and a huge flock in the distance of Glossy Ibis, probably a thousand strong! Passerines were flitting along the fence line and we got out to scan through them. There was good numbers of Corn Bunting, several Crested Lark, Zitting Cisticola, a Northern Wheatear and a Iberian Grey Shrike. We then came across several close Glossy Ibis, plus Green Sandpiper and several Little Egrets. We then reached a large pool amongst the rice fields, this was full of birds, lots of Cattle Egret, c20 Greater Flamingo, 30 Black-winged Stilt, Mallard, Shoveler, 4 Lapwing, 2 Ruff, Snipe, 2 Greenshank, 6+ Green Sandpiper, 1 Wood sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover also several Blue-headed Wagtails. Further on the bushes and fields held huge flocks of Sparrows and Goldfinches, certainly thousands of Sparrows! We soon picked out some smart male Spanish Sparrows amongst the many House Sparrows. Further on there was a small number of Turtle Doves whilst several Marsh and Montagu's Harriers danced over the fields behind.

5 By late afternoon everyone was ready to head back and cool off in the pool, a Crested Tit was showing well by the pool! We had another lovely evening meal and then headed off to bed ready for an earlier start in the morning. 6th September Day Three We had an early breakfast, then headed to Playa de los Lances, a beach and dune area just north of Tarifa. There is a screen overlooking a coastal lagoon with a nice dune system to the back of the beach. Disturbance by dog walkers and some kite-surfers and a lack of enforcement of this protected area is still a problem, however our early visit ensured this wasn't too bad and we managed a good selection of birds. Before we reached the beach, raptors were very evident the strong easterly wind was blowing and it had pushed some raptors out over the sea. Over the next couple of hours, it was incredible as a constant flow of c1000 Black Kite, 50+ Honey Buzzard, 30 Short-toed eagle, 15+ Egyptian Vulture and several Sparrowhawks moved overhead, some very low and a few of the Black Kites landed on the beach, clearly exhausted. Once at the viewing area, we had our first views of the attractive Auduoin's Gulls plus 3 Lesser black-backed Gulls, Yellow-legged Gulls, c50 Sanderling, 100+ Great Ringed Plover, c20 Dunlin, 2 Red Knot a Common Sandpiper and a lovely close Whimbrel dropped in. Just offshore David picked up several Cory s Shearwaters, scanning with the scope revealed quite a good number, all feeding close inshore, plus Sandwich Tern. The dunes held 6+ Short-toed lark, Crested Larks, Zitting Cisticola gave very close views, several Iberian Yellow Wagtails. Raptors were still passing and we had our first Red-rumped Swallow and Sand Martins. We then headed further north and visited one of the valleys to the east of the main road, it was very hot and we found some shady trees to have lunch. We explored further after lunch and marveled as a migrating flock of c60 White Stork moved along a ridge. The weedy verges were worth checking and we soon located a feeding Hoopoe, plus 3 Cirl Bunting, Spotted Flycatcher plus Linnet and Goldfinch. Above the ridge we had a nice group of the Griffon Vulture, several Booted Eagle, a Peregrine and a real nice surprise was a Spanish Imperial eagle also moving along the ridge. It was now a very hot late afternoon, so I headed for Algarobbo watchpoint, allowing some of the group to drop off at the accommodation and head for the pool! The watchpoint was fairly quiet with most of the raptors quite high, but c30 Booted Eagle, Black Kite, 2 Raven and another superb juvenile Bonelli s Eagle kept us entertained. We arrived back, and were treated to another lovely three course meal and wine, before heading off for a well known earned rest, ready for a bright and early start in the morning.

6 Migrating adult Black Stork - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Migrating juvenile Black Kite - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

7 Ruppells Vulture - Simon Tonkin Inglorious Bustards Migrating Booted Eagle - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

8 Migrating juvenile Egyptian Vulture - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding A slightly confusing looking Griffon Vulture - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

9 7th September Day Four Today was an early start as we headed north to Bonanza salinas and the edge of the Coto Donana park. We had an early breakfast and left 630am with Miguel Gonzalez Perea the camp birding guide. We arrived at an area of lagoons to the north of the Salinas. It was still comfortably cool and we started with a lovely flyover Whiskered Tern, the only of the trip. We also had Gull-billed Tern and this was the only one too! The birds were soon coming thick and fast these northerly pools, held Greater Flamingo, 60+ Avocet, Common Shelduck, Spoonbill, lots of Great Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, 2 Knot, 2 Turnstone, Sanderling, flock of c30 Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, 2+ Greenshank, Ruff, Dunlin any Yellow-legged and Lesser black-backed Gulls, but alongside them also c10+ Slender-billed Gulls a few sporting no a beautiful pinkish hue. One of the more sought after species was also found, c10 Lesser shorttoed Lark and also a very nice flock of 30+ Calandra larks. We also noted a migrant Black Stork and a distant Osprey. A couple of stops produced two excellent birds, 2 Wrynecks a very showy Great Reed Warbler and further on a Whinchat. We then headed to the main salina lagoons, however the numbers of waders by previous years standards were much less, even so we still managed to locate most of the expected species, with the exception of Caspian Tern. There were small numbers of Little Stint, 1-2 Kentish Plover, a single Curlew Sandpiper plus flocks of c100 Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, 2+ Greenshank, Ruff, Dunlin and Common Sandpiper. We then headed to several freshwater pools, providing good views of several more target species. Good views of Gadwall, Shoveler, Black-crowned Night Heron, Kingfisher and c20 Marbled Duck. We found a shaded spot and enjoyed a picnic lunch. We then headed to another pool, this organic pool surprisingly held several White-headed Duck, 3+ Pochard, Red-crested Pochard, Little Grebe and Little Ringed Plover. There was also a small group of Common Waxbills a now well established resident in Spain. The nearby bushes also provided a few Spotted Flycatchers, Sardinian Warbler and Common Chiff-chaff. We then headed to Chipiona. It was very hot and some of the group headed for the nearby café. The remainder of the group were fortunate as we didn't have to wait long before we were treated to real close views of a Little Swift as it flew into the the colony. Those opting for a cup of tea sadly missed out, despite us giving it another thirty minutes! We then headed back to Huerta Grande and had a good journey managing to arrive back by 6.30pm after a full day out.

10 8th September Day Five We headed into Rio Genal valley after breakfast. I stopped off close to some greener fields with livestock that I have visited many times over the last ten years, as usual these proved attractive, with reasonable numbers of migrants here - c40 Blue-headed "flava" type wagtails 2,Tawny Pipit, Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Red-rumped Swallow an Iberian Chiffchaff, Woodchat Shrike and 2 Hoopoe. Also c50 Corn Bunting, Crested Lark, numerous Zitting Cisticola plus Booted and Shorttoed Eagle overhead. There was two local Common Buzzards, feeding in the fields, but overhead there was a nice group of Griffon Vultures, 10+ Honey Buzzard and Booted Eagle. We then headed up the valley, the river was very low but there was some small pools still present, here there was 3 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Green Sandpiper, Little Egret, Grey Wagtail, Crested Lark and another flock of Corn Bunting, plus a Cetti s Warbler showed briefly. We arrived back at the accommodation for lunch, some of the group decided to have a relaxing afternoon around Huerta grande and the pool. The rest of the group headed off with me & Miguel to visit Bolonia and La Janda marshes for an afternoon and evening birdings session. First we looked at the Vulture colony near Bolonia. There was at least 100 Griffons, some circling and some perched, one still feeding a youngster. There was quite a bit of other activity, another juvenile Bonelli s Eagle the third of the trip, this bird was joined by another 2 Bonellis Eagles together, with one of them stopping at the feral pigeons. A few minutes later another raptor fond of pigeons, a Peregrine and this young bird made a serious attempt, stooping twice, but was out manoeuvred by the Feral Pigeons. Once the heat had eased slightly, we headed further up the valley, it was evident there was some migration overhead as a male Hen Harrier, then 3 Marsh harriers, 6 Booted eagles and 5 Honey Buzzards all headed south. We spent a little time further up the valley, there was Alpine Swift overhead and in the woodland there was several Redstart and 2 Pied Flycatcher. We heard Iberian Green Woodpecker but it wasn t showing! We now headed to La Janda marshes, there was a similar mixture of wetland species, but many more Turtle Dove around forty. We got to a bend in the road and just managed to get everyone on to another target bird a smart Black-winged Kite! We then stopped off to look for Red-necked Nightjar. Unbelievably Miguel our Spanish guide, located the bird within 60 seconds of scanning, we then had stunning point blank views through the scope of the beautifully patterned and wonderfully camouflaged Red-necked Nightjar. Everyone took turns to enjoy this super bird.

11 We moved on, heading for our final roost site, it was now a beautiful warm sunny evening with orange burning skies. Two Little Owls showed down to a few feet, perched on the fence line. We heard Stone Curlew and saw Melodious Warbler and Hoopoe en-route. As we approached the roost area we started to see several of our final birds of the day the most elegant of all birds of prey, Montagu s Harriers. Over the next thirty minutes we were treated to an incredible show of birds perching on the ground and then dancing over their roost area a beautiful and memorable scene of around 50 Montagu s Harriers. We finished the day with a cold beer after an inspirational days birding. Day Six - 9th September We had an early breakfast and then headed off into the mountain region of Sierra de la Nieves. We headed for the location I have found to be so reliable in past years and yet again it provided a bounty of the mountain species. We started off looking at the cliff slopes and were soon watching 2-3 Black Wheatear, 5+ Black Redstart and 2-3 Rock Bunting. Several Crag Martins skimmed by overhead. A few Jays moved from tree to tree and a few Chough were located high in the skies. We then moved on to the scrub and lower shrubs, after a bit of effort we had very good views of Dartford Warbler, we also had brief but reasonable views of a scarcer species at this time of the year Spectacled Warbler. There were more Dartford Warblers and 2-3 Common Whitethroat. We walked further up the track and two large Eagles were seen briefly heading down valley. They disappeared behind the trees, but fortunately they came out further down the valley and we had good views of 2 adult Golden Eagles, really nice to see. We added a flyover Mistle Thrush and a bigger group of 17 Choughs flew over. It had been a great morning s birding, we stopped off at some picnic benches for lunch and then took the steady drive down through the beautiful mountain scenery to Gaucin. We stopped off for a coffee, and we noted a migrant Osprey and a Blue Rock Thrush. We next stopped off at viewpoint in Caceres and enjoyed the Griffon Vultures overhead and a Blue Rock Thrush. We had a nice group of 20+ Honey Buzzard migrating down the valley, plus Booted Eagle, Raven and lots of close Griffon Vultures and an Egyptian Vulture. We arrived back in time for a swim before another lovely evening meal at Huerta Grande.

12 Juvenile Bonelli s Eagle - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Adult female Honey Buzzard - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

13 Migrating juvenile Honey Buzzard - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Migrating White Stork - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

14 Red-necked Nightjar - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Little Owl - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

15 Migrating adult Short-toed Eagle - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Orca - Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

16 Day Seven - 10th September We had been waiting most of the trip for the wind to drop to enable us to head out on a boat trip. It was our last day and fortunately it had dropped and we were able to head out into The Straits aboard the boat tour from Tarifa, We dropped off Linda, Felicity & Vivienas they were all much happier on "terrafirma"! The rest joined the boat trip, which proved to be memorable for all of us and particularly for me! We had just got out into deeper water when a the spotter on the boat announced an Orca at ten o clock. I had tried many times to see these iconic mammals, and failed. I tried not to panic, scanning carefully after a few minutes I spotted the huge and distinctive dorsal fin, but it slipped back into the water as fast as it had appeared! It felt at least ten minutes with nothing surfacing, was that going to be my only view? But suddenly it reappeared, this time everyone on the boat was gasping! It was less than 50m away, then it came up again and it was clear there were 3 Orcas in full view, truly fantastic!! We pursued them for the next hour without getting too close and never as close again, but stillwondeful to watch. We also had fair views of several Cory s Shearwater and at least c15 Storm Petrels, all the birds I got pictures of and saw well appeared to be European Storm Petrels. We headed back to the harbour met up with the others, enjoyed an ice cream and a coffee, before heading up to Cazalla watchpoint where we finished the last day off in a similar manner to how it had started with more super raptor and stork migration 17 Black Stork, c500 White Stork, 12+ Egyptian Vulture, juvenile Ruppell s Vulture, 3 Montagu s harrier, 4 Marsh harrier, 30+ Short-toed eagle, 30+ Booted eagle, 20+ Honey Buzzard, 100+ Black Kite, 1 Red Kite and 10+ Sparrowhawk. We had a wonderful final evening with a super Paella meal plus a few beers and glasses of wine before heading off to bed.

17 Group picture at Casares viewpoint Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Systematic List Below is the systematic list of birds recorded during the group tour:-

18 1 Little Grebe 2 Great Crested Grebe 3 Cory's Shearwater 4 Balearic Shearwater 5 European Storm Petrel 6 Northern Gannet 7 Great Cormorant 8 Grey Heron 9 Great white Egret 10 Night Heron 11 Little Egret 12 Cattle Egret 13 Black Stork 14 White Stork 15 Greater Flamingo 16 Mallard 17 Gadwall 18 Marbled Teal 19 Northern Shoveler 20 Red-crested Pochard 21 Common Pochard 22 White-headed Duck 23 Egyptian Vulture 24 Ruppells Vulture 25 Griffon Vulture 26 Golden Eagle 27 Spanish Imperial Eagle 28 Bonelli's Eagle 29 Booted Eagle 30 Short-toed Eagle 31 Osprey 32 European Honey-buzzard 33 Black Kite 34 Red kite 35 Marsh Harrier 36 Hen Harrier 37 Montagu's Harrier 38 Black-winged Kite 39 Common Buzzard 40 Eurasian Sparrowhawk 41 Lesser Kestrel 42 Common Kestrel 43 Peregrine Falcon 44 Pheasant 45 Red-legged Partridge 46 Moorhen 47 Common Coot 48 Glossy Ibis 49 Eurasian Spoonbill 50 Black-winged Stilt 51 Avocet 52 Stone Curlew 53 Great Ringed Plover 54 Little ringed Plover 55 Kentish Plover 56 Northern Lapwing 57 Grey Plover 58 Knot 59 Sanderling 60 Little Stint 61 Curlew Sandpiper 62 Dunlin 63 Ruff 64 Snipe 65 Black-tailed Godwit 66 Whimbrel 67 Common Redshank 68 Greenshank 69 Green Sandpiper 70 Common Sandpiper 71 Wood Sandpiper 72 Ruddy Turnstone 73 Audouin's Gull 74 Yellow-legged Gull 75 Lesser Black-backed Gull 76 Black-headed Gull 77 Slender-billed Gull 78 Whiskered Tern 79 Gull-billed Tern 80 Sandwich Tern 81 Common Woodpigeon 82 Collared Dove 83 European Turtle Dove 84 Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon 85 Little Owl 86 Tawny Owl 87 Red-necked Nightjar 88 Alpine Swift 89 Common Swift 90 Pallid Swift 91 Little Swift 92 Common Kingfisher 93 European Bee-eater 94 Hoopoe 95 Wryneck 96 Great Spotted Woodpecker 97 Iberian Green Woodpecker 98 Sand Martin 99 Barn Swallow 100 Crag-Martin 101 House Martin 102 Red-rumped Swallow 103 Crested Lark 104 Calandra Lark 105 Short-toed Lark 106 Lesser Short-toed Lark

19 107 Calandra lark 108 Tree Pipit 109 Tawny Pipit 110 White Wagtail 111 Blue-headed wagtail 112 Grey Wagtail 113 Spotted Flycatcher 114 Pied Flycatcher 115 Black Redstart 116 Common Redstart 117 Whinchat 118 Common Stonechat 119 Black Wheatear 120 Northern Wheatear 121 Wren 122 Robin 123 Blue Rock Thrush 124 Blackbird 125 Mistle Thrush 126 Zitting Cisticola 127 Cetti's Warbler 128 Reed-Warbler 129 Great Reed-Warbler 130 Melodious Warbler 131 Willow Warbler 132 Common Chiffchaff 133 Iberian Chiffchaff 134 Blackcap 135 Spectacled Warbler 136 Common Whitethroat 137 Dartford Warbler 138 Sardinian Warbler 139 Firecrest 140 Coal Tit 141 Crested Tit 142 Great Tit 143 Eurasian Blue Tit 144 European Nuthatch 145 Short-toed Treecreeper 146 Iberian Grey Shrike 147 Woodchat Shrike 148 Eurasian Jay 149 Red-billed Chough 150 Eurasian Jackdaw 151 Common Raven 152 Spotless Starling 153 House Sparrow 154 Spanish Sparrow 155 Chaffinch 156 Hawfinch 157 Greenfinch 158 Goldfinch 159 Linnet 160 European Serin 161 Common Waxbill 162 Cirl Bunting 163 Rock Bunting 164 Corn Bunting Amazing Migrants Tour 2018 This tour will run again:- Monday3rd 10 th September 2018 If you are interested in joining contact us as soon as possible as this is a very popular trip. Chris Mills Norfolk Birding chrismills@norfolkbirding.com