[INDENT]Judy, a fellow birder from Nova Scotia, Atlantic Canada, had long been trying to tempt Liz (my wife) and I to visit the Andalucian coast, where she had been birding for many years. So finally this September we joined up with her and 3 other Nova Scotians for a first trip to Spain – mainly for birding, but also for the food, wine, shopping and more conventional sightseeing. We had a local contact – John, who kindly arranged some accommodations, came with us for some of the birding, and introduced us to some splendid paella. After flying from Halifax (NS) to Gatwick then on to Malaga, we arrived on Sept. 27. We rented a car with no trouble, and commenced the trip.
Sept. 27… .. After a jet-lag-induced snooze we spent the evening exploring the Guadalhorce Estuary, close to our hotel at Guadalmar. The first birds I saw from the hotel were Monk Parakeets, that have established a local feral colony there. .Yellow-legged, Lesser Black-backed, Black-headed and [B]Mediterranean Gulls [/B] may be old hat to the locals, but were all exciting to us, and were flying over and loafing on the beach in large numbers. Sandwich Terns flew by offshore. We also saw our first Crested Larks and 50+ Yellow Wagtails on the beach.
A smattering of shorebirds included Curlew Sandpiper, Common and Little Ringed Plovers, Dunlin, Little Stint, and Common Greenshank. In the nearby bushes were a loud Cetti’s Warbler and Zitting Cisticolas. Flocks of European Goldfinch, Greenfinch, and House Martins were also around. Further round the reserve, in some of the lagoons, were Greater Flamingoes, a banded Eurasian Spoonbill (which was immediately chased, unsuccessfully, by a Peregrine Falcon), and a presumably escape Sacred Ibis. At one point a 1st basic Audouin’s Gull flew in – the only one we were to see on the trip. Western Marsh Harriers were also patrolling the reed beds. A Kingfisher flew by, and several pairs of White-headed Ducks and Common Pochard were lazily feeding.
Sept. 28 … We repeated the same route in the morning, with much the same birds, and later spent a relaxing afternoon at John’s house in the hills overlooking the estuary. Over paella, wine and some dips in the pool we saw many Sardinian Warblers, had a Eurasian Sparrowhawk circling overhead, and a fly-by from our 1st Short-toed Eagle, as well as a Common Buzzard.
Sept. 29 … A long day’s drive, made worse for myself by a cold and fever. We explored the inland “pueblo blanco” of Casarobonela, and then circled past Ronda and headed S.W. down to the coast at Tarifa. We saw our 1st Eurasian Griffons and a flock of Red-billed Choughs along the roadside near Ronda, and our 1st Spotless Starlings. When we stopped at a gas station a Phylloscopus warbler that silently hopped around in a bush caused much detailed commenting and thumbing through the field guides, but we came to the conclusion that it was a Willow Warbler. Close to Algeciras were some White Storks still on around nests.
We had time before dusk to spend a little time at 2 of the raptor observation stations between Algeciras and Tarifa, and marvel at the number of wind turbines all over the hillsides. This was where we saw our 1st flocks and individuals of Eurasian Griffon, Short-toed and Booted Eagles, Common Buzzard and Eurasian Kestrel. We then checked into the Hotel la Pena, close to Tarifa, where we stayed for 3 days and proved a delightful spot.
Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 … Stayed in the Tarifa area. Each day we would spend a couple of hours both morning and afternoon at the raptor observation areas, where we added Black Stork and ]Egyptian Vulture, and we also explored the coast at Punta Paloma, and the Rio Barbate estuary nearby .New birds in these areas included Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Redshank and large numbers of Snowy Plover. We went for a walk in the hillsides above the hotel, and saw Common Redstart and numerous Stonechats, as well as a small flock of Alpine swifts and 1 or 2 Red-rumped Swallows.
We spent the 2 evenings visiting the rice fields and wetlands of La Janda, to the west – staying till dusk. On arriving at the dirt road into the area, there was a flock of several hundred Corn Buntings. There were huge flocks of White Stork, and 2 Glossy Ibis in with the numerous Little Egrets. I added another “lifer” on the 2nd evening when 2 Green Sandpipers flew by. We saw our 1st of many Pied Flycatchers in the trees there, but the highlight was the 7 or 8 Black-shouldered Kites that remained hunting over the fields at dusk. We tried for Nightjars, but only had brief and unsatisfactory views.
Oct. 2 … We visited the raptor areas again, adding Hobby, and attempted to do a sea watch from the town of Tarifa, but couldn’t find a suitable spot – so we continued eastward on the highway back to the Malaga area. At one of the raptor observation sites I mentioned to a visiting birder that I hadn’t yet seen a Blue Rock-thrush, so he took me to the edge of the cliff, pointed down, and one promptly popped up on a rock.
We headed back to the Malaga area, and later in the day birded the Guadalhorce Estuary again. This time the main feature was an influx of Terns – Least, Gull-billed, Black and Whiskered.
Oct. 3 … A basically non-birding day marvelling at the splendors of the Alhambra, Granada. Note was made of Blue and Great Tits in the gardens.
Oct. 4 … Repeat of the Estuary, and some non-birding and shopping in Malaga.
Oct. 5 … An interesting experience at the Guadalhorce Estuary. For the last 24 hours earth-moving equipment had been digging out a trench, to help drain the lagoons out to the sea. After strolling around again in the morning, we discovered that our exit back to the hotel had now become a fast-flowing river. I opted to strip to my underwear, hold my wallet and camera up, and use my tripod as a walking stick – and waded across. The others were less foolhardy, and backtracked for over an hour, birding along the way. However, my life Hoopoe made up for any problems. After lunch we headed up to Ronda, visiting the fascinating Cueva de la Pileta, with its Palaeolithic ochre cave-paintings, on the way. An evening stroll along the fascinating streets of Ronda, peering down into the gorge, yielded more Red-billed Choughs, Crag Martins, a Short-toed Treecreeper and some Red Crossbills in town.. That night a Tawny Owl hooted outside the hotel.
Oct. 6 … On our last full day we birded the hills in the Ronda area, adding some more of the previously seen species, + Northern Wheatear, Blackcap, and rather surprisingly, our 1st Carrion Crows.
We tried to strike a balance for the varied interests of the group participants, and also realised that we had missed out on many local specialties by going in late Sept./ early Oct. I’ll just have to go back in Spring! For the whole 10 days it remained hot and sunny. I ended up with 109 species, 21 “lifers”. Attached are a few images - Curlew Sandpiper, Greater Flamingoes, Booted Eagle, Eurasian Griffon, Gull-billed Tern. I will eventually post some others in the gallery.
I should add that I took my binocs, and Nikon D70s in my hand luggage, my Nikon 80-400VR lens in Liz's hand luggage, my Sony DSC-H5 in my hand-luggage, and my Sony DSC-W5 (for digiscoping, but it stopped working halfway through the trip) + scope and dis-assembled tripod in my checked baggage, on Zoom Airways between Halifax and Gatwick, and British Airways between Gatwick and Malaga - with no problems at all.
Richard Stern
Great trip!
Allen