Cadiz Province - February 2007
Despite the perennial popularity of Extremadura, Cadiz province is arguably the best province in Spain for a birding break. It may now lack Great Bustard, but most species to be encountered in central Spain - and many that can't - can be seen here. Certainly I've found Black-winged Kite much easier here than in better known sites further north. This is a short account of a birding break based in the village of Alcala de los Gazules.
Monday 12th February - Lagunas de Puerto de Santa Maria - Bonanza - Laguna Tarelo - La Algaida pine wood - Trebujena marshes - Alcala - Molinos valley
An early start meant we arrived at Lagunas de Puerto de Santa Maria just after dawn. The oft disparaged Laguna Juncosa got us our only Purple Gallinule of the trip and a distant view of Osprey. Exploring the edges of Laguna Salada we found Red-crested Pochards, Black-necked Grebes, Little Ringed Plover , Spoonbill, Black-tailed Godwit and Peregrine. A bunch of hirundines were mainly House Martins, but four swift shot over too high to be identified to species level. Search as we might, none of the coots here seemed to be Crested Coot . Here we also had our first Black-winged Stilts, Spotless Starlings, Serins, Black Redstarts, Sardinian and Fan-tailed Warblers - all species we saw virtually daily thereafter. Next stop were the Bonanza saltpans - a new site for me. Access was very straightforward and there is evidently no need to negotiate access at the gate (as per Garcia et al) - in fact there didn't seem to be a gate at all! Here the highlights included a good cross section of waders (including Kentish Plover) , more Black-necked Grebes, Flamingos , four Black Storks, 20 Slender-billed Gulls and Booted Eagle. Some of the Slender-billed Gulls sported amazingly bright pink bodies. A short drive quickly took us to nearby Laguna Tarelo. Here we had 96 White-headed Duck (plus other wildfowl) and 70+ Night Heron roosting in the willows. Algaida pine wood is never an easy place to catch up with Azure-winged Magpie , but a hunch that they may be around the picnic site resulted in the discovery of a party of 21 very mobile birds. Raptors here included Buzzard, Peregrine and another, more obliging, Booted Eagle. We followed the road through the woods until we came out onto Trebujena marshes. The road along the Guadalquivir was reasonably good, but surprisingly busy - keep a close eye on your rear view mirror before braking!. Here we had our first Lesser Short-toed Lark, 400+ Golden Plover , more Flamingo, Hen Harrier and more Coots to fruitlessly check! Driving through to Trebujena we swung south towards Sanlucar to reach the southern access point for the marshes (as noted in 'Birds of the Coto'). Here, as elsewhere, the marismas looked far too wet for sandgrouse, but we did have 70 Kentish Plover on the wet fields. So it was back to Alcala de los Gazules where 30+ Lesser Kestrels , our first for the trip due to our early start, put on a fine display for us. Here too our first Griffon drifted over. A quick foray down thenearby Molinos valley failed to produce rock thrush as hoped, but came up trumps with 40+ Griffons and two Black Storks .
Tuesday 13th February - La Janda - Alcala - Molinos valley
Despite an early start the Lesser Kestrels were already up making a good 'first for the day'. The drive over to Benalup was uneventful, but from the start La Janda promised great things with a Bluethroat (and a second one later), a Hoopoe, a stunning Black-winged Kite at the farm, Buzzards and many harriers (both Hen & Marsh). Unfortunately, just as things were warming up - figuratively and literally - a nail spoilt things by puncturing the tyre which probably cost us several birds. Returning to the village we got the tyre repaired for the princely sum of €4.50, but as the garage was closing had to wait until 5 PM to pick up the tyre. We retired to the house where, in warm sunshine, we enjoyed superb views of Lesser Kestrel. These charismatic birds perched on the trees opposite, swooped low above our heads and constantly chattered to one another. Despite missing out on 'birding time' this was one of the highlights of the trip. In the late afternoon a quick visit to the Molinos Valley produced a couple of Blue Rock Thrush, more Griffons and a fine adult Bonelli's Eagle! There were also some tiny dots that resolved themselves into rather beefy hirundines which were clearly Crag Martin - albeit very distant ones.
Wednesday 14th February - Trafalgar - Barbate - La Janda
We started with some 'unfinished business' from yesterday by driving straight to Trafalgar where we'd intended to go before getting "nailed" at La Janda. Here there were 35 Audouin's Gull and a few waders (inc. Kentish Plover). The lighthouse provided shelter for 70 Crag Martin. A brief seawatch produced a single a Balearic Shearwater , two Cory's Shearwater and many Gannet. Barbate was our next stop and here we had our only Caspian Terns (8+) and Mediterranean Gull of the trip. Other birds here included a selection of waders and more Audouin's Gull. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate a new 'scrape' here or, more disappointingly, any sign of the re-introduced Bald Ibis. Obviously the upper reaches of the estuary need more exploration. We then made for the old Venta Retin to view La Janda from the west. One target bird, Crane, was quickly found, but we were disappointed that it was exactly that - one bird - rather than a flock! There were at least four Black-winged Kite here and one put on a fine show for us. Less expected was a single Grey Wagtail. Having been disappointed not to have seen any yesterday, a small flock of Calandra Larks were good to see. After last time we decided not to risk the track to venture further into La Janda, so we opted to drive across to Laguna de Medina (and found a Merlin en route). Once again this iconic site under impressed big time with few birds given its size. The latter part of the track was flooded and impassable which doubtless limited the birds we saw and, looking on the bright side, the relative lack of Coots meant we had fewer to check through not to find it's "crested" cousin! We detoured on our way back to the village to Laguna de Taraje which might not have the reputation of Laguna de Medina …. but unlike that site it did have the birds! The first surprise was a flock of 30 Spanish Sparrow on the approach road and the second 30 more on the eastern side of the laguna. (My first record of this species here in half a dozen visits). Although the absence of ducks was disappointing (only a few Mallard and both Pochards being present), Stone Curlew and Snipe were added to the wader list here. The highlight here was seeing all three species of kite: several Black, two Red and a single Black-shouldered Kite.
Thursday 15th February - Alcornocales - Grazalema - Espera
It was still dark as we drove into the Alcornocales , but a couple of brief stops picked up Woodlark, and birds such as Long-tailed Tit and Mistle Thrush were seen or heard en route. A Lesser Kestrel over Benaocaz - relatively high in the mountains - was surely a sign of spring. By now we were entering Grazalema Natural Park. At the viewpoint above a hairpin bend c5km south of Benaocaz we had two stunning Black Wheatear which showed well, if briefly. This excellent little site also had Firecrest, Blue Rock Thrush, an adult Bonelli's Eagle and a Giant Orchid. Passing along the nearby valley we stopped again to scan the slopes which resulted in another sighting of Blue Rock Thrush and Bonelli's Eagle (an immature). Still further on (that is a few km beyond Villaluena del Rosario) some rough grazing, rocky ground and a place to pull off invited us to stop. Here we finally caught up with Thekla Lark, Iberian Green Woodpecker , two Southern Great Grey Shrikes and heard a Rock Sparrow. As we entered Grazalema village a rocky almond grove caused us to entertain hopes of a visible petronia , but instead sheltered two more pairs of Black Wheatear. Checking out the northern car park that overlooks the village we at last actually saw a Cirl Bunting - though we'd heard many previously. Our final stop here was a jaunt up to Puerto de las Palomas which failed to produce our main target, Alpine Accentor , but did come up trumps with our first Rock Buntings (a surprisingly elusive species). We also had a couple of Chough and another Hoopoe .
By now the overwhelming urge of a certain party to go and look at Coots dictated a retreat across country towards Arcos and then on to Espera. Fortunately the lagunas here are again full of water (having been dry for much of 2006). Although there were plenty of Coots (and certainly more than we saw at Medina), none were the right sort! However, a selection of good birds made the jaunt worth while: Black-neceked Grebe, Flamingo, White-headed Duck, Red-crested Pochard, a Bluethroat and an imature Bonelli's Eagle. The latter bird dwarfed the Marsh Harrier that was mobbing it . On our way back to the main road along the track to the reserve we had a large flock of Calandra Lark and a second immature Bonelli's and another Merlin - a pleasant distraction from the fact that that darn coot was still eluding us!
Friday 16th February - La Algaida - Laguna Tarelo - Trebujena
Our last day so, after a fairly leisurely start, we headed back to La Algaida. The putative presence of Palm Dove here never crossed JC's mind! (This Spanish rarity had been reported here a few days earlier). Unfortunately despite looking pretty hard we never found this Spanish rarity. The strong winds pushed many of the wildfowl on Tarelo much closer to the hide: 129 White-headed Duck, 200 Pochard, Mallard and our first Grey-lag Goose. Although we drew a blank with Azure-winged Magpie, a large mixed flock of hawking birds included 50+ Pallid Swift (though seemingly not Little Swift that had been seen here a week earlier). We then headed for the track that ran along the northern edge of Bonanaza salt pans. Here we had another Black Stork, a few Calandra Lark, 35 Lesser Short-toed Lark and a good selection of waders. The Lesser Short-toed Larks in particular gave superb views allowing a leisurely examination of all plumage details. We then had what was the bird of the trip - a big falcon belting low across the saltings. The following plumage details were noted - very pale head (esp the crown), very 'skinny' moustachial stripes, pale grey upperparts (less bluish than Peregrine), barred tail with a white tip, the underparts were strikingly whitish (flanks and chest were only lightly streaked), the underwing was also very pale with the tip and secondaries showing some dark marks, but the coverts whitish with only had a little streaking to the rear). However, the "what-the-hell-is-that ?" factor was its build for, despite being a large falcon, it had distinctly long and narrow wings (esp at the base) and a longish tail whilst its manner of flight recalled Hobby more than Peregrine. Despite the brevity of the views, it is hard to escape the conclusion that what we had was an adult Lanner of the North African race (although some confounded falconer's hybrid could potentially be a problem). The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the Trebujena marshes where we saw various waders, still more Flamingos and two Red Kites, but our best discovery was that the hostal rural at the turning to Trebujena serves excellent coffee and cakes! (NB This hostal - Chozas Marismenas www.chozastrebujena.com - would serve as a superb base for exploring this area).
All that remained was for us to return to Jerez airport to fly home after a tremendous trip that, whilst it might produced a few more birds, couldn't possibly have squeezed in any more laughter, good humour and many magic birding moments! Although we missed a number of target species (e.g. Little Swift, Little Bustard), our finally species tally over 5 days birding was a commendable 133 species. The trip also confirmed what a brilliantly placed base Alcala is for birding - within easy reach of the marismas, near to various excellent shallow 'lagunas', within walking distance of the Alcornocales NP, not too far from Grazalema, a short drive from the La Janda and the coast and no distance from migration hot spot Tarifa! It was a little worrying, though, that Laguna de Medina was so bereft of birds and that none of the 'known' sites for Crested Coot on this side of the Guadalquivir seemed to have the species. Although my wife and I have been visiting Alcala de los Gazules regularly for a couple of years, this was only my second full-on birding trip to the area. Jaunts with a non-birding spouse, however understanding, can never rival a trip with a couple of fellow birders. In John Hollyer and Norman McCanch I had two ideal travelling companions - very experienced & knowledgeable birders, enviably talented artists and, equally importantly, hilarious company!
An excellent report John. Particularly useful since I'll be off to that area for a week on Saturday, based in Estepona. I hope I have more luck than you with the alpine accentor and little bustard. Both species are adept at avoiding me.
I can confirm what you say about the Laguna de Medina. I was there last October and it was almost empty of birds. There were a couple of good sized flocks of stone curlew (22 and 40+) birds that flew in when they were disturbed by a nearby partridge shoot, a few ducks, no coots - crested or uncrested, a few grest crested grebes and the highlight - a black winged kite sitting in a bush at the south end that waited until I was about to press the shutter on my camera, then decided it would be camera-shy.
It was a similar story there in September 2005. Lots of water - hardly any birds. I did get lucky with crested coot at close range among the reeds next to the path in March 2004.
The azure winged magpies have also so far avoided me at Algaida, but I live in hope.