BirdingInSpain

Tarifa, September 2011

From the 4th to 10th September I was leading the Ornitholidays tour “Tarifa at Leisure” . That meant staying in just one hotel, the lovely Palomar de la Breña, for the whole week and making sorties to watch the migrants crossing the straits and to look for other local avian goodies.In some 5 sessions of raptor watching we spotted Rüppell’s Vulture (1 juvenile, with a possible second that had to remain just “possible”), 2 Goshawks, 1 Bonelli’s Eagle, dozens of Egyptian Vultures and Griffon Vultures, More than 20 Black Storks, dozens of Short-toed Eagles, more than 200 Booted Eagles, hundreds of Honey Buzzards, a dozen Montagu’s Harriers, Sparrowhawks, Lesser Kestrels and flocks of hirundines and Bee-eaters.

A Western Olivaceous Warbler, 3 Black-winged Kites, almost 20 Collared Pratincoles, Iberian Chiffchaff, White-headed Ducks and a Monarch Butterfly were some of the other highlights of an interesting week spent at the other end of this country called Spain.

It wasn’t always easy to keep our eyes on the raptors…. 

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FROM

the 8th to 15th May we received the first group of photographers from Wild Images. Wild Images, a daughter company of Birdquest, came with leader Mike Watson and 6 avid bird photographers from different parts of the UK. 

They followed the basic outline of our Great Photo Trip (see details here) with 3 days on the plains of Lleida and 2 in the Lammergeier hide in the Pre-Pyrenees.

Apart from Lammergeiers and the other 3 species of vulture they also managed to get excellent shots of a wide variety of birds on the steppes, in magnificent spring scenery. Jumping Little Bustards, Bee-eaters, Stone Curlews, Montagu’s Harriers, Iberian Grey Shrike, Corn Bunting and even a last minute Hoopoe! Still, in my opinion it was the Little Owls that really stole the show. 

Did they leave with smiles on their faces and giving us the thumbs up? Well, yes. And if you want to see some of the great photos they took then you need do no more than click on these links to their own websites:

Mike Watson (Wild Images leader)

Eric McCabe (with wife Lesley hailing from Scotland)

David Mercer

Congratulations to all! We’re looking forward to next spring already.

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Quail

A Quail sat in the track in my car headlights just before dawn

Bee-eater

The Bee-eaters in front of the hide were bright and good afternoon entertainment

Little Owl

The Little Owl antics usually steal the show.

Thekla Lark

Singing Thekla Lark was an added bonus from the Hoopoe hide. 

Monty’s Harrier

Poppy landscape

Now that’s not bad for a (very early) morning or two out on the plains of Lleida.

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This is one of the pair of Stone Curlews that nested by the side of one of our Bee-eater hides on the plains of Lleida.

The nest was basically a small hollow lined with a bit of dry grass and gravel-sized stones. The eggs, two, were speckled and brown-beige. The adults were very discreet in their comings and goings, as you would expect from a ground-nesting bird. One of the adults would incubate while the other would stay around preening, dozing or stretching itself, although at times the incubating bird also got up and took a small rest from pre-parental responsibilities.

On Wednesday the female started making some strange noises, which Jordi Bas explained as the female making contact with young which were almost ready to hatch. Sure enough, the next day there were two tiny chicks, to the delight of all. Today all the birds have gone from the nest site.

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Are any of you birders planning a visit to Belchite? You know, Dupont’s Lark, Black-bellied Sandgrouse and associated company?

Here’s something for you to start familiarising yourself with the birds of this unique area:

And some of their local names too!

What a lovely detail this is for guests staying at the nearby Hotel Rincón del Cierzo. BirdingInSpain.com’s recommended accommodation for the Belchite steppes itinerary. We don’t recommend any old place you know, but rather the best-placed, well-regented and reasonably-priced establishments we know about. Do you get the picture?

If not, here it is again!

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“Then I pass over a rise in the terrain and something unexpected happens. A field of grass and flowers lies before me, bursting with the song of calandra larks and crickets. In this scented field, which has somehow been overlooked by the ploughman, I see the unmistakeable bulks of several great bustards, necks stretched and eyes fixed in my direction. I am too close for their liking, so they take to a nonchalant but purposeful gait to move away from me, stopping now and then to raise their heads and check that I am not following hard on thier heels. I watch from the path as, slowly, the last of their heads sinks below the grassy horizon like a setting sun. Tipping an imaginary cap, I wish them the best of luck. ”

Excerpt from the chapter “Little Tales and Great Bustards” from the book “Flying over the Pyrenees, standing on the plains“

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Irene from Paris got in touch after the summer and explained that she was set on coming to film vultures. Vultures feeding seen from the hide? No. Vultures perched on the rocks? No. Irene was explicit: she wanted to film vultures circling in thermals.

Irene and friends Dorothy, Jean and Gilles

It became clear to me that her best option would be Mas de Bunyol. The patron of Mas de Bunyol, Jose Ramón Moragrega has been feeding the vultures of els Ports on his land near Valderroures every day for more than 20 years now. In the eyes of the public he’s on the way to becoming a local legend; for the hundreds of vultures that turn up every morning waiting for him to serve their food he already is.  

From the comfort of the newly-completed vulture observatory, with benches and all-round vision, vulture displays and the attentions of Loly, José Ramón’s partner, one can watch as he enters the compound with a wheelbarrow loaded with dead rabbits. The vultures sail down from the nearby trees, the bravest of them actually going up to José Ramón’s wheelbarrow to try and grab a rabbit for themselves even before he can unload them!

Everything unfolds as usual, although José Ramón is a little upset that today we have only seen 150 Griffon Vultures, instead of the more usual four or five hundred. Only! The vultures feed, and then rest, some in the trees, some in the compound itself next to a pool where they often bathe. Irene, however, is far from relaxed. When will the vultures start circling Steve? I consult with Loly, and she tells us not to worry - the vultures are just hanging around waiting for the first thermals to form.

Griffon vultures just hanging out after a feed at Mas de Bunyol. But Irene was looking for something more…

They make us wait in a nervous state before they eventually comply by finding a thermal that brings some 70 of them circling closer and closer until they are just over our heads! Phew! Mission accomplished, and that after spending a lovely night dining on Loly’s roast chicken, drinking local wine and sleeping in one of Mas de Bunyol’s tastefully furbished rooms.

José Ramón told us about the Eagle Owls and Peregrines that inhabit the nearby rock faces, and after the vultures had all but left two adult Bonelli’s Eagles sailed leisurely over the observatory! However, Irene and her crew were already thinking about a fish lunch on the Mediterranean coast…

If you’re curious about the title of this article take a look at Irene’s website. 

White light?

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 ¡Ojo!

Un exótico viaje fotográfico y ornitológico de 10 días al sur de Turquía.

Con guía nativo y guía de BirdingInSpain, vehículo privado, las mejores aves y los más bellos paisajes del sur de Turquía.

¡No lo pierdas!

Fechas: del 27 de mayo al 5 de junio 2011

Precio: 1.395 euros

Algunas de las aves que esperamos ver: Perdigallo del Caspio, Camachuelo Desertícola, Ibis Eremita, Alondra Cornuda, Gorrión del Mar Muerto, Trepador de Krüper, Autillo Persa, Martín Pescador de Esmirna, Verdecillo Carinegro, Petirrojo Gorgiblanco…

¿O mejor, quizás, que te lo decimos con imágenes?

¿Has visto el vídeo?

Por cierto, muchas gracias a Murat Bozdogan por el uso de sus fotografías.

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Viaje a Bulgaria- IIa parte

Esta es la continuación de la entrada anterior, el viaje ornitológico a Bulgaria en junio 2010

Algunas de las aves, la mayor parte fotografiadas por Juanma Dominguez Robledo, y visibles en el entorno de “trip Report” en el blog de Miradas Cantábricas. 

Visitamos una cantera cerca de Plovdiv con una colonia de estorninos rosados, Sturnus roseus

El papamoscas semicollarino, Ficedula semitorquata, se beneficia de la colocación de cajas-nido

El águila imperial oriental, Aquila heliaca, quizás el ave más emblemática del viaje

El collalba pía, Oenanthe pleschanka,  es fácil de ver en las cercanías del Cabo Kaliakra

El collalba isabel, Oenanthe isabellina, en la región de Sakar.

Los carrizales del Lago Durankulak albergan una buena población del carricero agrícola, Acrocephalus agricola. 

El alcaudón chico, Lanius minor.

El alcaudón núbico, Lanius nubicus, fue otra estrella del viaje.

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Viaje Ornitológico a Bulgaria 

Leed todo sobre el  Viaje a Bulgaria organizado por BirdingInSpain.com en el excelente blog Miradas Cantábricas

Un relato detallado, escrito con la pluma de Jose Luís Pacheco, Cristina Negueruela y Juanma Robledo, con muchas fotos de bichos (aves y demás bichos), paisajes, gente y lugares. Muchas de las fotos fueron tomadas por los propios autores del relato, pero también hay una importante contribución en este sentido que viene de los otros participantes en el viaje: Agustín, Leo, Ignacio y Loreto, Nat, y un servidor, Steve West.

Introducción

Un poco sobre el trasfondo del viaje: quien lo organizaba, a dónde, cuando….

Vitosha

La montaña de Vitosha, con vistas del capital de Bulgaria, Sofia, y un buen comienzo para bimberos y fotógrafos.

Sakar

El segundo destino principal. Una zona muy pobre pero rica en aves, fauna y flora. En el jardín del hotel pico sirio, pico menor, gorrión moruno, autillo, oropéndola y picogordo!

Burgas

Los lagos y las demás zonas húmedas alrededor de Burgas son unas de las zonas ornitológicas estrellas del país. Y casi imprescindibles para ver muchas de las aves acuáticas, incluso pelícanos. 

Durankulak y Kaliakra

Una península, una costa y varias lagunas forman un conjunto muy interesante para el ornitólogo en el norte de Bulgaria. Y el mejor sitio de Europa para ver el carricero agrícola. 

Montañas Rhodope

Unas montañas escarpardas y rocosas son la frontera con Turquía. Esta zona tiene un caracter propio muy pronunciado.

Bueno, ¿y fotos de las aves?

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