BirdingInSpain

Both Thekla Lark and Crested Lark occur over much of the warmer parts of Spain, and frequently both species can be found in close company of each other. Surprisingly, relatively little has been said about the separation of this difficult species pair; in fact the possibility of misidentification of one species for the other has frequently been played down, simplified or largely ignored. Many birders who come to Spain question me about field separation of Crested and Thekla Larks – so much so that this is probably the single most often discussed identification point. 

Thekla Lark. Photo by Jan-Michael Breider. 

There was a thread recently on Bird Forum dealing with this question:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=133911&page=2

and the subject came up with clients on my last trip in mid-February.

So here I am attempting to summarise what can be said about the field identification of these two species in Spain. Or rather to express my own opinion about the criteria that are most valid for separating Crested and Thekla Lark in the field, at least in northeast Spain.

Morphologically speaking the features usually mentioned are: bill, crest length and shape, plumage coloration and streaking, face pattern, underwing colour and colour of the outer tail feathers.

In my opinion bill shape and length is probably the single most useful (although not infallible) feature. Comparatively speaking, Thekla Larks have shorter, stubbier, more triangular bills while Crested Larks have longer, more tapering bills with a straighter, or even concave lower mandible.

Face pattern: Thekla Larks usually have a more contrasting face pattern, with “spectacles” and a more “open” expression.

General plumage coloration: if you see a very grey-looking bird then it is almost certainly a Thekla Lark. The problem is that not all Thekla Larks are greyish, as this is a feature that largely depends on wear and local variation.

Outer tail feathers: apparently the Thekla Lark has more rufous and more contrasting outer rectrices – something I’ll have to check for in the field.

Underwing: Thekla Larks have greyer underwing coverts than Crested Larks, but just how often do you think you will be able to check that out in the field?

Crest: a rather useless criterion in my own humble opinion. It depends too much on wind, attitude, moult, individual variation and observer bias.

Voice: difficult to tell apart, even with certain experience. Both songs are similar, although Thekla Lark’s is more melodious, less imposing and lower pitched, with less tendency to imitation than Crested Lark.

Distribution: there are large tracts of land where only one species (usually Crested Lark) occurs, which is a good initial indicator if you are familiar with the species’ local distribution.

Habitat: this is a good indicator, although beware of “microhabitats”. Thekla Larks usually prefer less “agricultural” landscapes, and more often observed in broken, stony terrain with scattered bushes.

Last, but not least: is the bird perched on a bush or a pile of rocks, or is it a ground hugger? In the former case there is a very good chance that it will be a Thekla Lark! 

Crested Lark vs Thekla Lark: “a veritable minefield of confusion!” as was concluded on the bird forum thread.

I mentioned the Pine Bunting on an earlier thread but didn’t have the all-important image to go with it. Well, here it is, thanks to my friend from Barcelona, one of Catalonia’s most incorrigible twitchers, Rafa Armada. By the way, Rafa has now seen three Pine Buntings in Spain!

Male Pine Bunting observed near Lleida, northeast Spain. Photo by Rafa Armada.  

Rafa spent his time on this bird, and he was probably the last birder to see it, on the 21st January.

Who knows where it is now?

Any predictions for the next rarity that will turn up near Lleida?

How can any birder not agree that Hawfinches are really cool birds. I’m sure Franck Renard thinks the same. Just look at his photos of these beautiful Hawfinches below. Feel the photographer’s respect and desire to portray the species as it really is.

Hawfinches by Franck Renard

Many thanks to Franck for sending us these photos and for allowing us all to enjoy them. It just so happens that this winter there has been an exceptionally good number of Hawfinches in northeast Spain. From early November I’ve had the good fortune to see Hawfinches in Navarra, Huesca and on several occasions in the Montsec area, Lleida.

For me nowadays seeing a Hawfinch is one of the bright sparks of winter birding. And I’m sure Hawfinches will give Franck and I something to talk about when he comes here in February to photograph the Lammergeier and other vultures.

Curious to see the face behind the photos? See who Franck Renard is and a little of what he does by following this link, and this other one.

Did you know? – Cranes in northeast Spain

Cranes at Gallocanta lagoon. Photo by Marten van Dijl. Visit his website here. 

The spring passage of Cranes in northeast Spain takes place from the latter half of February to the end of March, or more rarely into early April.

In autumn the largest influx of Cranes is from the end of October and in November, with the last birds passing through in early December.

In Catalunya flocks of more than 100 birds are uncommon.

Gallocanta in Aragón channels the passage of virtually the whole of the Western European population of the Common Crane, with up to 60,000 birds recorded together in late October and a pre-nuptial maximum of some 30,000 birds in mid-February.

Birds heading northwards in the spring often stop off at Sotonera before crossing the Pyrenees. Gatherings of more than 14,000 Cranes have been recorded here, principally between mid-February and mid-March.

Gurelur Bird migration centre, at the Alto de Ibañeta (1,057m), is situated at one of the most popular mountain passes in the Pyrenees for watching the autumn passage of Cranes. The centre is open from July 1st to the end of November.

Reference and further information: Where the birds are in northeast Spain

Where to stay and watch the Cranes:
Gallocanta – Allucant
Sotonera – Hospedería de Loarre
Alto de Ibañeta – Navarra Selección

I’ve just come back from a spot of birding and of course I’ve seen a few birds.

So I thought we’d play a little birding guessing game: I tell you the birds I saw at a certain site, and you tell me where I was. The earlier you guess, the more points you get. OK?

-OK

Here goes with the first clue (5 points):

1) 100’s of Black-headed Gulls, about 20 Yellow-legged Gulls and one or two Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

– Er, the Ebro Delta?

No. Next clue (4 points):

2) About 20 Grey Herons and 1,000 or so Cattle Egrets.

– Still sounds like the Ebro Delta. What about the Llobregat Delta?

No! You’d never see that many Cattle Egrets in the Llobregat Delta. Well, I never have anyway.  Next clue for 3 points:

3) A Griffon Vulture, 12 Red Kites, 2 Marsh Harriers and a Common Buzzard.

– Somewhere inland near Lleida I expect. But don’t ask me where.

OK. You’re getting close, but I’m sure you can be a bit more specific than that. Next clue (2 points):

4) About 350 White Storks and a White Pelican.

– 350 storks! Are you pulling my leg?! I thought White Storks were supposed to migrate to Africa in the winter. And a White Pelican! Wait a minute, this sounds familiar… storks, gulls, egrets and a vagrant/escaped Pelican. Wouldn’t be a rubbish tip would it?

Correct! Well done! Indeed, the Lleida landfill site. The Pelican’s been knocking around with the White Storks for more than a month now. The Griffon Vulture was a surprise though.

Did you know?

The Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus is a species endemic to the Balearic Islands?

The Balearic Shearwater was regularly captured for human consumption until the late 1970’s? And that an estimated 2,400 to 2,700 Balearic Shearwaters were caught annually on Formentera alone? 

Predation by cats or genets is one of the main problems faced by the species, and is the reason why this shearwater disappeared from the interior of Cabrera?

There are only an estimated 2,000 pairs of Balearic Shearwater in the world, and that at the current rate of regression the species is likely to become extinct in about 40 years? 

The photo of this Balearic Shearwater is by my friend Eva Solanes. To see more follow this link to Eva’s photo website.

After breeding on the Balearic Islands the Balearic Shearwater spends the summer in the Bay of Biscay? 

Much of the world population of this bird regularly winters along the coast of Catalonia?  

More information on the Balearic Shearwater, especially about where and when to see it in northeast Spain, can be seen on page 37 of “Where the birds are in northeast Spain”.

These itineraries from the BirdingInSpain.com main site offer good chances of observing Balearic Shearwater at the right time of the year:

Ebro Delta South 

Llobregat Delta and Garraf

Cap de Creus Natural park

And get everything right if planning a visit to the region – check out the recommended accommodation in the area where you plan to be. It’s recommended because it’s the best for birders, birdwatchers, nature lovers, families…. 

Somewhere in the Pyrenees of Navarra a church bell rang. But for whom?

For the intrepid Wallcreeper clinging to its stone and mortar?

Or for the discreet but confiding Alpine Acccentor on the cobblestones below?

Or for the Hawfinches or Marsh Tits down by the river?

Or for the poor soul who really should buy a decent camera?

The little island of Cabrera lies just off the southeast coast of Mallorca. The island gets its name from “cabra” which means goat in Spanish. “Está como una cabra” is a Spanish expression meaning someone is crazy/crackers (literally “like a goat”).

Well, I’ve just gone a little crazy after reading what the ringers (especially Eduardo Amengual) have caught there this autumn:

3 Olive-backed Pipits (2 ringed, 1 observed)

1 Eastern Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus samamisicus – for those, like myself, who were not in the know)

1 male Moussier’s Redstart (3rd for Spain)

1 Lesser Whitethroat

1 Yellow-browed Warbler

Birding has that: it’s much more fun actually getting out and seeing the birds than sitting at home and writing about them.

I wonder when I’ll be able to get to the coast…

Looking for Pin-tailed Sandgrouse at Alfés, the only remaining breeding site for the species in Catalonia, has almost become a full-time job in the last couple of years.

Not too long ago you went to Alfés drylands and you saw Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, it was as easy as that. In fact my birding notebooks from a few years back and beyond reflect that fact, as sometimes I didn’t even write down “Pin-tailed Sandgrouse”, taking it for granted that that was one species that the birder never missed, certainly not the birder who knew his way round.

Now it seems that the Pin-tailed Sandgrouse is a forerunner for the next bird to go extinct in Catalonia.

After the demise of the Dupont’s Lark just a few years ago.

Although it could be pipped at the post by either the Lesser Grey Shrike (will the species return next year?), or the Black-bellied Sandgrouse (the latter has been hanging on for years now despite the odds stacked against it).

And they want to promote birding tourism to the area.

“Can’t have birders without the key birds” I keep telling them.  They look at me as if I was speaking Japanese.

This is a typical autumn scene from the drylands of Lleida:

No, not partridges or larks, they are Dotterel Charadrius morinellus.

This year the lucky participants on the famtrip organized by the Catalan Tourist Board were treated to the sight of a flock of 18 Dotterels on the drylands of Alfés, Lleida, Spain. We were watching Thekla Larks when the Dotterel literally flew over our heads and landed in the field in front of us. I had already told the famtrip participants that we were in a good area for migrating Dotterel, but also that due to the nature and brevity of our visit we were not going to look for them.

So it was very nice of the Dotterel to come looking for us!

The Alfés Dotterels already featured in my first book. Part of the text in “Where the birds are in northeast Spain” concerning the Dotterel reads as follows: “flocks that vary in size, but rarely in excess of 50 birds seek out and congregate in ploughed or stubble dryland cereal fields, alternating with smaller patches of fallow land.”

Their presence in the drylands around Lleida is common knowledge now, but not so back in September 1994.  Then I almost fell off my motorbike when they crossed the track in front of me on the edge of the thymefields of Alfés.

In the following years I compiled a modest list of personal observations of Dotterels at Alfés:

17 birds on 07/09/94

13 birds on 09/09/95

11 birds on 05/09/96

9 birds on 10/09/97

6 birds on 01/09/99

2 birds on 09/10/99

20 birds on 29/08/00

4 birds on 30/08/01

There’s more, but really all that you need to know to see Dotterels in northeast Spain can be read in “Where the birds are in Northeast Spain”. Detailed information about birding the drylands of Alfés can be found in the drylands of Lleida itinerary on the BirdingInSpain.com website.

Where to stay to be close to the Dotterels, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Black Wheatears, etc. of Alfés? La Garbinada.