Bright sunshine and 23 degrees greeted the group as they emerged from their plane after a late afternoon arrival at Faro from Bristol, we had precious little time for birding, so as soon as the bus was loaded up we set off for the short trip to marshes adjacent to Faro airport. The tide was high so we had to scour the area to pick out groups of roosting waders. A sole White Stork fed alongside a Little Egret and a distant Grey Heron sat motionless just beyond them. Much closer a group of winter-plumaged Dunlin fed in the muddy pools with Common-ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Redshank and Turnstone. A solitary Whimbrel roosted nearby and several other species could be seen across the marsh which included Curlew, Great Cormorant, Sandwich Tern, Black-headed Gull and Yellow-legged Gull. A few passerines were picked out in the scrub, a fine pair of Zitting Cisticola posed on a fence line and so did a pair of Stonechats. A Whinchat sat a little further away and several Goldfinches flitted by. On the track our first of many Crested Larks scurried about in the dirt.
Raptors began to appear and the first species noted, was the best, a very unusual sighting for Faro airport, a Black-winged Kite hunted over grassland surrounding the runway, the Kite was a fair distance away but nevertheless it showed well enough for us to appreciate its delicate hover-glide hunting method. Then a very distant Western Marsh Harrier was picked out followed by a Common Buzzard. We stayed for an hour or so basking in warm afternoon sunshine cooled by a gently summer breeze, idyllic birding weather let’s hope it stays that way!
We then drove across the border into Spain and headed for Matalascanas on the coastline of Coto Donana, a few species were noted during the journey, Collared Doves, Barn Swallows, Eurasian Magpie, Common Coots and small groups of Azure-winged Magpies. We passed through Huelva and crossed the Rio Tinto overlooking the famous historical site from where Columbus set sail in 1492 in the Santa Maria escorted by the Pinto and the Nina. We made a scheduled stop at a small laguna just outside the town next to the gasworks!!
This small Paraje Natural, consists of a reed-fringed lake and grassy islands, it held many wildfowl but it was a Pied Flycatcher that we noted first as it fed from the fence line in the lee of a hedge. Hundreds of Shoveler, still in eclipse plumage littered the pool, they were joined by many Gadwall, a few Teal and lots of Common Coot, Eurasian Moorhen and Little Grebes. On the grass covered islands we picked out a couple of Squacco Herons, (these birds are now over-wintering here), there were also Cattle Egrets, Little Egrets, Purple Swamphens and Grey Herons. Soon we found our target species the Red-knobbed Coot, it was distant and in the shade of dense, overhanging tamarisk, but there it was, one of the star birds of the trip already in the bag! The final leg of the journey produced a large group of Azure-winged Magpies flying off to roost and not much else. We arrived at our beach-side hotel having enough time to admire the view from our balconies before going down to a well earned dinner at dusk.
Day 2. Saturday 4th.
The sky was a clear, azure-blue and the light was excellent as we emerged from the hotel at 9 am, we set off for the ‘cowboy style’ town of El Rocio, with its sandy roads and hitch rails for horses. Arriving at El Rocio we took in the truly bizarre setting, but what a wonderful place, cars look strangely out of context there. Adjacent to the town is the Laguna Madre de las Marismas, a large shallow lagoon that is fed by the arroyo del la Rocina, we met up with Mervyn (the final member of the group) in the car park near the superb church,. After our introductions we directed our attention to the host of birds on the famous laguna and as always there was a tremendous variety to look at.
What a fabulous place, despite the the low water level birds were everywhere the whole area teamed with life. Greater Flamingos, White Storks, Greylag Geese, and Egrets fed or loafed alongside many species of ducks and waders. The most notable of theses species were Little and Cattle Egrets, Shoveler, Pintail, Gadwall and Teal. The water level was just right for waders and Terns, many hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits were feeding voraciously in the muddy shallows whilst hundreds of Black Terns danced above the water. We also saw some Ruff, Common Snipe and Black-winged Stilts.
We then took to road to Villamanrique turning into the town to find a supermarket from which to buy our lunch. Then we turned onto a dirt track to follow the Corredor de Verde for several miles. Many Goldfinches, Crested larks and Stonechats were seen and at laguna de Cama we found several species of duck which include three specimens of the much sought after Marbled Duck, a great find. Great-crested Grebes, Little Grebe and Common Kingfisher joined the throng of wildfowl on the pool.
Next we visited Laguna Mancho de Zurillo where we watched a large group of Azure-winged Magpies, five Hoopoes feedimg beneath a cork oak and a Thekla Lark perched high on top of a tree singing! We continued along the very bumpy track for another 30 minutes before stopping to admire a large roost of Black-crowned Night Herons, there must have been 200 birds littering the hedgerow for several hundred metres.
At Dehesa de Abajo there were thousands of birds, several hundred Greater Flamingos, a couple of hundred Glossy Ibis, many Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits and Teal, good numbers of Black Terns, Shoveler, Mallard, Gadwall, Black-necked Grebes and several other species. The light was fantastic and the colour on the Flamingos was quite brilliant especially when they took flight.
Our drive to the Jose Valverde visitor’s centre, which is found deep in the marshes, was interrupted by many birding stops. A flock of Yellow Wagtails, were joined by several Northern Wheatears and the odd Whinchat. Although generally, the area was very dry after a long hot summer, the main supply ‘drain’ was full. Near the visitor’s centre we looked over a large pool and had excellent close views of Spotted Redshank and more distant Spoonbills. A lot more wildfowl could be seen and several Avocets feed in the distance. After a coffee stop we set off on our return journey during which we saw several passerines along a fence-line. Both Flycatchers, Common Redstart and a surprising Spectacled Warbler showed well. We also noted our first Willow Warbler. In the roadside fields we logged several Marsh Harriers and a couple of distant Hen Harriers, more interesting was a flock of 16 Lesser Kestrels feeding over a recently ploughed field, another migrant species that was reluctant to leave Spanish soil for the winter.
In the late afternoon sunlight we made our way off the marshes, we noticed many small groups of flying Glossy Ibis, these birds were all landing in a distant field alongside several hundred White Storks. We stopped and watched a huge flock of Glossy Ibis in flight near the Storks, we estimated that there were at least 1500 birds! A great sight and our last birding of the day.
Day 3. Sunday 4th
We had a fantastic day of birding with plenty to see in a great variety of habitats and some wonderful birds were added to our list. We began at 9am as we left the hotel car park and drove westward towards Huelva, our first stop was a second vis to the Laguna de Primera de los Palos, the small nature reserve on the outskirts of Huelva adjacent to the gasworks. Our target bird was the Red-knobbed Coot which was located within minutes of our arrival but unfortunately it moved into cover before all the group had good views of it. We then concentrated on the many other species on show and we had excellent views of Purple Swamphen which positively glowed purple in the excellent light. There were also Squacco Heron, Kingfisher, Teal, Gadwall, Pintail, Shoveler and Zitting Cisticola. After about 30 minutes the Red-knobbed Coot reappeared and we all got great views of it, very satisfied we set off for the Marismas de O’Diel on the western side of Huelva.
Once we arrived on this impressive paraje natural we stopped at the small pool adjacent to the visitor’s centre at Calatilla where a number of Black Terns were quartering the pool and picking off insects from the surface. Several Greater Flamingos fed in the distance and Black-tailed Godwit, Common Sandpiper, Gadwall, Teal and Shoveler were also found.
Moving further into the reserve we made several stops whilst logging many wader species, Redshank, Greenshank, Whimbrel, Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin, Little Stint, Common Ringed Plover. We made a short walk onto a section of heathland and watched Southern Grey Shrike and Sardinian Warbler. A small flock of Stone Curlew (25) took to air some distance away. More stops produced more waders, Kentish Plover, Oystercatcher, Turnstone and Gulls such as Black-headed, Mediterranean, Yellow-legged, Lesser-black backed and Slender-billed. There were also several Sandwich Terns dwarfed by two Caspian Terns. Passerines included Whinchat, Northern Wheatear, Crested Lark and Sardinian Warbler. Still deeper into the reserve we added Audouin’s Gull and Common Tern, then we birded all the way back to the reserve centre entrance finishing a great visit to a wonderful area.
El Portil
A small laguna can be found alongside the seaside town of El Portil, it holds an impressive number of species at most times. There were eight different ducks! Including an adult female Ferruginous Duck, a great find and a superb bird for our list. Mallard, Gadwall, Pintail, Shoveler, Common Pochard, Teal and Wigeon made up the rest of the duck species whilst Black-tailed Godwit, Common Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Greenshank, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin and Ringed Plover made up the wader list. Black Terns, Little and Great-crested Grebe padded out our list.
Next we drove through El Portil and on through Rompido to visit the Rio Piedras. Again we were impressed by the number of birds to be found there. Caspian and Sandwich Terns, 70+ Curlew, Whimbrel, Turnstone, Kentish Plover, Sanderling formed the bulk of the birds on the shore. The adjacent heathland held Sardinian, Dartford and Willow Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat , Blackcap, Souther Grey Shrike, Whinchat, Stonechat and several sightings of Bluethroat (white-spot) were had.
In the pine woods we found Spotted and Pied Flycatcher, Common Redstart (a couple of superb males), Crested Tit and a Robin (the first of the tour).
Lastly, after a long drive back to Donana, we visited the centre at Acebche, the car park was full of cars and coaches, a bad omen as it meant that there were many noisy Spanish visitors. Before entering the reserve we threw bred for the Azure-winged Magpies in the picnic area, but we only attracted two!! We visited one of the hides and walked into the stone pine woodland noting firstly, Robin, Pied Flycatcher, Stonechat and not much else, the lagunas were completely dry.
Day 4 - Monday 6th
Sadly this was our last day in Donana, we checked out at 9am and made the short trip to the cliffs just west of the town. We sea-watched for a short while with nothing spectacular to report: Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Sandwich Tern, Northern Gannet, Great Cormorant, Sanderling and Stonechat was the total of birds seen.
We drove to the reserve centre at La Rocina and headed through the pine woods and open heathland to the the Palacio de Acebron, a Royal Hunting Lodge, which is a large white building built in the 1960’s and set in large elaborate, gardens, a rather posh hunting lodge that is now a museum and coffee shop. We avoided the building and the crowds of visitors and headed for the boardwalk that led to a woodland trail from the car park. The walk was very interesting passing through ancient woodland a unique habitat for this area of Spain. The walk produced a number of good sightings which included Blackcap, Wren (heard only), Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Short-toed Treecreeper and Great Spotted Woodpecker. We left the reserve and headed for Tarifa around noon.
Taking the scenic route towards Sevilla we passed through El Rocio, Almonte, Hinojos, Pilas and just outside Analcazar we stopped at the botanical gardens – always a good place for birds. Usually these gardens were vastly overgrown but there was a great deal of restoration work going on and the gardens were looking very neat and tidy. Just a few meters from the car park we saw our first Tree Pipits, there were two of them and they gave us a good show. In the gardens we saw a Kingfisher or more to the point a flash of blue as it darted away. Other birds of note were lots of finches, Gold and Green but it was raptors that stole the show. The first was a Black-winged Kite that circled above us and then flew down onto a pylon, then a pair of noisy Buzzards circled and they were joined by two pale phase Booted Eagles, a couple Kestrels made up the numbers.
After popping into Analcazar to buy lunch we drove into Sevilla and then headed south to Jerez, on the outskirts of Jerez we headed southeast towards Algeciras and after about 10km we stopped at laguna de Medina. This is a vast stretch of open water and a wintering site for many water birds, the most common being the Common Coot. There were thousands of birds present, 5,000+ Coot, and hundreds of Mallard, Gadwall, Common Pochard, Red-crested Pochard, White-headed Duck, Teal, Shoveler and Pintail. There were over 100 Black Terns skimming the water, Great Crested, Little and Black-necked Grebes were dotted all over the pool and a party of Greater Flamingos fed in the shallow water. The temperature in the car park was in the upper 20’s but as we walked along the board walk there was pleasant cooling breeze, ideal birding weather. Many passerines were flitting in the dense hedges, mostly were Spotted and Pied Flycatchers, which were very numerous, we also noted many Stonechats, Cetti’s Warbler, Sardinian Warbler and Greenfinches. From the hide we watched several Marsh Harriers, one particular individual was very well marked, just below the hide we picked out a couple of Garden Warblers in the scrub. Making our way back to the car we saw a lot more of the same species but as we left the car park we stopped to watch a number of warblers on a weedy bank at the side of the road, we identified several Melodious Warblers feeding in the dense clumps of ragwort alongside many Chiffchaff.
Our last port of call was literally a port – in the bay of Gibraltar we stopped just east of Algerciras port at the mouth of the Rio Palmones. The tide was at its highest so all the waders were closely packed onto a sand bar, there were Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Redshank, Sandwich Terns and many Yellow-legged Gulls. All the birds went up as a hand-glider flew over and once they settled they were up again as our target bird flew over, an Osprey. We watched this bird quarter the river mouth and the shallow lagoon behind the sand bar, it made several aborted attempts to catch a fish, by pulling out of a dive just before hitting the water. Then it made an unsuccessful plunge followed shortly afterwards by a successful catch, a delight to watch.
We made the last short trip to our new hotel, it is wonderfully positioned on the hills just above Tarifa, from our balconies we had great views of the surrounding hillsides and across the Straits to the Rif mountains of Africa. A number of birds were seen during a 30 minute vigil, these included Booted and Short-toed Eagles, Grey Wagtail, Great Spotted Woodpecker and several Greenfinches.
Day 5 Tuesday 7th October
Our first destination today was the long sandy beach of Los Lances found just west of Tarifa, it took just 10 minutes to drive there. For the first time on our trip we had cloud which was at its thickest over the hills east of Tarifa, however on the beach the light was still very good. There were large flocks of hirundines passing through, mainly Barn Swallows and House Martins but we logged Red-rumped Swallows as well. On the beach, despite lots of human disturbance, there were hundreds of Kentish Plover and smaller numbers of Common Ringed Plover. We took the boardwalk route out to the hide stopping on many occasions to observe Corn Bunting, Stonechats, Zitting Cisticola and small finch flocks. We cross a stream which held Sanderling, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper and a Little Egret. From the hide we added Oystercatcher, Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Sandwich Tern, Audouin’s Gull, Yellow-legged Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull. On the return journey to the car park we saw a solitary Knot feeding alongside a Dunlin and a Bar-tailed Godwit which was great for pointing out size, shape and feeding action differences. Out on the sea we saw many Northern Gannets, Cormorants and some very distant Cory’s Shearwaters. Driving into Tarifa we stopped near Tarifa Island for a brief sea-watch but the shearwaters were still very distant.
We stocked up for lunch at a supermarket and headed to one of the many raptor-migration watch points where we spent three hours looking up into the cloudy sky. The wind was on-shore and not good for migration so very few birds appeared, those that did appear drifted parallel to the shore and did not attempt a crossing. During our 3 hours we logged 50+ Short-toed Eagles, 20+ Booted Eagles, 28 Griffon Vultures, 2 Black Kites, 4 Sparrowhawks, 2 Peregrine Falcons and 1 Hobby. Disappointing really, but at least we had another couple of days ahead of us to try again. A few passerines were noted, which included Blue-rock Thrush, Crested Lark, Linnet and we had a very brief glimpse of what looked like an Olivaceous Warbler. Other birds of note were singles of Alpine Swift, Red-rumped Swallow and hundreds of Swallows and House Martins.
We ate our picnic lunch and then moved further westward along the coast stopping at Bolonia to look at the rock face of the Sierra de la Plata. Many Griffon Vultures were drifting high above the hills and a solitary Crag Martin quartered the rock face. We spent an hour sky-watching which produced a single Hobby and two Blue Rock Thrushes, the weather cleared up and the views were magnificent, we over-looked the beach and the town of Bolonia with its massive ‘moving’ sand-dune system and the Roman village of Baleo Claudia looked impressive.
Lastly we visited La Janda a huge low lying plateau used for rice growing which once was a vast inland lake. The presence of many water filled ditches and larger canals kept the birding interest alive throughout the year and of course the rice harvest season was upon us. The rice fields remain flooded throughout the summer and this attracted many birds, as we drove down the hillside onto the plateau we could see a recently harvested rice field, covered with birds. Hundreds of White Storks, Glossy Ibis, Grey Herons, Little and Cattle Egrets were present. Huge flocks of finches (one flock contained upwards of 500 Greenfinches) feed on sunflowers, Goldfinches, Corn Buntings and House Sparrow also flocked in their hundreds. A small flock of Jackdaws fed in the fields and a couple of Calandra Larks chased one another across the rice fields and quickly disappeared before most of the group were able to see them.
The feeder ditches held water and we watched several Green Sandpipers, a Kingfisher and along the main canal we saw a couple of Purlpe Swamphens. Distant Harriers quartered the fields, we noted both Marsh and Hen Harriers, driving slowly along a raised bank we logged Common Buzzards, Northern Lapwing, Common Snipe, a Black Stork and to our great delight we found a Black-winged Kite perched not too far away, we all enjoyed this wonderful bird before moving on. Completing a semi-circular route back to the main road we added Common Pheasant to our list and had a second sighting of the Kite which was now hunting over the fields, displaying its delicate hover and dove-like, glide, hunting technique. It was now pushing 6pm so we called it a day and set off for our hotel rooms and a hot shower ready for dinner.
Day 6 – Wednesday 8th October
Rain greeted us as we emerged from the hotel at 9am and it had been heavy during the night but as we drove down the hill towards Algerciras the rain stopped and the sky brightened up. Our destination today was Gibraltar which could be seen in all its glory as we coasted down the hill. The queue to enter the ’Rock’ was quite long but it only took 20 minutes to cross the border and soon we were driving through the busy streets heading out towards Europa Point. We stopped on the far side of the docks to view the hillside and to log our first birds on British soil. Apart from the numerous Yellow-legged Gulls we saw Blackcap, Sardinian Warbler, Blue-rock Thrush, Sparrowhawk and Blackbird. We then continued to the point which was busy with bus loads of tourists so we parked a little distance from them. Out to sea the visibility was good and Morocco could be clearly seen. Many Northern Gannets (mainly sub-adults) were fishing and they were joined by a whole throng of Balearic Shearwaters. We then picked up an all-dark shape in the water and from its jizz we deduced that it was a Great Skua, the bird then took off and chased some gulls and it’s identity was confirmed. But apart from those few species not much else was seen, a couple of Black-headed Gulls and a brief sighting of some distance cetaceans was all we had. We set off for the upper rock hoping to see Barbary Partridge but first we visited the Ringing Station, which was closed, however we walked the pathway leading away from there and watched Blackcaps, Stonechat, Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Sardinian Warbler and a couple of Northern Raven.
We spent the next couple of hours touring the upper Rock meeting the apes (Macaque Monkeys in reality) and searching the roadside scrub for partridges, we added Pied Flycatcher to our ‘Gib’ list and not much else. The last area we looked at was the undeveloped east side which was sheltered from the breeze and bathed in warm afternoon sunshine. We latched onto a large flock of shearwaters and discovered that they were Cory’s, a Great Cormorant flew by but there was no sign of the Shag colony that was suppose to thrive there.
We left the ‘Rock’ pleased with our visit and we still had time to visit a pine wood just north of San Roque. Half an hour later we parked the bus in a small car park beneath the canopy of Stone Pines and White Poplar trees. Our walk extended for a mile or so and at various points we logged a variety of species which included the delightful Crested Tit. We had several sightings of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Eurasian Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit and a Mistle Thrush. We decided to cal it a day and drove back via Los Barrios stopping to admire a Cattle Egret colony at a reservoir and some White Storks at their nests.
Day 7 - Thursday 9th October.
The sound of thunder woke many of us up at around 7am and as the day dawned we were treated to a spectacular lightening show that was being performed over the Rif mountains of Morocco. Luckily the storm was moving westward away from us and we had a clear blue sky above us as we drove inland on the Ronda road. We made a second stop in the pine woods at Pinar del Rey and added Chiffchaff to our list and picked up the usual fare of Crested Tit, Great-spotted Woodpecker and Eurasian Robin. We drove to Gaucin and stopped to overlook a valley covered in scrub where a large puddle was being used by many finches as a drinking pool. Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Linnet and Serin all visited the pool in small flocks. In the scrub many Sardinain Warblers flitted about with the numerous Stonechats. In the olive grove down to our left we heard a Turtle Dove call and then two of them appeared for a brief spell, a surprising bird for October. Overhead small squadrons of Griffon Vultures drifted this way and that with no particular place to go.
Driving down through Cortes del la Frontera we picked up lunch and then drove on through Benojan and Montejaque before stopping at a dam near a huge limestone outcrop, we ate lunch before walking down to the dam. On the way down we watched several Black Wheatears that were feeding on the rocky slopes we also logged a couple of Blue Rock Thrushes and a couple of Spanish Ibex. There were numerous Stonechats, Sardinian Warblers and Goldfinches in the scrub and at the dam a solitary Black Redstart fed along the path, this was our first for the trip! A high circular mound topped by pine trees rounded off our walk and along it we found a small party of Rock Buntings which showed very briefly. Just a few meters away we disturbed a female Cirl Bunting that was quick to disappear not giving many of the group a sighting of it.
Continuing towards Ronda we made one more stop on a track that overlooked a large paddock, a couple of Mistle Thrushes appeared and showed well, overhead a large flock of Griffon Vultures were descending into a filed just beyond a distant fill, some poor animal had probably died there.
In Ronda we joined the throngs of tourists and gazed over the impressive gorge in the town centre, they were sight-seeing we were birding. After a while small parties of Red-billed Choughs appeared and gave us a great show, we watched a surprisingly high number of Blackcaps devouring the fruit of the Prickly Pear plant, there were at least 15 birds with 5 of them on one fruit!
Soon it was time for the long drive back and after the obligatory ice-cream we headed back to the bus. The drive took nearly 2 hours but we broke it up with bouts of sleep and a couple of stops one of which was to watch a large flock of Corn Buntings and an even larger flock of Goldfinches drinking at a roadside pool. It began to rain and as we arrived back at the hotel the rain increased, we praised our luck that the only rain we had all week arrived at night and on the last part of the last day!
Our birding was almost finished, at dinner we discussed our favourite moments and sightings, the Black-winged Kite was voted the bird of the week and happy memories were recalled of the ‘Flight of the Glossy Ibis’, the low flying Short-toed Eagle at the raptor watch point and the Purple Swamphen bathed in sunlight. Everyone had some happy memories of the 150 birds we saw during this autumn birding break.
Day 8 – Friday 10th October.
Our final morning was spent driving to Malaga to catch an early afternoon flight, we made a couple of brief stops but the high winds and torrential rain prevented any birding. We added Monk Parakeet near the airport (a free flying South American bird that numbers several hundred on the Costa del Sol). We also saw Yellow-legged Gull, the ubiquitous Stonechat, Spotless Starling and a Blackbird.
