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 Flamingoes |
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My parents in law have bought an apartment in Spain half way between Alicante and Murcia. We have been on two family holidays there. I have two young children and so my birding is restricted to what I can do before the family gets up which is about 9am most days. I rise early and drive to places within half an hour’s journey planning to get there for sunrise, giving me about 2 hours. I would recommend Graham Critchell’s book on the local area which outlines many sites.
Hills above Benejuzar 20th and 31st August 08 and 29th May 09
Some hills above the small town of Benejuzar with pine and scrub there are also some small square reservoirs some with some marginal vegetation and surrounding lemon groves. Nothing special but some nice habitat near the apartment.
In August arriving before dawn I was greeted by a red-necked nightjar that sat on a concrete pipe for me to look in the early morning half light. These were quite common and in August and I saw several. In May I heard several singing but did not get such good views.
In August the reservoirs were good for herons with 4 squacco heron, 2 cattle egrets and 3 grey herons seen as well as black winged stilt, common sandpiper, little ringed plover, coot, moorhen and little grebe in. In May there were stilts, common sand and shelduck. Stone curlews could be heard from the fields but not seen.
Swallows included several red rumped swallows and there were green woodpeckers around too
The only raptors seen were kestrels and little owl. The area looks good for booted eagle, but I didn’t see any. Also looks good for short toed eagle but Graham Critchhell says that they are rare in this area.
Passerines included southern grey shrike and woodchat shrike, hoopoe and bee-eater, serins, crested lark, spotless starling, house sparrow, goldfinch, jackdaw, magpie, woodpigeon and long tailed tit and I heard a golden oriole in August. In August I only saw Sardinian warblers and so was hoping for a greater variety in May-June, but I didn’t see any new species of warbler except the wetland warblers at El Hondo. I expect spectacled and subalpine warblers are about but they need some time to find them and I didn’t have much time. There were, however, nightingales singing in the lemon groves in May.
El Hondo 29th May 09
El Hondo can dry out completely in the summer so I did not visit in August. In May I booked, via email using my newly learnt Spanish and my Spanish dictionary, a trip on the red route. This goes between the two large lakes and is only open Wednesday and Saturday between 8.15 and 11 by prior appointment. Waiting at the gates was a Spanish birder, he spoke no English but my basic Spanish gleaned he was from Elche and was excited to have seen garganey at Clot de Garvaney. Two young ladies turned up at 8.30 and let us in. A night heron flew over while we waited.
The first birds to be seen in the reserve were a pair of sacred ibis perched in a tree. Next was a little bittern flying over and 2 hoopoes feeding on the ground. There was very little showing from the first two hides as the water in the west lake was very low and the birds were a long way off. What would have been the second hide was closed. This was a pity because unlike the other mosquito infested hides this one was much closer to the water. There was however, a marbled teal on one of the ditches near the second hide. This was my first new bird of the holiday. The third hide was better with a flock of flamingos, avocet and black winged stilt, mallard and a shoveler. There were lots of terns, mainly whiskered at the water’s edge.
The fourth hide overlooked the eastern lake. It was a very new and impressive tower hide. This lake was much smaller but obviously deeper and surrounded reed beds. The birds and water was much closer. Great reed warblers and reed warblers sang in the reeds along with cetti’s warbler and sitting cisticola. I am sure there were moustached warblers there too, but I wasn’t looking very hard for them. There was a family about 6 newly hatched white headed duck chicks. The rangers who had let us in were at this hide and were concerned as their mother was not with them. On the south side were two male white headed ducks as well as great crested and black necked grebes. There was one female red crested pochard. There were Cattle and little egrets, a grey heron, a squacco heron flew over and one purple heron did an extensive circuit. The rangers had also seen two little bitterns, I saw a brief one on the way down and then a much better view of one flying on the way back. You could see the western lake from here too. Bird of the day for me was a male Montagu’s harrier that flew over the western lake. Two glossy ibis also flew along the edge of this lake.
The last hide was at the water’s edge and gave very good views of black necked grebes feeding young and male white headed ducks. There were also plenty of immature larus gulls, mostly yellow legged I think and common, little and whiskered terns.
El Hondo 4th June 2009
There is a new green route that goes round two lagoons next to the visitor centre and is open all the time. I got there at 6.30ish. First bird was a squacco heron sat in a dead tree and then a family of yellow wagtails. Next a male Montagu’s harrier was out hunting and then I saw a tree sparrow. On the water and islands of the first lagoon were lots of ducks. Lots of pochard with several male red crested pochard scattered amongst them. The path here is not concealed and so most of the birds took off as I walked along to the first hide. They soon settled back down but a bit further away. The hide is actually the roof of a small building and gives a very good view over the lagoons. From here I could see 80 flamingos and a little bittern flew in and hid in the reeds. There were avocet and back winged stilt and little and cattle egret. The loafing gulls included slender billed and Mediterranean as well as black headed and yellow legged. There was also white headed duck and marbled teal. A night heron flew over.
The second hide over looked a reed fringed pool with coot and moorhen and great reed warbler. I walked on and saw a pair of stone curlews landing on a bank near the lagoon. In a ploughed field I saw some movement and thought more stone curlews but actually it was a about 30 collared pratincoles. They began to hawk for insects. I realised I was nearly back at the centre so I went back to the hide to see a purple swamphen as I realised I had not seen one on this holiday and there on the far side was an adult feeding a young bird. There were also some little egrets at the water’s edge and cattle egrets flew over often. Again the only warblers apart from those in the reeds were Sardinian and zitting cisticola. Amongst the swift were pallid swift and earlier in the week when I had popped in with myfamily to find the visitor centre shut, there was an alpine swift, along with a hunting Montagu’s harrier and pratincoles mobbing it.
I had seen almost everything I had seen on the red route except the purple heron and sacred and glossy ibis, but I had also seen collared pratincole, purple swamp hen and tree sparrow. It is worth going on both routes but if you can’t book up to go on the red route the green was just as productive. In the visitor’s centre the ranger showed me where there are two other hides at the south of the reserve and how to drive there as it is a long way from the visitor centre. Next time I will try these too.
Santa Pola Saltpans and El pinet 28 Aug and 1 Sept 08, 30th May 09
El Pinet is in the southern corner of the Santa Pola wetlands. It has a car park with a screen that looks onto a pool. There are three hides including a tower hide. There are plenty of avocet, black winged stilt, Kentish plover and little egrets. There were also slender billed gulls in the pool by the car park. In August there were 40+ collared pratincoles, a mixture of immature and winter plumage adults. There were loafing around on the islands and hawking insects over the water. But in May there were none. In August there were plenty of passage waders like curlew sandpiper, little stint, redshank, black tailed godwit and turnstone. In May there were just turnstone, Kentish plover, avocet and BW stilt.
From the tower hide there were flocks of gulls on solid salt that had formed on the salt pans and was just about to be “harvested”. However, before the diggers turned up I looked through the gulls and found they were mostly yellow legged, however, there were also groups of Med gull and Auduion’s gull. Terns included sandwich, little and common and amongst them the bird on the best birds of the holiday, a Caspian tern. It sat around and preened for a while then flew off west.
From here I could also see some telephone wires on a hill. There were birds perched on these. I thought one was probably a southern grey shrike, but the larger one had an interesting wing pattern and that I decided was as a roller. A first for me and, along with the Caspian tern, it was bird of the holiday. I drove up to the hill where some dirt tracks skirted the reserve. There was also some good scrub habitat here that was part of the reserve with an impressive tower hide but the gates were locked and there seemed no way in. The shrikes were southern grey and it was a roller; an immature, but still very colourful. When I went back in May there were no rollers to be seen. I expect it was a bird on passage or had been kicked out of it parents’ territory earlier in the summer. May did produce stone curlew flying, woodchat shrike and crested lark, serin greenfinch and Sardinian warbler but little else.
The salt pans can be seen from the main road that goes straight through them. There is a formal layby by an old watch tower. In May there was a very obliging night heron sitting by a ditch. However, the best area is further along the road to the south and is an unsurfaced layby. There is some marginal vegetation here. On the 1st September at sunrise I had, GC grebe, cormorant, little egret, 3 night heron, 1 squacco heron, grey heron, 3 glossy ibis flying over and 2 feeding, spoonbill, greater flamingo, avocet, black winged stilt, Kentish Plover, marsh harrier, whiskered, gull billed, little, sandwich and common terns. My trip in May did not add to the above list but was similar.
Salinas de la mata 26th August 08 and 31st May 2009.
In August the main attraction was the water with three hides overlooking it. I drove past the visitor centre and parked by the end of the road. The visitor centre with its big car park looked quite a long walk from the interesting bits. On the water were loads of flamingos and over 2,000 black necked grebes, along with loads of slender billed gulls, a few BH gulls, several Med gulls and a few yellow legged. There were also black terns. Around the edge were passage waders: little stint outnumbered curlew sandpipers and they outnumbered dunlin. There was also grey plover, turnstone and sanderling as well as black winged stilt. The surrounding grassland scrub and wood had spotted flycatcher and hoopoe, Sardinian warbler and juv woodchat shrike.
In May the water was birdless apart form 1 shelduck and some imm gulls. I found a tower hide that overlooks the grass and scrub on the north of the reserve and should hold Montagu’s harrier and a hide that is at the water’s edge. It is just off the main road but the gate was locked. There was just a short length of road off the roundabout to park in, not much room for more than one car. I stopped but did not stay long. The scrub and woodlands were my destination near the visitor centre. In the scrub fields and woods the warblers were all Sardinian. Other birds included green woodpecker, spotted flycatcher, hoopoe, turtle dove, crested lark, serin, house sparrows and south grey and woodchat shrike along with a RL partridge with chick.
Crevillent
This site is well known for a pair of Bonelli’s eagle. They nest in this valley on a vertical cliff. My August visit just produced black wheatear, 2 chough, alpine swift, crag martin, great tit, house sparrow, serin, little owl, kestrel, spotted flycatcher and Sardinian warbler, but no eagles. There were lots of dogs which barked as I walked around the roads. It was very quiet that early in the morning but the barking of the darks echoed round the valley. I made the same trip on the 1st June. I stopped at the cross roads and soon located several eagles nest on the cliff, two looked like they might have been occupied recently by the amount of guano around them. However, no birds could be seen. To stop the dogs from barking I drove closer to the cliff and then walked into the scrub. There were black wheatears and blue rock thrush on the steep sides and thousands of swifts including common and alpine, bit no eagles. Until, that is, I turned round go come home and looked and there they were soaring fairly close above me. I watched them for several minutes and got them in the scope as they drifted away. On my way back to the car a large rufous coloured bird took off and disappeared behind some rocks, it must have been a young one.
On both trips I saw 80 species with several different ones. In August there were more waders, in May I had more passerines. There are loads more birds to be found further inland like sandgrouse and bustards as well as trumpeter finch, but you will need longer than I had. There must be more birds of prey and perhaps early morning is not the best time for them to be soaring about. I also know that the best places for birds of prey are further west.