I have only been birdwatching for about 5 years and I have never done any abroad, so I decided it was time to get some more ‘exotic’ species on my European list. I decided Spain was the best bet, being easy to get to from the UK, with cheap car hire and eating out. Having looked at a number of trip lists on’ travellingbirder’, I decided that the Costa Blanca looked quite interesting. Flights to Alicante are pretty cheap and regular, so I booked with EasyJet for a 4 day trip which would hopefully get me a good number of ‘life’ birds. I arrived late on Monday night (31st October) and picked up a hire car from the airport and drove to Guardamar where my hotel was. I had decided to use a local guide to help me get as many species as possible, and having read some good things about Graham Critchell, I contacted him, and arranged for a 4 day guided tour of the area. His charges were very reasonable, even though I had to do all the driving, which is explained on his website www.spainbirdwatching.com
On the morning of the 1st November I drove to La Marina to pick up Graham, and before we had left the Urbanization, we had seen Black Redstart (on his house), both Starlings (Spotless – lifer), Sardinian and Fan Tailed Warblers (lifers) and Southern Grey Shrike (lifer). Leaving La Marina on the back road, we drove on the CV860 then the CV855 in the direction of Elche, and at the first crossroads we turned left on the CV861. This is the Vistabella Road, I had read so much about on Grahams website. This road skirts the south side of El Hondo and is very good for all sorts of birds. After about 400 metres we stopped and scanned the fields to the south of the road. The fields were covered with birds including Stonechat, Tree Sparrow, Serin (lifer), Meadow Pipit, Wheatear, White Wagtail, Lapwing, Crested and Thekla Larks (lifers), Dartford Warbler and Bluethroat. I would never have been able to identify Thekla Lark without Grahams help.
He then pointed out 2 Little Bustards (lifer) at a distance, but with his telescope I had cracking views of this wonderful bird. Cattle Egrets (lifer) were everywhere and Cetti’s Warbler were calling from the reeds on the edge of El Hondo. A Hoopoe flashed across the road and I had great views of yet another lifer. A’ kik-kik-kik’ noise from the reeds was identified as a Little Bittern by Graham, although I wouldn’t have had a clue. It is a lifer but doesn’t count as I did not see it. Graham assured me that I would see one during the day without a problem.
There were countless Marsh Harriers hunting over the fields and then we saw an Osprey fly over the road and land in a tree. Just beyond that, Graham pointed out 3 Cranes flying noisily in the direction of Hondo. We then saw around 100 Flamingos (lifer) in the air above Hondo. What a sight. The pink, red and black showing incredibly well. Little Egrets were in good numbers along with many Grey Herons. The first of at least 20 sightings of Booted Eagle (lifer) then happened along with a couple of Buzzards. We moved on to the South Gate opposite Casa Vistabella and scanned the trees within the reserve. A Peregrine was sitting in one of the trees about 300 metres from the gate. Graham has access to the reserve but he could not take me in. We had planned to go in the next day (visiting is possible on Wednesday and Saturday from 0815 – 1115). In the fields just by the villa there were 3 Cranes, probably the birds we had seen flying, but as soon as they saw us they were off, and disappeared over the reeds of El Hondo.
We then moved onto the Hondo Visitor Centre by driving to Dolores then turning right to Catral, and onto San Felipe Neri. On the very rough track into the centre there were plenty of Bluethroats and we stopped to get a better look. Once out of the car Graham picked up Lesser Short Toed Lark (lifer), and I saw a few of them flying above the fields. There were more Theklas as well. Once parked up, we set off for the lagoons of El Rincon and La Raja. Almost immediately, Graham pointed out a Wryneck sitting on a wire fence. We then got a Little Bittern (as Graham had suggested!) flying fast over the reeds. What a great bird.
Graham pointed out Purple Gallinule (lifer) near the first hide on the left hand side and also Penduline Tit (lifer). We were to see many of these beautiful little birds at El Hondo that day. On the ponds there were plenty of duck, the highlight being Red Crested Pochard (lifer) but alas no Marbled or White Headed Duck. At the El Rincon hide, we had Black Necked Grebe, more Little Bitterns and Gallinules, a male Hen Harrier hunting over the reeds and a few Bluethroats. The first of many Black Winged Stilts (lifer) were seen along with plenty of Avocets. A few Kentish Plover (lifer) were present along with Ringed Plover. Both Wood and Green Sandpiper were very vocal.
Kingfishers were very easy to see with a good number sitting out on sticks in the lagoon. A few Swallows were still present and there were lots of Crag Martins (lifer) flying over the reeds. Water Pipit was quite easy to see at the lagoon edges.
Graham heard a Moustached Warbler (lifer) and we patiently waited until this shy bird came out into the open for about 2 seconds then was gone. It was enough for me to see the very dark crown and heavy white eyestripe. As we were walking around El Rincon towards La Raja, Graham pointed out a few Bearded Tits in the reeds. I had excellent views of this great bird. La Raja lagoon was not so good as there had been some shooting there and there wasn’t much to see, but overall it had been a very successful day. We walked back to the car park and I drove Graham to La Marina and then I went back to the hotel.
On the morning of the 2nd November I, once again, picked up Graham from his house and we drove to the North Gate of El Hondo for access into the reserve. At the entrance we stopped to scan the reedbeds and nearby trees and we picked up Iberian Green Woodpecker (lifer) straight away. A Peregrine was hunting over the reeds and we could hear Blackcap and Willow Warbler singing. By the main gate both Reed and Great Reed Warblers were singing with the latter seen well too (lifer). On entering the reserve we drove down to the car park and went onto the Main Observation Platform. At first it was a bit misty, but as the sun rose it soon cleared up. Birds of prey were quite obvious with numerous light-phased Booted Eagles in the air and 2 dark-phased birds.
2 more Peregrines were seen over the trees and many Marsh Harriers were present over the reeds. By the platform there were numerous Bearded and Penduline Tits in the reeds and we had good views of both. Bluethroats seemed to be everywhere and we saw a couple of Moustached Warblers in the reeds.
Purple Gallinule and Water Rail were seen in the adjacent pool along with both Wood and Green Sandpipers. We saw a small flock of Avocets fly past and a little later at least 10 Black Winged Stilts. After a rather quiet patch Graham got onto some ducks flying past the platform.
He identified them as Marbled Duck (lifer) and I had really good views of them. Still no White Headed Duck though. At least 5 Kingfishers were seen along with 2 Little Bitterns. Southern Grey Shrikes were everywhere along with Stonechats, Fan Tailed Warblers and Chiffchaffs. A few Thekla Larks flew over and a couple of House Martins. Just before we decided to leave 4 Cranes turned up on one of the dry lagoons and stayed until we left. In the car park we saw at least 10 Plain Tiger butterflies, a North African species seen in Europe just in this part of Spain.
On leaving the reserve, we drove over to the coast to El Pinet Saltpans. By the car park the pools held Slender Billed and Audouin’s Gulls (both lifers), a good variety of common waders and up to 50 Stone Curlews (lifer). Out at sea we saw many Gannets, Sandwich Terns, both Balearic and Cory’s Shearwaters (both lifers) and a single Shag along with lots of Cormorants. What a great end to a fantastic day.
On the morning of 3rd November we decided to go into the mountains to try and get some more lifers. Graham was pretty confident that we would get Black Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Rock Sparrow, Rock Bunting and Griffon Vulture. Unfortunately, the weather was poor, with quite a bit of rain, but we managed to leave it behind as we climbed up from just north of Alicante into the mountains. The Monnegre road is dramatic with some fantastic scenery. At the first stop just after a very tight right hand bend, Graham picked up on Blue Rock Thrush (lifer) over on the cliffs opposite. A beautiful male showing plenty of blue.
We then got Black Wheatear (lifer) sitting on a bush about 20 metres away. At first it looked all black, but when it turned around I could see all the white in its tail. There were plenty of Crag Martins in the air and Dartford Warbler was pretty easy to see in the scrub. We moved on to another parking point where Graham pointed out a previous nest of Bonelli’s Eagle. We scanned the cliffs but there was no sign. We did get 2 Choughs though, which surprised me. We also saw a Raven, a few Magpies and a Jay. We drove on to an area of pines and stopped once again. We picked up Crested and Coal Tits here as well as a large party of Long Tailed Tits. Graham pointed out a Short Toed Treecreeper (lifer) working its way up a nearby tree. There were plenty of Chaffinches about along with Greenfinch and Serin.
We carried on through the village of Monnegre which is really interesting. It’s like going back a century. After the village we stopped at an abandoned house on the left. Here we got a couple more Black Wheatears, plenty of Thekla Larks, and my first Rock Sparrows (lifer). We moved onto a parking area where there was a lone tree on the right side of the road. This used to be a really good place for Trumpeter Finch, but Graham said that he hadn’t seen any in the area for a couple of years. How disappointing! Graham spotted a large raptor above us and identified it as Bonelli’s Eagle (lifer). We then got onto 3 very large birds further away, which turned out to be Griffon Vultures (lifer). We moved on further up the road towards Xixona (Jijona) and a little way up Graham asked me to stop the car. He had seen a small bird go into a bush just to the right of the road.
We got out and he found it straight away. In fact there were 2 Rock Buntings (lifer). What a lovely bird. We moved further up the mountain road until we got to the top where we turned towards Xixona. Unfortunately it had started raining again, and this time there was lightning in the air too. We decided to call it a day, as it looked like the weather was set to remain the same for a while. All in all though, a very rewarding day.
On the 4th November I picked up Graham and we drove to the upland steppe area of Petrola. This was the place in the area to get Great Bustard and Pin Tailed Sandgrouse. At our first stop just off the motorway near Coral Rubio, Graham pointed out Rock Sparrows (lifer) on the electricity wires. There were at least 20 of them. He then noticed some birds in a field some way off. We scoped them and I had my first Great Bustards. There were a flock of about 20.
We then got onto some obvious lark species flying and Graham said they were Calandra Larks (lifer). We had excellent views of at least 50 of these. They were very active, and I saw the trailing white in the wings well. At the Estacion de Bonete building there were more Rock Sparrows and also a good flock of Tree Sparrows. At this point Graham heard what I thought to be Meditteranean Gull, but he said that the sound was of Pin Tailed Sandgrouse (lifer).
He found them in the air quite high up and I had a reasonable view of 5 of these wonderful birds. I wanted to see them on the ground though. We moved on to the Higuerela road and stopped at a likely place for Sandgrouse. We picked up a few Stone Curlew straight away, and a flock of 8 Great Bustards. Then a Little Bustard (lifer) flew into a field nearby, followed by 2 more. Graham noticed some movement further away in the same field, and scoped a small group of Black Bellied Sandgrouse (lifer). We moved on towards Higuerela village and stopped again.
There was a field to the right which had plenty of Mistle Thrush and a few Fieldfare. Graham found a pair of Brambling as well. We saw a small flock of what I thought were doves come into the field. In fact they were Pin Tailed Sandgrouse. We saw them really well at about 50 metres distance. We then drove on to Petrola Lagoon picking up more Bustards on the way, and also a few Ravens. Rock Sparrows were on a few of the farm buildings we passed. At the lagoon, we saw a flock of 30 Crane, plenty of the more common ducks, a Buzzard, at least 5 Marsh Harriers, one male Hen Harrier and a Red Kite. At 3pm we decided to leave for home as it had been a long and tiring day.
On the morning of the 5th November, we had planned to go to Hondo once again, as Spotted Eagle was possibly in. Last year the place had 4 of these rare birds of prey. Graham had checked on an internet site he knows, and Tonn, the Estonian satellite tagged bird was still in the north of Spain, so it was unlikely we would see it. However, he had seen an adult bird twice in October, so I was hoping we could find it instead. Alas, after searching the El Rincon and La Raja areas for most of the day we had not found one. We did get lots of birds there though, but nothing new or different to the first day. We then went to the Vistabella fields and I added Calandra Lark to my life list. At 4pm I took Graham back to his house and then drove to the airport for the flight home. All in all, I’d had a great time in the area, clocking up a host of life birds and seeing more species than I had expected.
My thanks to Graham for his patience and skill. I can highly recommend both the area and Graham to anyone else wishing to experience a similar trip.
PS Tonn, the Spotted Eagle arrived 2 days after I left and will probably be at Hondo for the winter. I shall try and get back in the New Year to see him and any other Spotted Eagles that may be there.
1. Great Crested Grebe
2. Black-necked Grebe
3. Little Grebe
4. Balearic Shearwater
5. Cory’s Shearwater
6. Gannet
7. Shag
8. Cormorant
9. Grey Heron
10. Great White Egret
11. Little Egret
12. Cattle Egret
13. Little Bittern
14. Glossy Ibis
15. Flamingo
16. Shelduck
17. Mallard
18. Gadwall
19. Wigeon
20. Teal
21. Pintail
22. Shoveler
23. Marbled Duck
24. Red-crested Pochard
25. Pochard
26. White-headed Duck
27. Osprey
28. Red Kite
29. Buzzard
30. Booted Eagle
31. Bonelli’s Eagle
32. Griffon Vulture
33. Marsh Harrier
34. Hen Harrier
35. Peregrine
36. Merlin
37. Kestrel
38. Red-legged Partridge
39. Crane
40. Great Bustard
41. Little Bustard
42. Water Rail
43. Moorhen
44. Purple Gallinule
45. Coot
46. Black-winged Stilt
47. Avocet
48. Ringed Plover
49. Kentish Plover
50. Golden Plover
51. Turnstone
52. Lapwing
53. Curlew Sandpiper
54. Dunlin
55. Little Stint
56. Temminck’s Stint
57. Knot
58. Sanderling
59. Redshank
60. Spotted Redshank
61. Greenshank
62. Common Sandpiper
63. Wood Sandpiper
64. Green Sandpiper
65. Black-tailed Godwit
66. Bar-tailed Godwit
67. Snipe
68. Stone Curlew
69. Audouin's Gull
70. Slender-billed Gull
71. Black-headed Gull
72. Mediterranean Gull
73. Yellow-legged Gull
74. Lesser Black-backed Gull
75. Greater Black-backed Gull
76. Sandwich Tern
77. Black-bellied Sandgrouse
78. Pin-tailed Sandgrouse
79. Woodpigeon
80. Collared Dove
81. Little Owl
82. Kingfisher
83. Hoopoe
84. Iberian Green Woodpecker
85. Wryneck
86. Lesser Short-toed Lark
87. Crested Lark
88. Thekla Lark
89. Calandra Lark
90. Swallow
91. Crag Martin
92. Meadow Pipit
93. Water Pipit
94. White Wagtail
95. Grey Wagtail
96. Southern Grey Shrike
97. Reed Warbler
98. Moustached Warbler
99. Cetti's Warbler
100. Fan Tailed Warbler
101. Blackcap
102. Sardinian Warbler
103. Dartford Warbler
104. Chiffchaff
105. Stonechat
106. Blue Rock Thrush
107. Wheatear
108. Black Wheatear
109. Black Redstart
110. Robin
111. Bluethroat
112. Blackbird
113. Song Thrush
114. Mistle Thrush
115. Fieldfare
116. Bearded Tit
117. Long-tailed Tit
118. Penduline Tit
119. Coal Tit
120. Great Tit
121. Crested Tit
122. Short-toed Treecreeper
123. Wren
124. Corn Bunting
125. Reed Bunting
126. Rock Bunting
127. Cirl Bunting
128. Brambling
129. Chaffinch
130. Goldfinch
131. Greenfinch
132. Linnet
133. Serin
134. Crossbill
135. House Sparrow
136. Tree Sparrow
137. Rock Sparrow
138. Starling
139. Spotless Starling
140. Jay
141. Magpie
142. Raven
143. Carrion Crow
144. Jackdaw