For our spring holiday this year we decided on south Spain, the main aim being to try and connect with White-rumped Swifts. I got information on sites from “Where to watch birds - Southern and Western Spain, Garcia and Paterson”, which gives details on how to access all the main birding sites and what species to expect. Andy Paterson and Nic Hallam also provided some extra information for which I was very grateful. The literature suggests that White-rumped Swifts arrive in early May and that the key site is Bolonia. We booked flights with Easyjet from Glasgow to Malaga and used Costasur.com to book apartments in Bolonia. For our final night I used Booking.com to book Hotel Los Dolmenes on the outskirts of Antequera, which meant we were within easy travelling distance of Malaga on our final night. Finally we used Carjet to book a car with Goldcar at Malaga Airport.
Our trip got off to a bad start as the ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland, meant that our flight out of Glasgow on 5th May was cancelled. We managed to rebook with Easyjet for a flight out on the 7th May.
7th May. Arrived 1320 local time and picked up the car and were soon on the road west. Drove along the motorway, the tolls only came to about 7 euros, but the road was fast and fairly quiet. Just before Tarifa we stopped by the roadside, near a windfarm. It was quite windy and the only raptor a distant Short-toed Eagle. Nice views of a Tawny Pipit We continued onto Bolonia and checked into our apartments in the village. Spotless Starling and Collared Dove in the garden. After settling in we went for a walk along the beach. By the river mouth a small pool forms where we found three Sanderling, offshore two Sandwich Tern and lots of small flocks of Lesser Black-backed Gulls moving north. Walked up to the pinewoods at the north end of the beach. Here lots of Chaffinch, Goldfinch, two Spotted Flycatchers and a Great-spotted Woodpecker.
8th May. Woke early 0630 so could be at the traditional cave site on the Sierra de la Plata just above Bolonia by first light. It was pitch black, but as I left the local House Sparrows were chirping away. Arrived at the layby at the viewpoint below the cave in the half light. Wrens and Sardinian Warblers were singing in the scrub and then a Blue Rock Thrush on the crag. Unfortunately no sign of any swifts leaving the cave, only a couple of Crag Martins. Some compension in the form of a nice Golden Oriole.
Drove back down to the village. On roadside wires a small group of Bee-eaters and a Melodious Warbler. The fields held singing Corn Buntings, groups of Serin, Greenfinch and Linnet. Checked the pool at the beach, where a Black-winged Stilt, a Kentish Plover and a Dunlin were present. Nice view of a Common Nightingale singing from wires above the riverside scrub.
After breakfast we headed for La Janda, following the canal track accessed of the main E5 road opposite the Zahara turnoff. In the large cereal fields many White Stork, Cattle Egrets, Crested Larks, at least one Calandra Lark and a few Yellow Wagtails. By one flooded field a Little Ringed Plover. In the channels and on the canal lots of Mallard and a few Moorhen, whilst the reeds held both Reed and Cetti’s Warblers. Also flushed a Black-crowned Night Heron. Drove to the end of the track and then turned right up towards Benalup. In trackside trees a nice Cattle Egret colony. The road went up a hill towards a farmyard. Obviously a game rearing area with lots of Pheasants, Red-legged Partridge, also many Jackdaws, Wood Pigeons and overhead 20+ Black Kites. On a roadside fence nice views of a Little Owl. North of the farm at a road junction there was a small rushy pool, where we flushed a Purple Swamphen. We turned right along the track, but it soon became too rutted to drive along. We got out and walked a bit getting good views of Turtle Dove, Woodchat Shrike, Stonechat, Common Whitethroat and Common Nightingale. Headed back to the car and retraced our steps, slightly disappointed that we had not seen a greater variety of species at this birding hotspot.
Once back on the main road we drove down to Zahara and through to Atlanterra. At the south end of the resort went up a series of zigzag roads through a new residential development. This took us up into the lower slopes of the north side of the Sierra de la Plata. In the bushes more Woodchat Shrike, Stonechat and Sardinian Warbler. On the flower rich pasture a nice Black-eared Wheatear. Overhead a pair of Short-toed Eagles, a nice Booted Eagle and a pair of displaying Sparrow Hawk, also our first Red-rumped Swallows but no swifts.
Drove back to Bolonia and in the evening I went back up to the cave. On the crag on the way up to the cave found a pair of Peregrine and Egyptian Vulture. Nice views of Griffon Vulture nesting on the crag east of the Cave. A Green Woodpecker yaffled from the wood below the cave, but remained out of site, could only spot a pair of Great Tit. Still no swifts!
9th May. Another early start to check the cave. Very cool and cloudy with a strong wind and no swifts. 22 Griffon Vultures drifted past. Checked out the beach on my way back, a Ringed Plover was the only new arrival. The strong wind was pushing seabirds closer to the shore, mostly Gannets, but also a Cory’s Shearwater.
After breakfast we decided to head east. It was now raining heavily – not what we expected in sunny Spain! We drove up the A405 to Jimena de la Frontera. It was still pretty cloudy, but showers rather than continuous rain. We zig zagged up through the narrow streets to a small carpark just below the castle. I walked up to the castle ,where the surrounding scrub contained lots of Serin, Blue Tit, singing Blackcap and a Cuckoo. On the crags below six Griffon Vultures sat dejectedly holding their wings out to dry. A Raven flew up the valley. A male Lesser Kestrel flew in to land on the keep. A Peregrine shot by diving down to scatter the pigeons in the town below. Lots of swifts drifted over but they were all Commons.
As the cloud lowered yet again we decided to cut our losses and head for Gibraltar. Arrived and parked at the base of the cable car. Did a bit of shopping then took the cable car to the top station and walked back down. It was now warm and sunny. Only passerine of note on way back down was a female Pied Flycatcher. Towards the north end of the rock, near the entrance to the World War Two tunnels did a spot of raptor watching. Had six Black Kites and three Honey Buzzards pass over.
10th May. Woke up to find it was pouring with rain! About 10am it cleared a bit. A look at the beach revealed nothing new, bar a Garden Warbler in the scrub by the bridge. We decided to head east again and up A405 to Castillo de Castellar. By the time we arrived the continuous rain was replaced by heavy showers. On the castle a nice male Blue Rock Thrush and two pair Lesser Kestrel. A few swifts, but once again all commons. It began to brighten up and this led to a burst of raptor activity; a Booted Eagle, a few Black Kite and Honey Buzzard and lots of Griffon Vultures.
After lunch we dropped down to explore the oak woods below Castellar. On the left hand side of the road was a small layby, where we parked and followed the old road through the woods. Typical woodland birds including Jay, Blue Tit, a Long-tailed Tit, a couple of Short-toed Treecreeper and Robin. Warblers included Melodious, a Western Bonelli’s and in a more luxuriant bit of woodland an Iberian Chiffchaff. On an open ride with power lines lots of Bee-eaters and a Hoopoe. Quite a nice variety in a small area.
It had now brightened up as we headed for our final destination of the day – Sotogrande. On leaving the motorway at the first roundabout we followed the signs for Sotogrande Servico and then turned left at a sign saying Sotogrande Costa. We had to pass through a security barrier, but this just opened as we approached it. We followed the road down till we reached the beach, where we parked. I had been given details of this site by Nic Hallam, who found it last summer. As I walked down I immediately spotted a White-rumped Swift over some flooded pools. Got excellent views before it drifted off inland. I continued down to the river mouth where Nic had up to seven birds in early evenings last June. Found a large roost of Yellow-legged Gulls, with a Little Egret and four roosting Spoonbill, plus a pair of Zitting Cisticola feeding young, but no swifts. I headed back north up through the field passing the pools, seeing a few Yellow Wagtail, a White Wagtail, a Northern Wheatear and a Common Sandpiper. As I got closer to the resort there were several House Martin and a Red-rumped Swallow over one of the pools and then a pair of White-rumped Swift. They flew back and forth again giving excellent views and were eventually joined by a third bird. Elated I headed back to the car. This appears a good reliable site for these birds in the early evening.
11th May. There had been torrential rain overnight so everything was a bit muddy around Bolonia. A Melodious Warbler in the riverside scrub was the highlight of my pre-breakfast walk. We then packed, settled up and headed once more east then up the A405. Again we were subject to low cloud and bursts of rain. North of Gaucin stopped by some roadside mixed woodland where we found Crested Tit and Firecrest. As we got higher the cloud got thicker, so could not appreciate the views. About 8km south of Ronda the cloud broke to reveal an interesting looking area of karst limestone. I parked and went for a short walk and came up with a Little Owl,Thekla Larks, a Southern Grey Shrike, a few nice Black-eared Wheatears, a pair of Spectacled Warblers and overhead some Red-billed Choughs. This was a nice area that would have benefited from a bit more time.
Continued on past Ronda towards Campillos. A brief lunchtime stop at Teba Gorge revealed Red-legged Partridges, a Woodchat Shrike and several Black Wheatear on the slopes above the road, whilst in the gorge we spotted Alpine Swift, Crag Martin and some pure looking Rock Doves.
Drove on and just past Campillos stopped at Laguna Dulce. It was full of water, with a pair of Shoveler, a few pairs of Great Crested Grebe and lots of Coot. Hawking over the water were Black-headed Gulls, Gull-billed Terns and a single Black Tern along with hundreds of Swifts, mostly Common but some definite Pallid Swifts. Waders around the edges included Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Lapwing, Avocet and Common Redshank.
We continued east and took the next left signposted for Sierra de Yeguas. At the first junction down this road turned right and this led us to Laguna de la Fuente de Piedra. Where the road came closest to the lagoon we stopped and I scoped the lagoon. Not a lot on the water, a pair of Black-necked Grebe and a single male Red-crested Pochard, but on the far side in the west corner vast concentrations of Greater Flamingos. Because of the cloud and wind there was no heat haze, which can be a problem at this site. I carefully scoped through each group of flamingos till I eventually spotted a smaller pure pink one – a Lesser Flamingo. It was on the edge of a large grouping and despite the distance I got reasonable views, particularly when it stretched its neck and flapped its wings. This was very nice and unexpected.
We continued on into Fuente de Piedra and down to the western edge of the lagoon by the visitor centre. The water level was very high, pushing the birds quite close to the tracks. There were lots of waders in the shallows, especially local Black-winged Stilts, Avocets and Kentish Plovers but also good numbers of Ringed Plover and Dunlin, with a few Little Stint, summer plumage Curlew Sandpipers and Knot, all feeding furiously. There were also thousands of Swifts feeding over the lagoon, mainly Common but with some Pallid, along with Sand Martin, House Martin and Swallow.
We walked up past the visitor centre to the hides overlooking the pools. Many nesting Black-winged Stilts and Avocets on the islands, a few Common Pochard and a Little Grebe out on the water, but not much else. It had been a long day so we headed to our final accommodation – Hotel Los Dolmenes on the outskirts of Antequera. As we sat having a beer on the balcony a Montagu’s Harrier hunted back and forward over the olive grove in front of the hotel.
12th May. After breakfast we headed for Malaga (having heard that the airport which was closed yesterday due to the ash cloud had now reopened). Traffic wasn’t too bad around Malaga so arrived with time to spare. Decided to visit the Gaudalhorce reserve by Guadalmar. The pools held a variety of duck; Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveler, Common Pochard, but the highlight were 10 male White-headed Duck, many displaying to a single female. On one of the pools closest to the beach a nice adult Audouin’s Gull. In the surrounding reeds and scrub many singing Reed, Cetti’s and Sardinian Warblers and Zitting Cisticolas. Finally I took a walk from the bridge down the river, where there were several Little Egrets and a single Squacco Heron. As I returned to the car a noisy group of Monk Parakeets flew by.
Headed to the airport and returned car, having done about 1000km and having seen 122 different species – including the swifts!
robert.swann@homecall.co.uk