Well, after the amount of rain we have had, we decided on one of the few dry days this year to check on the Bonellis eagles (Aguila azor perdicera) to see if they survived the downpours. We waited for about an hour and there was no movement in the area. We were getting a bit anxious until we spotted movement in the sky. The male settled and we were able to observe him through the telescope. The female then took to the sky and we could see the difference in size between her and the male. Both were in good health and it seems that they were using the same nest area as last year. Let’s hope they are successful in raising young this year. We will be keeping an eye on them and will report on their progress as time goes by.
Last week I spotted the first of this year’s swift as I sat writing last week’s blog. Looking out of the window I spotted an Alpine swift (Vencejo real) closely followed by Common swifts (Vencejo comun). As the week has gone by the numbers have swelled and are a regular feature in the evening with their distinctive screams as they fly overhead. They will be around now until August and their numbers can reach into the hundreds as they fly around the main church in the village.
On Saturday, we travelled to Malaga to the Rio Guadalhorce estuary and nature reserve with members of the Andalucian Bird Society. The weather was overcast and warm but with rain forcast. However, this didn’t deter us from a good day out with like minded birdwatchers. With so many pairs of eyes it would be hard to miss anything and we spotted at least 45 species with some of the others seeing 50 plus. It is generally a good place to visit but this time the water level was so high some of the waders were absent. However, what we spotted made up for their non-appearance. Our first “lifer” was the Ruddy Shelduck (Tarro canelo) that flew in and landed on the river as we walked along the bankside. Even if it possibly was an escapee it was good to see nonetheless.
The background birdsong was a mixture of Serins (Verdecillo), Zitting Cisticolas or Fan tailed warblers (Buitron) and Monk Parakeets (Cortorra monje) accompanied by Goldfinches (Jilguero) and Cettis Warbler (Ruisenor bastardo –great name!).
The overwintering Osprey (Aguila pescadora) was still there and was joined on one of the dead trees by two Booted eagles (Aguililla calzada) and a Peregrine falcon (Halcon peregrino).
Walking down to the Sea view lookout point there were many gulls sitting on the sea, mostly Lesser Black backed (Gaviota sombria), however, we had a couple of seabird experts with us and they pointed out a Slender billed gull (Gaviota picofino) and a Great Skua (Pagalo grande), both a first for Sarah and I.
We also spotted a few Mediteranean gull (Gaviota cabecinegra) and a couple of Razorbills (Alca comun). We missed out on the Gannet (Alcatraz atlantico) though which would have been nice.
All in all a very pleasant day before the rain started about lunchtime. Always a good place to visit as it is the first stop-off point for many birds returning from Africa and it always throws up a few rarities.
