Apologies for not updating the blog recently, however, the birdlife around Casarabonela has been active throughout the summer, incidentally one of the hottest on records. Honey buzzards ( Abejero europeo), Short-toed eagles (Culebrera europea) and Booted eagles (Aguililla calzada ) have been seen in abundance and flocks of Griffon vultures (Buitre leonardo ) have also been seen over the village.
Now the weather has turned, most of the migrants have departed back to Africa. A few northern European species have descended on us. Resident species have come down from the mountains to lower levels and we can view Crag martins (Avion roquero ), Blue rockthrush ( Roquero solitario ) and Black redstarts ( Colirrojo tizon). The Black redstarts with their characteristic bobbing up and down are fun to watch outside the house window. We saw two males at first scrapping over territory. They also appear at regular times in the morning and afternoon marking their appearance with a distinctive clacking noise. They also appear unphased by the hordes of house sparrows that dive down onto the ground to eat the dried rice put out by our neighbour.
During the summer we were at our friend’s house and witnessed Red-rumped swallows (Golondrina daurica ) trying to build a nest under the alcove of their house. Occasionally they flew into the house causing a bit of panic as the cats looked on with mischief in their eyes. We managed to shepherd them out again unharmed. They finally finished their unique shaped structure before flying back to Africa along with the Barn swallows ( Golondrina comun ) which had a nest of their own at the other end of the house.
This time of year the larger birds of prey are starting to pair up and we have already heard the calling of the Eagle owl ( Buho real ) behind us on the castle, his magnificent boom alerting the countryside of his presence. Maybe it is the same owl that was released from a bird hospital last year on the Dia de las Aves ( Day of the Birds) when we held the Casarabonela Birdfair to promote the birdlife to be found in and around the village.
