Back to Spain 4th September - 8th October 2017 Part 2 Tarifa to the French Alps

From Tarifa on the 17th we headed north for Granada, we made a few stops and added Dipper, Grey Wagtail and 4 Rock Bunting to our trip list. on the 18th we drove up to the ski village of Sierra Nevada. Not many birds here but much cooler and great views also plenty of Crag Martins feeding around the ski village.
Continuing our northward journey we next stopped at Motril where I visited the small reserve of Charco Suarez which is still one of the best places in Spain for Crested Coot, thanks to a reintroduction programme. There was some interaction between the two species of coot and it seemed to be the Cresteds that were chasing the Eurasians. The photo shows the pale trailing edge to the wing due to the paler secondaries which is restricted to just the secondary tips in Crested, Also has Purple Swamphen, a single male Ferruginous Duck and several Spoonbill.

Crested Coot chasing Eurasian Coot

Crested Coot

Next stop was the rocky headland of Cabo de Gata, a place I had heard of but never visited before. It is famous as one of the only places in Spain and Europe where Trumpeter Finch can be found. I searched the headland around the lighthouse but without success although a Black Wheatear showed nicely. I always think of them as birds of the mountains but they are just as happy on the coast.

There is a large hill just inland from the lighthouse, the vegetation on the coastal side had clearly been damaged by fire which didn't look good but as I started to walk around its lower slopes I disturbed a small finch, a Trumpeter Finch. I remained motionless and scanned the hillside picking up several more until I had counted 20 of them!

Trumpeter Finch

We stayed on a campsite a few kilometres inland and from there I could walk over some rough ground to a coastal pool called Rambla Morales. Here I saw Southern Grey Shrike, Subalpine and Spectacled Warblers, Black-necked Grebe, White-headed Duck and several Red-rumped Swallows. Gulls were coming to bath in the fresh water and as I got closer I could see that they were all Slender-billed. Almost all were adults and some were very pink on the breast and outer primaries.

Slender-billed Gull - adult

Continuing up the coast for another 150km we stopped at Mazarron, just short of Cartagena. The rough dry scrub between the town and the coastal port was typical of the area and produced more Black Wheatears and at least a dozen Subalpine as well as 4 or 5 Spectacled Warblers which I spent some time trying to photograph.

Subalpine Warbler juv - they yellow flowers have given this bird a yellowish cast to mantle

Spectacled Warbler - juvenile

Spectacled (left) and Subalpine Warblers

Spectacled Warbler

Black Wheatear

We did the short distance from Mazzaron to Cartagena on the 24th September and stayed in the town for a couple of nights. From here we visited the lagoon at San Pedro del Pinatar. This was amazing for Black-necked Grebe I estimated 600 on the first visit and then counted 740 on my second visit which included two leucistic birds.

Black-necked Grebe including leucistic bird

The area was also very good for Slender-billed Gulls with some birds very close to the promenade which crosses the lagoon. 

I counted 30 on the first day but over 100 on the second but surprisingly I only saw 2 birds in first summer plumage which are pictured below.

Slender-billed Gulls - both first summer

There were a few shorebirds, mainly Sanderling which again were very confiding but I also had Little Stint and Kentish Plover.

Kentish Plover

Next stop Calpe, similar birds with plenty of migrant Subalpine Warblers in the scrub on the outskirts of town. Alpine Accentors move down from the mountains to winter here but it will be sometime yet before they arrive. A flock of Yellow-collared Lovebirds were in the trees by the campsite when I arrived, I'd seen Monk Parakeets in most of the towns on the Mediterranean coast but these were new for me.

Yellow-collared Lovebirds - I think the blue one is a colour morph

We carried on the Ebro Delta, I was here in Spring 2016 and it's a fantastic area with a huge breeding colony of Audouin's Gulls but by 27th September when I arrived I only saw about a dozen birds and all adults. At least 500 Greater Flamingo were a real spectacle, especially as they left the lagoons in small groups on a morning presumably to feeding grounds on the coast.

Greater Flamingo

In the bushes there were a few migrant Pied Flycatchers and Common Redstarts and in the evening Scops Owls called from the small wooded campsite where we stayed but day-time searches failed to reveal them. I looked for a Pacific Golden Plover which had been seen in recent days but the weather had turned and it was raining and I couldn't find it so spent some time photographing a yellow wagtail. I think this is a 1st winter male Blue-headed Wagtail.

Blue-headed Wagtail - 1st winter male

Pam was flying home from Barcelona on 2nd October and we had planned to stay over in the city before she left but with the Catalonian independence election taking place on 1st October and demonstrations planned we decided to stay over in Tossa de Mar. The was quite a bit of trouble in Barcelona but the elections went off peacefully in the smaller villages we visited. Not many birds to add here but nice views of Firecrest and I caught up with a Two-tailed Pasha in the hills above Tossa. Not the freshest example but they are superb butterflies.

Two-tailed Pasha

Having dropped Pam at the airport I headed north in to France finally stopping on the top of the Col du Galibier. After the heat of Spain it was quite a contrast to be in the French Alps. The temperature dropped to a frosty -3°C overnight which made quite a pleasant change! As I drove up to the col a small group of passerines flew across the road and proved to be Alpine Accentors and with the sun shining I managed some decent photos.

Alpine Accentor

I also had a group of 20 White-winged Snowfinch but they remained distant on inaccesible slopes so sadly no photos. The only other birds on the col were Water Pipits which appeared to be crossing the col and Alpine Chough. Leaving the col and after a coffee and croissant at the restaurant I stopped in the valley at Bonnenuit and had barely exited the van when a Lammergier crossed overhead.

Lammergier or Bearded Vulture

I stopped for a few days at my brothers just outside Samoens before the final drive to Calais and the ferry back to Dover getting home on 8th October after another great trip.