Tarifa 6th - 12th September

We had no plans to return to Tarifa this year but checking flights at the end of August there were some good Ryanair deals to Malaga (return flights for the two of us at £213) so we decided to go at fairly short notice. I thought the car hire was too good to be true with Goldcar at £50 for the week, and it was, as we had to take their insurance at £147 when we picked up the car at Malaga Airport. We booked accommodation in Tarifa at the Hostal Tarifa close to the centre which was a great location for the town, beach and the Cazalla and Trafico watchpoints. The hotel was exceptionally clean, did a basic continental breakfast from 08:00 but no other meals which suited us.
First morning we headed up to Cazalla, a fly-by Golden Oriole was a good start and we soon started to see the first birds of prey with small groups of Honey Buzzard, Short-toed and Booted Eagles. Numbers of Griffon Vultures started to appear as the air warmed and we learned of a cow carcass below the watch point which had attracted large numbers of Griffon Vultures yesterday as well as at least 3 Ruppell's Vultures Griffons. I met fellow British birders Steve Duffield and Paul Eele and after Paul and his partner had moved on Steve and I were scrutinising all the Griffons .By mid-morning the Griffons were drifting closer, showing some interest in yesterdays carcass location although they never landed. Eventually we picked up an approaching dark bird which turned, showing the pale patagial line and pale tipped body feathers with underwing coverts and body as dark as the flight feathers, clearly Ruppell's Vulture. From the photos the serrated edge to the hindwing were clearly juvenile feathers with some fresh looking inner primaries suggesting it's probably a second calendar year.

Ruppell's Vulture - probably second calendar year

As we continued to check the vultures another dark bird passed overhead. Initially I thought that this was probably a Ruppell's also but on checking the photos it lacks the distinct pale patagial line and the body and underwing coverts don't have the pale edges of the classic Ruppell's. Could this be a hybrid Ruppell's x Griffon Vulture? I did find a photo of one in Israel in July/Aug 2014 but that would presumably be the east African race of Ruppell's, erlangeri, which is a much paler bird in any case.

Possible hybrid Griffon x Ruppell's Vulture

Still looking closely at the vultures, a wing tagged Griffon came by then another darkish Griffon so perhaps the bird above is just a dark Griffon?

Griffon Vulture wing-tagged

Griffon Vulture - a dark probably second calendar year

Mick Cunningham, a friend from the UK who had been out for a week already, arrived a little later but the Griffons were then distant dots over the hillside. Small numbers of raptors continued to pass including at least 3 juvenile Montagu's Harriers and a single Black Stork plus several parties of Bee-eater and Pallid Swift. Mick had mentioned a spot with several Black-eared Wheatear on the outskirts of town so I went looking for that them in the afternoon, stopping at the start of the Santuario de la Luz road on the way. I had nice views of a juvenile Woodchat Shrike here and less good views of a Melodious Warbler but couldn't find the wheatear spot.

Woodchat Shrike - juvenile moulting to 1st winter

The following morning I started at the fields bordering the beach at Los Lances.

Short-toed Lark - juvenile

Tawny Pipit - moulting adult

At least 8 Short-toed Larks were feeding in the fields plus 4 Tawny Pipits and several dozen 'flava' wagtails which were presumably Iberian Yellow Wagtails but none came close enough to confirm. There were a few waders; single Bar-tailed Godwit and small flocks of Sanderling, Ringed Plover and Dunlin with a scattering of Kentish Plover on the beach.
I finally found Mick's La Pena area which was at km 78.5 not km 76.5 as I had thought. I think the area is actually Valle del Santuario. Whatever its called it was good for wheatears with at least 5 Black-eared and two Northern Wheatears during several visits during the week. The group included 2 dark throated and a pale throated adult males, a 1st winter male pale throated and 1st winter female. So provided a great opportunity for a close look at this difficult to identify species and western race.

Black-eared Wheatear - adult male pale throated form

Black-eared Wheatear - adult male dark throated form

Black-eared Wheatear - 1st winter male pale throated form

Black-eared Wheatear - female, difficult to age (also two photos below of same bird)

The wind stayed in the west for the next 5 days until the 10th when it shifted 180º overnight to a force 5 easterly with low cloud over the hills. Until the wind shifted there had been a steady migration of raptors; Honey Buzzards, Black Kites and Short-toed and Booted Eagles numbering several hundred of each per day plus a handful of Montagu's Harriers and other migrants like Black and White Storks and Bee-eaters. On the 9th a distant imm Bonelli's Eagle was seen to stoop at a Black Stork and then follow a flock of White Storks but without further action.

Bonelli's Eagle, probably 2cy below a flock of White Stork

On the morning of the 10th the wind moved round to a force 5 easterly with low cloud over the mountains and raptors appeared to be circling along the coast with no clear destination. Several hundred Black Kite were blogging around the Trafico watchpoint with more visible to the east all remaining close to the coast. In strong winds I decided to have a look in the sheltered trees by the nearby Migres offices. I soon found Bonelli's Warbler and several Garden Warblers and Blackcap with single Common Redstart and an Iberian Chiffchaff that sang briefly.

Coastal path below Trafico with Morocco in the distance

The following morning in what was perhaps a gusting force 6 easterly the coast was fairly cloud free but there was heavy cloud immediately inland. There were perhaps 500 Black Kite attempting to fly east but many were landing on the hillside close to Trafico presumably waiting for the wind to subside.

Black Kites resting from the strong easterly wind

Many birds continued to move slowly east, some coming very close to the watchpoint.

Black Kite adult left foreground with juv inset to right

After a couple of hours at Trafico we drove inland to Facinas and then drove down the Santuario de la Luz road. Large groups of raptors were following the line of the road heading towards the coast. Several hundred Honey Buzzard were counted but there must have been several times this number across the valley, and I only watched for about 45 mins so it could have been thousands during the day. There were also Short-toed and Booted Eagles but fewer Black Kites here.

Honey Buzzard - male

Short-toed Eagle at eye level

The following morning was our last in Tarifa, the wind was still strongly in the east but there was a dense cloud cover with low cloud over the mountains. I counted at least 200 Short-toed Eagles in 2 hours ( I understand the count for the 12th at Cazalla was 2000 Short-toed!) along with 100 Booted Eagles, at least 500 Black Kite, several hundred Honey Buzzard, 20 close Black Stork and 50 Egyptian Vulture. It was an amazing sight to see clouds of raptors circling low over Tarifa, a spectacular end to a great week at Tarifa.

Black Stork juvenile

Southern Spain Part II - Tarifa

We arrived at Tarifa late in the afternoon and checked in to the delightful Meson de Sancho hotel, as I locked up the van I noticed several Short-toed Eagles flying back inland from the nearby coast, presumably to roost overnight having decided not to make the crossing today. I ended up standing next to the van for over an hour and counted 50 Short-toed and 10 Booted Eagles,10 Black Kite, 6 Honey Buzzards, 4 Griffon and single Egyptian Vulture plus 6 Black Stork, 4 Alpine and 15 Pallid Swift all crossing the road above the hotel. A fantastic welcome to Tarifa!

Short-toed Eagle

I was up early the following morning, although it was almost 8:00 before it was properly light. I caught several Short-toed Eagles heading back towards the coast whilst Serin and Robins called from the hotel garden.

Plenty of decent habitat around the hotel pool

After breakfast we headed a few kilometres down the coast to the Cazalla raptor watchpoint. Between 09:45 and 13:00 we recorded the following;
Short-toed Eagle 106
Booted Eagle 104
Black Kite 10
Common Buzzard 1
Honey Buzzard 2
Spanish Imperial Eagle 1 immature
Lesser Spotted Eagle 1
Egyptian Vulture 12
Griffon Vulture 15
White Stork 100+
Black Stork 150

Raptor watching at Cazalla

Booted Eagle

Black Storks

Honey Buzzard - juvenile

Unfortunately the Spanish Imperial and Lesser Spot were distant but had some great views of everything else.
In the afternoon we took the boat trip into the Straits. The Bottle-nosed Dolphins came right up to the boat and included at least one calf, they looked to be enjoying themselves and several animals had a spell of breeching. 

Bottle-nosed Dolphin - adult with calf

Bottle-nosed Dolphin breeching

A pod of Pilot Whales appeared next and again we were treated to boat side views of these superb animals.

Pilot Whale

Birds were few and far between but we managed 4 or 5 Scopoli's Shearwaters and a small flock of terns which looked like Black but were rather distant.
The following morning we went down to the hide at Los Lances beach just West of Tarifa. We had great views of Knot, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit and a single Curlew Sandpiper in with the Dunlin. The Kentish Plovers were a little distant as was a group of around 20 Audouin's Gulls with  a similar number of Yellow-legged.
Across the road we had several Tawny Pipits along with the common Stonechats and Corn Bunting.
Returning to the hotel for lunch we added Short-toed Treecreeper and Firecrest to the holiday list and I had nice views of a female Sardinian Warbler before heading to the flooded rice fields of La Janda. 

Sardinian Warbler

We made a slight, but unsuccessful, diversion to the cliffs behind Bolonia following a call from Mick Cunningham to alert us to a Ruppell's Vulture on the cliffs but it left before we got there.
There were large numbers of Glossy Ibis and White Storks in the paddy fields and we had 3 Black-winged Kites along the dirt track that dissects the area, one was reasonably close and peared down at us looking almost cat like, but the other 2 were rather distant and heat haze can be a problem with distant birds.

Black-winged Kite

Further on a small river passed under the track and we had several Red-rumped Swallows hawking overhead.
I got up early the following morning and went down to Tarifa beach with a view to photographing the Audouin's Gulls. They were not quite where they had been yesterday so I had a long walk up the beach but got some photos just after the sun rose.

Audouin's Gull - adult and 2cy

On the walk back I came across two Iberian Chiffchaff fly catching from some stunted pines close to the beach. I was surprised how yellow they looked and wondered if I had misidentified some earlier birds around Los Palacios as Willow Warbler at the start of the week.

Iberian Chiffchaff

We returned to Cabala after breakfast. Birds were a bit higher than our previous visit but we had several hundred Booted and Short-toed Eagles with Booted the commonest. Several parties of Alpine Swift appeared overhead and disappeared just as quickly. A few more Honey Buzzard and some close Griffon Vulture and a single Goshawk gave us some variety before heading back for lunch.

Griffon Vulture

In the afternoon we returned to La Janda and were quickly rewarded with a female Montagu's Harrier and, surprisingly, my first Squacco Heron of the trip. A large flock of Woodpigeon numbering several hundred had not been there two days ago. Further on we found a nice Purple Heron and superb juvenile Woodchat Shrike amongst a scattering of migrants including Whinchat, Redstart and Pied Flycatcher.
On our final morning Phil and I went down to Tarifa beach, a change in wind direction had brought Scopoli's Shearwaters much closer inshore but still distant for photos. 

Scopoli's Shearwater

All too soon we were heading for Malaga airport and our flight home. It was a fantastic trip and I won't forget the circling raptors over Cazalla or Little Swifts at Chipiona. Thanks to all the members of Cambridge U3A for making it such an enjoyable adventure.

Lake Kerkini - Part 2

The weather changed on the 22nd April, after 5 days of clear blue skies it became overcast and we had some heavy rain overnight.
Returning from the airport with Pam we stopped at Mandraki Harbour where a party of 52 Glossy Ibis were busy washing, preening and wing flapping which indicates that they are probably recently arrived migrants.

Glossy Ibis

On the 23rd we took a boat trip out on to the lake which provided great views of the pelicans, although to avoid disturbing the breeding birds the boats keep a sensible distance away from the nesting areas. The water has been rising steadily for the past 3 or 4 days. This is controlled rise to fill the lake in order to provide water for crop irrigation through the summer but it does enable better boat access in to some of the areas where the cormorants, egrets, and herons sit during the day. 

Pelicans - White in the foreground and Dalmatian at the rear

Whilst on the boat we had a party of a dozen Whiskered Terns, which are my first for the area.
It rained again in the night and the following morning I did an early morning walk around where we are staying at Korifoudi. It was immediately apparent that there were new birds around, the number of Golden Oriole calling had risen dramatically, I estimated at least 20 in the immediate area. 

Golden Oriole - male

Birds noted on the walk were as follows;
Red-backed Shrike 4 males - new for the trip
Masked Shrike 1 male
Lesser Grey Shrike 2 - had my first of the trip yesterday
Lesser Whitethroat 1
Golden Oriole 20
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler 6
Turtle Dove 22
Black-headed Wagtail 2
Nightingale 15+ these have been around for some time.
Black Stork 1 giving superb views

Lesser Grey Shrike

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

Red-backed Shrike - male

Black Stork

Not bad for a couple of hours walking around Korifoudi!
Driving around the lake we had several more Red-backed Shrikes and good numbers of Bee-eaters along with the usual pelicans, cormorants and herons.
I had hoped that by spending some time at Kerkini I would witness the arrival of migrants from the south and I had experienced just that.
I'll be exploring some of the other birding sites on the coast around Thessalonika over the next few days to see what they have to offer.

Monfrague

Another poor weather forecast with occasional bright spells interspersed with heavy rain, we headed from the beautiful town of Placencia to Monfrague.
With light rain falling we made our first stop at the Tajadilla picnic area where the Griffon Vultures were soon joined by Black and then a beautiful adult Egyptian Vulture.

Egyptian Vulture

There was a Cirl Bunting singing as we pulled in to the parking area and after we had been parked for 20 minutes there was a sudden influx of Azure-winged Magpies. Fortunately Pam had some bred so we managed to attract several of about 15 birds in to the picnic area.

Azure-winged Magpie

We moved on to the Portilla del Tietar mirador after a brief coffee break at the nearby hotel rural. We had only been parked a few minutes before a superb adult Spanish Imperial Eagle flew over.

Spanish Imperial Eagle

We could see the nest from the viewpoint and it wasn't long before the second bird of the pair flew past, landed and collected a branch and then returned to the nest. 

Spanish Imperial Eagle with nest material

Shortly afterwards a Black Vulture came past carrying some nesting material, although many of the Griffon Vulture nests had small young we were still at the start of the breeding season.

Black Vulture

In-between some torrential downpours we moved on to the famous Pana Falcon viewpoint, we had brief views of a male Subalpine Warbler on the way but it was the vultures which stole the show at Pena Falcon. After the rain they sat with wings outstretched to dry making a fine spectacle.

Griffon Vulture drying its wings

The Pena Falcon is famous for the Black Storks which nest there and we saw three or four birds whilst we were there.

Black Stork

On return to our hotel I finally caught up with a Serin, singing in the hotel garden.

Serin

An amazing day despite the poor weather.