Tarifa - 15th to 21st September

Pam and I returned to Tarifa in September, flying to Gibraltar for a change and a shorter drive. All was going to plan until an announcement that heavy cloud over Gibraltar might be a problem. As we flew down the Spanish Mediterranean coast the Captain announced that we would have to land at Malaga from where a bus would be arranged for the transfer to Gib. We landed and taxied to some far off part of the airport, waited for 20 mins then the Captain announced we were now cleared to land at Gibraltar so up we went again and finally landed at our intended destination, 3 hrs late including take-off delays at Manchester. Still it was only a short drive to Tarifa from here. We hired a car from Espacar at La Linea so we left Gibraltar on foot and soon found the man with our car in the designated underground car park.
Arriving in the town we saw a few Honey Buzzards heading out over the Straits, our first Spotless Starlings and a couple of Turnstone down by the Castle.
Los Lances the following morning produced 25 Kentish Plover, 7 Knot, 3 Whimbrel and 40 Calandra Larks with a few distant Audouin's Gull in the distance on the beach. Moving on to Cazalla there were a few raptors on the move in a light SW wind ; 35 Short-toed and 31 Booted with 30 Black Stork and 23 Pallid Swifts, not a bad start.
The following morning I started again at Los Lances and was just negotiating the collapsing footbridge when a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin flew from the side of the bridge and landed in some scrub by the side of the river. The first I have seen in Spain, I walked back along the bridge and found a track close to the river and had brief views again as it flew out a landed on the top of a bush before diving in. Brief but reasonable views but no chance of a photo.
The wind was picking up a blowing a decent force 4 or 5 easterly so I headed up to Trafico where the birds appeared to be following the valley and heading just inland of the coastal watch point so I moved to the dirt track crossroads about 1km inland. Here birds were passing very close, mainly Booted Eagles (120) with a few Short-Toed Eagles and Black Kites. It provided a good opportunity to get photos of the variation in underparts colour in the Booted.

Colour variation in juvenile Booted Eagle

Moving back to the coast at La Pena had had the chance to have a good look at some of the larks on the hillside most were definitely Thekla but there also appeared to be 1 or 2 Crested. Having taken some photos I went back down to the beach near Los Lances where I had seen Crested earlier in the day to get some comparison photos. 

Thekla (left) v Crested Lark

Not the best comparison with a rather tatty Crested Lark but it shows the long curved culmen of Crested v the straight and shorter culmen of Thekla. I think it's sometimes easier to compare the shape of the culmen rather than the straight lower mandible of Crested with the slightly convex lower mandible of Thekla often quoted in books but this is more apparent in the photo below.. The breast and flank streaking of Thekla is also very obvious in this photo and is more restricted to the upper chest in Crested (see photo below).
In the afternoon I went up to La Pena and counted 12 Thekla and 2 Crested Larks allowing further comparison.

Thekla (left) v Crested Lark

In a reasonable flight view the orangey underwing of Crested Lark is usually fairly apparent compared with the greyish underwing of Thekla.

Thekla (left) v Crested Lark underwing

In the strong winds I went down to the beach to have a look at the Yellow-legged Gulls flying around the causeway to Tarifa Island. The birds were coming close and providing some good photo opportunities.

Yellow-legged Gull - moulting to 1st winter

The following day we went to La Janda which was very disappointing. Cotton appears to have been planted in many of the areas that used to be rice and the whole area is very dry, consequently there were very few herons, egrets or water birds. I did manage a single but distant Black-winged Kite, a distant juvenile Bonelli's Eagle, just two Montagu's Harriers and a more obliging juvenile Woodchat Shrike.

Woodchat Shrike juvenile

I made a few visits to the wooded valley by the Castle in Tarifa which leads up to El Olivar. It held a few common migrants such as Garden Warbler, Whitethroat and Blackcap and I also heard one of the few remaining Common Bulbul calling but failed to get any photos.

On the 19th we met our good friends Richard and Janet Hart, he and I went up to Cazalla which produced an amazing flock of 300 Alpine Swift, 62 Short-toed and 26 Booted Eagles plus singles of Spanish and Bonelli's Eagles.

Alpine Swifts

Spanish Eagle juvenile

The following day we went to Barbate, not an area I have visited too often but it proved to be a good choice, we went up the southern edge of the lagoons and soon found at least 6 Stone Curlew and a decent group of Calandra and Short-toed Larks in the neighbouring fields probably 40 or 50 Calandra and a dozen Short-toed. Audouin's and Yellow-legged Gulls were preening on the islands with at least 19 Audouin's. Several juvenile Woodchat Shrikes were sat along the fence posts and in the final patch of trees there appeared to be something of a fall of migrants with 2 Pied Flycatcher, male and female Redstart, Willow Warbler and at least 3 strikingly yellow Iberian Chiffchaff.

 

Iberian Chiffchaff - juv/1st winter

I came back the following morning when there were over 250 Calandra and 75 Short-toed Larks but only single Iberian Chiffchaff and Pied Flycatcher remained in the wood but a Tawny Pipit was an addition to the trip list.
Returning to Tarifa we drove the Santuario Road stopping for an hour at the high point. Several Griffon Vultures appeared in the distance drifting towards us and as they came closer one turned out to be an immature Ruppell's.

Ruppell's Vulture

It circled at some distance drifting north with the Griffon's but was soon lost to sight.
On my final morning I returned to Los Lances, crossing the listing wooden bridge and whilst looking at a Stonechat was surprised to see a small trip of 7 Dotterel sat in the field.

Dotterel

Our light back from Gibraltar was uneventful and it was certainly a much shorter drive then flying from Malaga so worth considering.

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