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

El Planeron - just for a lark!

There are probably a number of good reasons why you might visit El Planeron, the scenery is good, but probably no better than other neighbouring areas. For the majority, myself included and the Dutch and Danish couples who I met there, there is only one reason; Dupont's Lark, El Planeron is one of the best sites to see it.

El Planeron Dupont's Lark sign

Dupont's Lark has a reasonably wide distribution in the Saragossa area and is shown on the distribution maps as also occurring in pockets further south including Ronda, although talking to Peter Jones he thought that these populations were gone. Dupont's Lark has suffered significant declines in past decades, it's classified as Near Threatened by Birdlife due to a 20% population decline 1970-1990. The Spanish Population is estimated at 2000-3000 males.

El Planeron Dupont's Lark habitat

I have never seen Dupont's Lark before so was keen to correct that, but I knew seeing the bird could be difficult. I arrived at the site around 16:00 yesterday and walked the areas listening intently until dark at 20:00. I thought I had heard one or two short bursts of its very melancholy song but wasn't sure. I decided to stay in the area overnight and in darkness at 20:30 I heard two clear bursts of song near where I was parked.
I was up at 05:30 although it wasn't light until about 07:30. At 05:45 I heard one bird singing strongly and by 06:30 there were at least three birds in the same area. As it became light I parked myself reasonably close to where I thought the song was coming from and waited. The singing reduced as it became light but still continued intermittently. The song had a mysterious habit of moving although there was no sign of anything in the steppe vegetation. Two hours later still nothing. I walked the area again and picked up several more birds singing, probably 7 males by now. This was frustrating I could hear them but not see them. I was starting to think they had an underground tunnel system to move from place to place!
By 11:00 I had given it 8 hours of solid searching and it was decision time, did I leave the larks and head for the Pyrenees as planned or stay with the larks and abandon the Pyrenees leg of the journey? I decided to stay and would have stayed until at least the following morning if necessary. I wanted to see this bird!
Occasionally the song was very close and contained some popping notes, a bit like Raven do sometimes. I caught a brief view of a bird landing after one episode of close calls and it occurred to me that they could be giving a song flight. The next time I heard the call close I looked up and saw a lark plummeting out of the sky, I can only think that it had been singing at a height that it was not visible to the naked eye. It came down quickly but I managed to see where it landed, and then it appeared, for about 20 seconds it was in view before running in to the vegetation. I grabbed the camera and fired off as many shots as I could. 

Dupont's Lark

Pam often says why don't I take the time to enjoy the bird rather than looking through a camera lens. Well this is the answer, I could have had 20 seconds of distant binocular views but now after writing this blog I will fill a glass of wine and study the photos. I may then have a second glass and look at them again, I have a permanent record of the moment the Dupont's Lark stepped out infront of me.
There were other birds in the area, plenty of Lesser Short-toed Larks, plus Calandra and a few Short-toed Larks. I saw two pairs of Stone Curlew, which were calling through the night.

Lesser Short-toed Lark

Short-toed Lark

Four Pin-tailed Sandgrouse flew over giving their characteristic kaa-kaa calls but they had almost gone by the time I got them in the camera.The Dutch couple had a party of 16 fly over yesterday.

Pin-tailed Sandgrouse - you can just about tell what they are!

So, I am heading for France now, hopefully I can pick up the Pyrenean mountain species in the French Alps.