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.

Mont Ventoux

I left the Crau and headed for Mont Ventoux but decided to call in at Les Baux-de-Provence, the site is well known for Wall Creeper and Alpine Accentor in the winter but I think it is a bit late for those species, it was pretty much on the way however.
Les Baux is a beautiful walled town and worth a visit in any case. I did a complete circuit of the outer perimeter and had several Sardinian and a pair of Subalpine Warblers, my first female of the trip, but no sign of any accentors or Wall Creeper.

Subalpine Warbler - female

Les Baux-de-Provence

At Mont Ventoux I drove as far as the barrier where the road is closed, just above the village of Mont Serein and walked to the top from there, about 6km (the road is closed until 15th May). There was quite a bit of snow of the road as I got higher. I had several Ring Ousel calling in the woods but little else of note but the views were amazing.

Ring Ousel - male

I repeated the drive to Mont Serein the following morning. I soon found several parties of Citril Finch and an area with at least three singing male Woodlark. At Mont Serein there was a pair of Rock Bunting by the road side and several more groups of Citril Finch, a group of 8 was feeding on the road into the village but there were so few vehicles they were not disturbed very often. What superb birds they are, the males in vibrant green. A group of 8 Crossbill joined them briefly.

Citril Finch

From Mont Ventoux I went to Col de Lauteret, still no Snow Finch but I did see the Alpine Chamois, it was cold with still complete snow cover around the Col. The only bird seen were White Wagtails, Crag Martin and a couple of Water Pipit. 

Col de Lauteret

Col de Lauteret was the final stop on my way the to Alps near Chamonix, we owned a flat at Morillon for a dozen years and my brother has lived in the area for almost 30 so this is familiar territory and I hope to pick up some more birds for the trip there.

Ronda

I've spent the last two days in the Ronda area and am leaving slightly disappointed but I'm not sure why. It's an absolutely beautiful area and I saw some fantastic birds but struggled to get close to many of them which was a bit frustrating so that's probably it.
I started on Tuesday with Peter Jones who has an unrivalled knowledge of the birds of the Ronda area. He has also studied the Black Wheatear population so there is probably nobody better to show you where they are. We spent most of the day in the Llanos de Liber valley which is a fantastic area with a wide variety of habitats.

Llanos de Liber - the sky really was that blue!

We soon found singing male Black Wheatears but they seem to choose the tops of the valley sides to sing from making it difficult to get close. Black Wheatears only occur in Iberia, Morocco and Libya so have quite a restricted range they are also resident unlike our Northern Wheatear which we also saw along with migrant Black-eared Wheatears which are just returning.

Black Wheatear

A Thekla Lark put on a good show, Thekla's are resident in the valley but Crested Larks are common in the open cultivated areas and around the towns so we were able to make a good comparison. The shorter less curved bill of Thekla Lark is probably the most reliable field characteristic.

Thekla Lark

Crested Lark

Further up the valley we encountered Rock Sparrows, Rock and Cirl Buntings and Dartford Warblers.
Red-billed Chough is very common in the valley but again stick to the higher cliff faces.
Peter then took me on a tour of some of the other good birding spots around Ronda. I managed a photo of the Iberian race of Green Woodpecker (sharpei) which lacks the black around the eye of UK birds. 

Green Woodpecker Picus viridis sharpei

Although I have heard, and glimpsed, Cetti's Warbler at almost every stop in Spain I finally managed a photo by the river Guadiaro.

Cetti's Warbler

This morning I was in a hide set up by Pieter Verheij who runs Spanish Nature with Peter Jones.The hide has a special reflective glass front so the birds are completely oblivious of the photographers present. The glass is also slightly tinted so you loose a little light. 

The Agaba hide at first light with Pieter Verheij putting out the food

I got nice photos of some of the common woodland species which were similar to the UK; Nuthatch, Jay, Blue and Great Tits plus Subalpine Warbler and Serin but some of the other birds the pond attracts such as Bonelli's and Melodious Warblers and Nightingale are only just arriving, Booted Eagles also visit the hide and although I saw them over the tree tops they never came close. I wasn't entirely happy taking photos through the glass although the photos themselves look OK.

Subalpine Warbler - Agaba Hide

Whilst in the Ronda area I visited several Bonelli's Eagle nesting territories but had no luck in seeing them. I guess if the birds have eggs or young chicks the adults may not be that active now.
I considered going back over to the Cadiz area to visit sites like La Janda but have decided to move up the Mediterranean coast tomorrow.

Route so far, looking a little messy in southern Spain