Coto Donana & the Alentejo with Bird Holidays 28th April - 5th May - Part 2 Mertola

Driving from Huelva we followed the coast road in to Portugal, crossing the Rio Guadiana then heading north to Mertola which is also on the Guadiana.

Mertola

We made  brief stop at a bridge over the river and added Blue Rock Thrush and a small lizard, the Large Psammodromus.

Large Psammodromus

After dropping off our bags at the well placed Hotel Museu we did a short trip around some of the upland meadows of the Alentejo. 

flower fields of the Alentejo

The flowers were spectacular but so were the birds and we soon added Little Bustard and Thekla Larks to our growing list.

Little Bustard

The Little Bustard was inevitably distant but still gave good views through a telescope, especially when it puffed out its throat in display and jumped in the air.
Both Crested Lark and Thekla Larks occur here so their separation is quite a challenge! The Thekla Lark has a shorter, stubbier bill and has darker black markings on its breast but you would need to spend some time here to grasp the subtleties of the two species.

Thekla Lark

Back at the hotel we could now see several occupied Lesser Kestrel nest boxes on the side of buildings below the castle. Something to check out tomorrow!
The following morning we set off towards Castro Verde and had not driven far before a large bird of prey appeared against the hillside; an immature Spanish Imperial Eagle. It was being mobbed by a female Montagu's Harrier but dropped away from us over the top of the hill and was lost to view. A little further on we followed the track at Monte del Aprica where nest boxes have been erected for Roller and Lesser Kestrel. We saw at least three pairs of Roller but stayed in the vehicle as we passed the nest boxes to minimise disturbance of what is becoming an increasingly rare bird in Europe.

Roller

As we watched from a safe distance one bird flew in the air and twisted from side to side in a display flight that gives the bird it name.
More Little Bustards and several Great Bustard were seen against the hillside and there strange mating calls carried across the grasslands. A party of around 30 Black-bellied Sandgrouse broke the skyline and circled before dropping out of view. At the visitor centre at Herdade de Vale Goncalinho we saw more Lesser Kestrel in man made nest holes and a single Red Kite. After lunch we drove a little further and a lone bird of prey circling over the hillside turned out to be a migrating Honey Buzzard.

Honey Buzzard

We heard several Wryneck in both Spain and Portugal but finally found a bird sitting in the open on a dead tree and calling repeatedly that everyone managed to see.

Wryneck

In the evening I returned to the Lesser Kestrel nest boxes at Mertola. The birds were out hunting during the day but returned to the nest boxes to roost which gave a good opportunity for some photos.

Lesser Kestrel - adult male

Lesser Kestrel - malereturning to the nest box with a large millipede

Lesser Kestrel - female

It was an early start the following morning, we did a similar route to yesterday but setting out at 06:30. The birds were more active at this time of day and one of the birds we were keen to see rewarded us as first one Great Spotted Cuckoo, followed by a second bird crossed the road and landed together on the hillside.

Great Spotted Cuckoo - a pair

As we drove further on we came across a pale buzzard sat on a low hill. It was clearly a Long-legged Buzzard of the North African race cirtensis the so called Atlas Long-legged Buzzard. They are smaller than the Eastern race I have seen in Turkey and Greece and lack the long, narrower winged appearance of that bird. Confusingly intergrades occur with Common Buzzard, called the Gibraltar Buzzard so its difficult to know if this was a pure Long-legged Buzzard on our views, it was rather tatty in any case.

Long-legged Buzzard

Close by a female Great Bustard popped up by the roadside and had a good look at us before walking off to a safe distance.

Great Bustard - female

A visit to the river at Pulo do Lobo produced Crag Martin sat on its cup shaped nest and both Rock and Cirl Buntings. 

Pulo do Lobo

We also had several Woodlark singing by the entrance gates which circled overhead whilst delivering their lovely song. 
All too soon the day was over bringing our bird filled week to an end but with some fantastic experiences, memories and great company.

Back to Spain 4th September - 8th October 2017 Part 1 Drive to Tarifa

I left the UK in the camper late on Monday 4th September and caught the 01:45 ferry from Dover to Calais. From Calais I headed south past Le Mans, Tours and Bordeaux stopping at Bayonne close to the Spanish border. 
The following day I drove to Villafafila and was soon watching flocks of Great Bustards, some quite close on the Villalpandol road.

Great Bustard

I stopped overnight at Otero de Sariegos where I had watched Lesser Kestrels the previous Spring. There were still one or two Lesser Kestrels around but most had already left the breeding site. Some nice Booted (including adult and juv dark phases which made a nice comparison) and Short-toed Eagles passed over and I took photos of the Spotless Starlings which now included some fairly spotty juveniles.

Booted Eagle adult (left) and juvenile (right)

Spotless Starling juv moulting to 1st winter

Parties of Bee-eaters passed overhead, mostly heard rather than seen. 

Sunset Otero de Sariegos

At dusk both Barn and Little Owls were calling and I caught up with the Little as the sun rose the following morning.

Little Owl at dawn

Rock Sparrows were coming to drink at a small pool and I counted at least 15 but they were surprisingly flighty. 
As the sun rose so did the temperature and it was 37℃ by early afternoon when I headed off for Monfrague. Several Two-tailed Pasha butterflies crossed the road in the National Park and I was soon watching large groups of Griffon Vultures (50+) and a handful of Blacks. At the Pena Falcon a pair of Black Stork still occupied a nest cave but were two far away to see whether these were adults or young. A Blue Rock Thrush  came out of the shade briefly to snatch some scraps from the footpath but the Western Subalpine Warbler feeding in the bushes stuck to the shade.

Blue Rock Thrush

I drove on to Trujillo and spent the night by the Bull Ring but this time all the Lesser Kestrels and Pallid Swifts were gone so the area was much quieter. Thousands of Spotless Starlings came in at dusk to roost much as our Starling does in the UK.
I spent a few days exploring the Steppes around Trujillo and saw several parties of both Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse and managed some flight photos once I had worked out which pools they were drinking at. 

Black-bellied Sandgrouse - female

Pin-tailed Sandgrouse - male

Two Little Bustards were the only ones I saw but there were more Greats. The plains were full of larks with several hundred Calandra and lesser numbers of Short-toed. A Dotterel flying over calling was unexpected.
From Trujillo I drove to Malaga where I was due to pick up Pam from the airport on 9th September. With time to spare I went to the conveniently located Guadalhorce reserve where again I had good views of White-headed Ducks plus a few migrants including a nice male Bluethroat. Pallid Swifts and Red-rumped Swallows were passing through here as were several Booted Eagles. Red Avadavats and Monk Parakeets gave the area an exotic feel.

White-headed Duck - male and female

Having collected Pam from the airport we continued south down the coast to the Meson de Sancho hotel close to Tarifa.
Tarifa in the autumn is a fantastic place for birding. There is always evidence of some birds moving south and if you are lucky with the winds the birds of prey can pass vary close. Most days started at the Cazalla watchpoint above Tarifa but then depending whether the raptors were moving and their line of flight we might move to one of the other watch points. The Trafico watchpoint where the Spanish Fundacion Migres is based can be the best for photography as birds are funnelled down the coast before starting the crossing to Morocco. Around 50 to 100 each of Booted and Short-toed Eagles were seen most days plus smaller numbers of Honey and Common Buzzards, Black Kites plus 1 or 2 Montagu's Harriers. One day we had 46 Egyptian Vulture which was amazing.

Egyptian Vultures - adult and juvenile

In addition to the raptors parties of Bee-eaters passed overhead and several groups of Black Stork.
The beach at Los Lances is covered with people flying kites but visits early morning generally produced a few Audouins's Gulls and a few waders including Kentish Plover, Sanderling and Bar-tailed Godwit.

Audouin's Gull - moulting adult

In Tarifa itself I added Common Bulbul to my European bird list where there is a small population of this North African species.
We met Mick and Viv Cunningham who are birding friends from the UK and I was pleased to get a call from Mick to say he had found a roosting Red-necked Nightjar at La Janda. This bird has roosted in more or less the same spot for several years and is quite famous but still is very difficult to locate amongst the fallen leaves.

Red-necked Nightjar

It was general windy at La Janda making birding difficult but it did help me to get some nice photos of juvenile Montagu's Harriers as the wind held them almost stationary over the track.

Montagu's Harrier  - juvenile

Part 2 covers Tarifa to the French Alps.

Villafafila

Left Fuente De on Thursday morning, returning to Potes, where we recorded our first Serin of the trip with their jingling song, then crossing the Picos on the N621 via Riano heading towards Villafafilla.

N621 between Potes and Riano

The weather and views were amazing as we crossed the snow clad Picos, a lone Griffon Vulture circled against the bluest of blue skies and we started to see more Rock Buntings.

Griffon Vulture

As we descended towards the plains we saw the first White Storks on their nests, first one pair then dozens on all available structures from trees to buildings to electricity pylons.

White Storks

 We also came across a nice party of eight Rock Sparrows at Los Espejos De La Reina and Crag Martins were starting to appear.

Rock Sparrow

The bushes held many Chiffchaff but none were singing so I couldn't be sure of the species but probably our nominate race.
The weather started to deteriorate and soon we had rain but there were still birds to be seen, a confiding Little Owl, why don't they sit like this at home?

Little Owl up close

Finally we neared Villafafilla a species stronghold for the Great Bustard. We saw several hundred during the evening and following morning but the area holds up to 2000 birds which could be around 5% of the world population, so a very important area. I took some record photos and had superb views.

Great Bustard

This morning we visited the Lesser Kestrel colony at Otero De Sariegos. There were at least 5 pairs back around the old buildings and in the provided nest boxes on the road across the marsh. Fantastic birds and even though we had rain on and off for most of the day the Lesser Kestrels looked superb.

Lesser Kestrel - male

All the starlings we have been seeing are Spotless Starlings and they appear to fair worse in the damp weather, looking rather unkempt at best but still nice to see.

Spotless Starling - duet

We are heading to Extremadura and the Monfrague National Park next and hoping for some better weather. This is our route so far.

The route so far