Southern Spain 17th - 24th September - Part 1 Los Palacios to Ronda

I have just returned from a fantastic week in Spain with Bird Holidays and a group from Cambridge U3A. We flew to Malaga then drove across to our base for three nights at Los Palacios south of Seville. We stayed at the Manolo Mayo hotel in the town centre which was very nice and well located for the local birding sites.
On the 18th we visited the mixed habitat bordering the River Guadalquivir at Trebujena then drove down to the Bonanza salt pans ending the day on the coast at Chipiona. 
Along the river we had several Wild Boar with young digging around in the soft mud on the riverbank.
Common birds included Fantailed and Sardinian Warblers with a few Chiffchaff, we also had 4 or 5 Spectacled Warblers  in the Suaeda type habitat and several Lesser Short-toed Lark. An Osprey with a blue darvic ring was probably ringed in the UK! 

Osprey

At the Bonanza salt pans we had our first party of Black Stork passing overhead and a handful of Griffon Vulture. There was a nice group of about 60 Slender-billed Gulls in one area.

There was a very confiding Bar-tailed Godwit which appeared healthy but fed unconcernedly whilst we took photos. 

Bar-tailed Godwit

Other waders were Greenshank, Dunlin and a few Little Stint plus a single Curlew Sandpiper. At least 2 Caspian Tern patrolled the salt pans and I should mention that there were at least 200 Greater Flamingo.
As we left the area we called in at the small pools in Bonanza which provided great views of White-headed Duck plus a single Marbled Teal which was unexpected.

White-headed Duck

Marbled Duck

Chipiona marina is famous for its small colony of Little Swifts and that was our next stop. The birds were still visiting the nests under a loading canopy and we didn't have long to wait until the first bird flew in, this bird and several others were carrying feathers in to the nest which seems odd in late September. A single Pallid Swift was also still visiting a nest and we saw several more of the town. Lance Degnan with another Bird Holidays group saw 20 Little Swifts the following day, so they are clearly well established here.

Little Swift & nest

The following morning we drove to the southern end of the Brazo del Este marshes which comprises of drainage channels, pools and reedbeds. The area is known for the adventive species that have become established here from Africa and we saw Yellow Bishop, Black-headed Weaver, Red Adavadat and Common Waxbill all in reasonable numbers. 

Yellow Bishop

The behaviour of the male Yellow Bishop was striking, he stood atop a tall reed then launched in to the air, appearing to inflate his body by fluffing his feathers then 'buzzed' around looking like a large bee!
The weavers were nest building along one of the drainage channels.

Black-headed Weaver

I have never seen so many Glossy Ibis, they were everywhere and there must have been several thousand. They shared the pools with Spoonbill whilst Cattle Egrets fed on the margins. 

Brazo del Este

Spoonbill

A group of 30 Collared Pratincole landed on the muddy edge of one of the larger pools and hawked over head with several Whiskered Terns including a nice dark backed juvenile. A couple of Bluethroat were seen briefly by some members of the group but eluded me but one of several Penduline Tits paused briefly on top of the reeds posing nicely. 

Penduline Tit

Later we visited the northern part of the same marshes and I got some nice photos of the striking Crimson Speckled moth and Banded Groundling which has a very restricted range in Europe. Here rice paddies bordered the pools and drainage channels and there were many crayfish visible in the murky pools. 

Crimson Speckled

Banded Groundling

Butterflies were not common but in one area I came across several Swallow-tails.

Swallow-tail

That evening we visited an area of open grassland and Parasol Pines waiting until dusk when first one, then a second Red-necked Nightjar took to the wing and briefly calling. 

Red-necked Nightjar site

A largish owl flew by and was probably Long-eared but it was by then too dark to be certain.
The following morning we set off for Tarifa but went via Ronda and stopped nearby for some upland birds. In Ronda itself we encountered several Crossbill during a refuelling stop plus Red-billed Chough over the cliffs.

Ronda

A few kilometres outside Ronda we stopped in a rocky valley and almost immediately saw a couple of Black Wheatear on top of a ridge. 
A distant Golden Eagle circled above shortly to be joined by a second bird and we were treated to some superb display with the eagle stooping and rolling high above the hillside. 

Golden Eagle

A closer scan of the immediate area produced a couple of Black-eared and single male Northern Wheatear and Blue Rockthrush with several Crag Martin overhead.
We departed for Tarifa - see above

SW Spain & Portugal & Separating adult Pallid Swift from Common Swift

I've just returned from a short trip based in El Rompido, near Huelva in South-West Spain. I had no particular target birds but was quite keen to see White-rumped Swift which would be a new bird for me and is not that easy to see in a typical early Spring trip due to its late arrival date.
Rather than do a full write up of the trip I've just focused on some of the more interesting observations starting with Pallid Swift.
Separating adult Pallid Swift from Common Swift
The comments below relate to adults in Spring and compare nominate apus Common Swift with the European brehmorum race of Pallid. I find that the separation of Pallid from Common Swift is not easy unless you have good light and viewing conditions. I have watched groups of swifts at distance against a pale sky when they all tend to look dark and have struggled to decide if they are Pallid and Common Swift. Whilst Common Swifts always look dark Pallid's can too unless they are seen in decent light. 

Pallid (left) with Common Swift

In the coastal villages in SW Spain, in Huelva, El Portil and El Rompido all the swifts seen were Pallid but a little inland at Cartaya there were both Pallid and Common and whilst they appeared to be in separate groups most of the time they were also seen together which allowed direct comparisons to be made.

Pallid Swift (left) and Common Swift

Although the wing length is similar in both species Pallid looks larger with its broader body, outer wing and head giving it a bulkier appearance. On measurements the two out tail feather (T4 & T5) are a similar length in Pallid whereas the outermost tail feather tends to be longest in Common but I've not found this of any use in the field as the relative lengths vary with the extent the tail is spread.

Common Swift (left) and Pallid Swift

Pallid Swift in good light is a pale sandy brown whereas the body of Common Swift in similar light always looks blackish. The underwing of Common Swift can look pale, sometimes silvery, particularly if it is not in shadow there is then significant contrast between the underwing and body which is not seen in Pallid which looks rather uniform from below. From above, and less obviously from below, Pallid shows a darker leading edge to the wing and darker outer primaries which contrast with the paler inner wing where Common looks much more uniform.

Pallid Swifts, the right hand bird has a feather in its bill

How apparent this is depends on the viewing angle and the light.
Pallid has a more extensive pale throat which extends more on to the forehead giving it a very pale faced appearance, particularly when seen head on.

Pallid Swift

The feathers of the body are pale fringed when fresh in both species but this is much more apparent in Pallid giving a much scalier appearance to the breast.
In summary, given decent views in good light, the separation of Pallid from Common Swift should be fairly straight forward but faced with a lone bird in less than ideal viewing conditions detailed notes should be taken to confirm the identification.
White-Rumped and Little Swift
I have been to both Spain and Portugal several times in the early Spring but have generally been too early for White-rumped Swift which tends to arrive in Europe in late May. Visiting SW Spain in mid-June was therefore an ideal time to look for it.

Mertola

I visited both Mertola and Minas de Sao Domingo in Portugal. The former town, around the castle at least, didn't look like particularly good habitat for White-rumped Swift to me although there were plenty of Pallid Swifts. There may be suitable cliff faces along the river or the bridge leading to the town but I didn't explore these but instead moved on to Minas de Sao Domingo which is only about a 20 minute drive back towards the Spanish border.

the old open cast copper mine of Minas de Sao Domingo

The old open cast copper mine has left rock faces that provide nesting habitat for large numbers of House Martins and Red-rumped Swallows whilst the Pallid Swifts appear to prefer the nesting habitat in the nearby town.
Both White-rumped and Little Swifts associate with the House Martin flock in the old mine. There is a boardwalk on two sides of the lake and I was able to get excellent views of both species from here without disturbing the birds. I counted at least 6 White-rumped Swift but only saw 1 Little although there may well have been more. The Little appeared to have a House Martin in close attendance and they came together as if mating on one occasion which was unusual. It took time to get reasonable photos as the light was very harsh, it was also over 35 centigrade in the quarry 

White-Rumped Swift

Little Swift