June 09, 2018

Thursday 5th April 2018 (b)

June 09, 2018/ Mark Lawlor

BUBO in ANDALUCIA - part 7

After a full morning's birding at Bonanza Saltpans we had hardly scratched the surface of the Algaida Wetlands and there were plenty of other sites to visit in this area. We drove around the eastern side of the saltpans to an almost square pond called Laguna de Terelo. This was an old, flooded sand-pit and was surrounded by a wire fence that we had to view through. There was an island in the middle which contained a mixed heronry. We could see Little and Cattle Egrets breeding there, as well as Spoonbills and Glossy Ibises and also our first Night Herons of the trip.

Since the water here was much deeper than the shallows of the surrounding marismas, the site attracted many diving ducks, Ian counted at least 63 White-headed Ducks and there were probably similar numbers of Pochard and Red-crested Pochard. There were also quite a few Coots swimming around the edges of the lake and we scanned them carefully searching for Crested Coots but none were visible. Viewing here was difficult so we didn't stay too long but I managed to snap a Green-striped White by the roadside. (Well done to Ian here for making a group of ten or so Spanish workmen chortle, by almost jumping in the wrong side of the car to drive off!)

Red-crested Pochards, Common Pochards, White-headed Ducks & Common Sandpiper - Laguna de Terelo

We didn't stay too long at the lagoon, mainly due to the poor viewing, and we drove off northwards on a dirt track through the Algaida Pinewoods. The sun was really bright now as it was the middle of the day but luckily it wasn't too hot because of a cooling breeze. These lowland pinewoods were a new habitat for us but we didn't really look around, apart from a brief pee-stop when we finally saw our first Blue Tit of the trip. It looked like it might have had some more birds in there but apart from quite a few Black Kites resting in the pine-tops and a few Booted Eagles overhead we didn't see anything else.

Common Stick Grasshopper (Pyrgomorpha conica) - Algaida Pinewoods

The pinewoods eventually opened out to a vast area of marismas in front of us which we think are known as the Trebujena Marismas. We had to drive North along the side of a canal first of all before crossing over a bridge and swinging East alongside the banks of the Guadalquivir. Our main quarry here was Marbled Teal which may be occasionally found on a few of the pools which lie along the track. There wasn't much open water however as it was almost all heavy vegetated marsimas. The largest lagoon was pretty good for waders and we had Greenshanks and Green and Common Sandpipers, as well as the larger, long-legged birds. The few ducks we did see here were Red-crested Pochards and a couple of Gadwall. A surprise was a migrant Subalpine Warbler flicking around a trackside bush.

After about a three mile drive along the track we couldn't find any Marbled Teal on the suggested lagoons perhaps because a geezer was busy sorting out his cows right next to the main spot. We parked up alongside what looked like some rectangular fish ponds and stretched our legs. We thought there may be a chance of finding one on these ponds but there was just a few feral Greylags honking away. The ponds were quite overgrown in places and I came across a Squacco Heron lurking in one of the corners. The best birds here were a couple of Collared Pratincoles which circled overhead and, unlike any we had seen previously, decided to land on the dirt bank between ponds. It was nice seeing them on the deck despite the heat haze.

Trebujena Marismas with the Guadalquivir River on the right

Collared Pratincoles - Trebujena Marismas

We started to retrace our steps, back down the track and considered where to go next, our stomachs reminding us with urgency that a shop might be in order after the forgotten-lunch fiasco. As we drove back we re-checked the same lagoons as we checked on our way in and suddenly, pulling victory from the jaws of defeat, Ian only picked out a corker of a Marbled Teal! It was so great to see this small, aesthetically-pleasing duck, after presuming we'd missed it. One of Europe's rarest wildfowl, there must be barely 100 pairs left. I did already have Marbled Teal on my list from a brief visit to the Coto Donana with my Spanish friends 25 years ago. However, I have always been a little suspicious of this record since it was very close to the visitor centre on a small pool, and I thought there was a chance that that bird was actually part of a re-introduction project or similar. So this bird felt more or less like a proper tick - fantastic!

Our first Reed Warbler was singing from the reed-edged lake of the lagoon and a Swallowtail butterfly swooped past us. Back down the side of the canal, close to the pinewoods, the farm on the edge of the marismas had a few birds around it. As well as a Woodchat or two, some Spanish Wagtails, and a Cuckoo perched up in a small tree, there was a flock of sparrows buzzing around the grassy area. As well as the common House Sparrows, we picked out about ten or so Tree Sparrows and a single male Spanish - a three sparrow flock! Across the canal, we saw a couple of Gull-billed Terns patrolling the marismas before we drove back through the pines and out of the superb Algaida area which we had enjoyed immensely.

Despite our now critical levels of hunger, we decided to tough it out and quickly check a couple of small lagoons along the road called Camino Colorado, just outside Bonanza village. This was mainly because we had researched on eBird and there had been a few sightings of Crested Coot here a short while ago. We thought it was worth a shot. They just looked like a couple of piddly little ponds squeezed in between farmyards and packing sheds, and indeed they were, but we didn't expect them to be so great! (Not great for Crested Coots, I might add - I checked and triple checked every Coot there but none of them had the important red knobs.) The best thing about these pools were the superb White-headed Ducks which were pretty common here - Ian counted at least 30 whilst I was Coot-ing - and also very confiding. The birds were in full courtship mode and seemed to be more intent on pairing up than worrying about birders gawping at them from just metres away. It was great watching the males displaying and chasing each other off, definitely one of the highlights of the whole trip.

White-headed Duck - Camino Colorado Lagoons

As well as the White-headed Ducks there were plenty of other birds at the Camino Colorado lagoons. Pochards, Red-crested Pochards and a few Little Grebes swam around the open water, and a few Common Sandpipers bobbed around the edges. Two different Squacco Herons were perched up on vegetation at the far side of the pool where a few Terrapins loafed on logs. A great, and easy, spot to stop although you do have to stand on the actual road to view and Spanish drivers are not the most courteous. By now our stomachs were literally caving in on themselves and so we drove off south and into the large town of Sanlucar de Barrameda and piled into the first supermarket we came to. I remember stuffing cheese slices into bread rolls and stuffing those into my gob whilst sat in the car in the underground car park staring at a concrete wall - classy.

We drove on down the coast to the fishing town of Chipiona where we hoped to find the Little Swifts, another very rare breeding bird in Europe, only nesting in a few colonies in southernmost Spain. We knew that the birds were right down at the harbour so the location was easy to find. We didn't know exactly where to look so we got out and wandered around for a bit and I took a snap of tight flock of about 200 Turnstones roosting on one of the marina jetties.

I had taken one or two photos of the flock when Ian called me over as he had found where the swifts were nesting and I dashed off to join him. This meant that I didn't even look at the Turnstones through my bins, which turned out to be a schoolboy error. When we arrived back at the apartment in the evening, I was reviewing my photos on the camera and zoomed in on the flock on the jetty. And what was standing there, right at the front of the flock? Only a Purple Sandpiper! Quite a decent bird this far south apparently.

Purple Sandpiper & Turnstones - Chipiona Harbour

The swift colony was in the roof spaces of a harbourside building. There were obvious nests in the spaces between the rafters and the corrugated ceilings of the overhangs which looked perfect for swifts and martins. There were also a few nestboxes up there, and there were lots of strands of fishing rope hanging down which the swifts were using as nesting material, which unfortunately seemed to have tangled some of the birds as we saw a few dead ones. The first swifts we saw arriving at the nests were, we presumed, Pallid Swifts and there were also House Martins nesting there too.

Location of Chipiona Harbour swift colony

Little and Pallid Swift and House Martin nesting colony - Chipiona Harbour

It didn't take very long for the Little Swifts to arrive and it was very exciting watching them whizz round us and up into their nests, screaming as they went. You could just stand next to the colony and watch them zoom in above you. Of course, with the speeds that they moved at and their sudden, acrobatic changes in direction, it was difficult to get sharp shots but we managed to take quite a few decent pictures. It was difficult to estimate how many we saw but we thought at least ten. It may have been more if every bird that arrived back in the vicinity was different. As swifts are my favourite bird family, and with memories of the Guernsey Little Swift a few years ago, I enjoyed these birds immensely.

Little Swift carrying nesting material - Chipiona Harbour

House Martin entering colony - Chipiona Harbour

And what better way to celebrate such a fantastic rarity than to see a pony with a hat on!

We had a quick look over the wall to the beach and sea but there were not many birds there, apart from a migrant Willow Warbler feeding in a palm tree. It was now evening so we set off on the long drive back towards Tarifa. As we passed the marismas at Cadiz we saw a single Great White Egret feeding in a pool by the motorway junction, our only one of the whole trip. Later on, further down the motorway, as we were travelling through some rolling green countryside, we noticed a smallish greyish bird of prey fly across the road, way in front of us, then by the time we reached it was going away and to the north. The most obvious species was Black-winged Kite and we thought it stood such a good chance that we turned around at the next junction and drove back again to try and find a side road to re-find it. But we were not that lucky and it was long gone.

We passed near the Bald Ibis colony at Vejer and saw a single ibis float down the valley towards the nest sites. Again, we had a brief stop at La Janda for a quick scan or two and saw 4 Marsh and a ringtail Montagu's Harrier hunting the grassy fields, plus 4 Green Sandpipers. But as we'd been there for the last two evenings running we didn't stay long. After returning to the apartment we headed off into town for an excellent meal in a lovely little vegetarian restaurant and reflected on a wonderful day full of pretty rare birds.

If you are interested in the birds of the area and would like to join a guided tour, why not check out local experts Niki and Simon at their website here: https://ingloriousbustards.com/

May 26, 2018

Thursday 5th April 2018 (a)

May 26, 2018/ Mark Lawlor

BUBO in ANDALUCIA - part 6

Our plan for our third full day in Spain was to head off north-west towards the Gualadquivir River and the marshes that lie along its east bank known as the Algaida wetlands. Of course, the more extensive marshes of the Coto Donana lie on the river's western side, but that would have meant an unrealistically lengthy round trip via Seville. The drive to Algaida was going to be long enough, we estimated about an hour and a half in the car. Unlike previous days, there were no lingering clouds or showers and we expected a hot sunny day in the field.

We had seen on eBird that there had been a few sightings of Crested Coot on a small laguna right next to the motorway near to Chiclana de la Frontera, and since it was about half way there we thought we'd stop for a quick look. However, the boldest gambles don't always pay off as we could not see any way of getting into the place and all it appeared to be was a impenetrable sea of reeds. This, together with the sat-nav sending us down tiny back alleys and tracks, meant we soon gave it up as a bad job and we filled up with petrol and continued northwards.

As the motorway reached the edges of the Bay of Cadiz the saltmarshes or marismas became extensive, stretching on for miles and miles either side of the highway. On almost every bit of lagoon we passed there seemed to be some Greater Flamingos - there must have been many hundreds of them here. Eventually we pushed our way through the countryside until we were suddenly passing through the riverside town of Bonanza which, quite appropriately, was a bit like a frontier town. As soon as we left the town and saw the river, we could see some saltpans to our left which, even from the car we could see were full of birds. We found the gates to the famous Bonanza Saltpans and drove inside, pulling up at the first spot overlooking the water. Swimming to and fro amongst the Black-winged Stilts, were some delightful Slender-billed Gulls feeding in the shallow salty waters of the pans.

Bonanza Saltpans, with the woodlands of the southern Donana in the distance

Slender-billed Gulls and Black-winged Stilts - Bonanza Saltpans

The Slender-billed Gulls were outstanding. One of the species I had not recorded since my Israel days, and I can't remember seeing them in such splendid nick as these ones were, with their blood red bills and rosy tint to the breast - like some Black-headed Gulls have had a high-class makeover. As we were watching these through our 'scopes, a couple of tiny birds buzzed past us and perched on some weeds right next to where we were standing. Not initially clicking what they were, I put them in my bins and was surprised to see a pair of perky COMMON WAXBILLS. I shouldn't have been that surprised because I had read that they were around these marshes but I didn't know how easy they would be to see. As we had had these straight away, literally on our first few steps out of the car, we presumed they would be all over the place round here. But these two, and another two that flew quickly past, were the only ones we spied all day. Although the species is common in certain parts of the world, I have not been to certain parts of the world, so this little waxbill was a new species for me. Fair enough, just an introduced category C species, but I thought that they were terrific little birds!

A giant green weevil (Lixus sp.) - Bonanza Saltpans

We could see more birds feeding in saltpans further away so we moved on, especially as Ian was being chomped by mosquitos and other be-beets just where we were standing. Before we left, a couple of Purple Herons flew overhead. We carried on down the track, past some greenhouses and vegetable fields, until we passed a building and suddenly we were right between and amongst the saltpans. It was so exciting being able to drive along the dirt rack with water right next to you either side and, of course, birds too. I thought that we had great views of the Slender-billed Gulls before but here it was ridiculous! So long as you drove slowly you could practically roll up to feeding flocks of them. It was a photographer's dream.

Bonanza Saltpans - I was so excited by this spot I forgot to set my camera properly

As the site was simply full of shallow-water pools, this of course attracted many species of wader. They seemed to be dotted about all over the whole pans area, so many of them were quite distant, but we came across some birds that were really close. The photo below shows a Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint that were more or less on the side of the road. We didn't attempt to count numbers but both these species seemed very common, along with lots of Kentish Plovers, Avocets and Stilts. Other species recorded included Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Greenshank, Redshank, Green Sandpiper, Sanderling and a single Turnstone. Larger wading birds were also very common with Flamingos, Little and Cattle Egrets, Glossy Ibis, Spoonbill all present in decent numbers. Shelducks were there as were Spanish Wagtails feeding along the dirt tracks. It was a veritable wonderland of winged creatures!

Curlew Sandpiper & Little Stint - Bonanza Saltpans

Curlew Sandpipers & Little Stints - Bonanza Saltpans

We drove to the end of these first saltpans as far as the fence, where we turned right into a more scrubby area. We were still flanked by saltpans either side but these seemed to have more space between them where the vegetation had grown up. We saw ahead of us an Osprey perched on a pylon but it wasn't going to let us drive right up to it. We had an identification conundrum here as we saw a pair of larks on the track ahead of us and we couldn't quite be sure what they were. We knew that there were Lesser Short-toed Larks in the vicinity but these birds didn't look quite right to us with their general plumage tone and their raising of their crests making them look like smallish Skylarks. We moved on without resolving the issue and drove as far as we could, parking up and wandering along the edges of a larger, seemingly tidal pool.

It was a great area to explore, with different waterbodies almost 360 degrees around us. We saw a similar selection of birds as before but there were some new things in this slightly different habitat. There were five Black-tailed Godwit feeding out on the lagoon and we had two Collared Pratincoles go overhead. A distant Short-toed Eagle soared way to the west and a few Marsh Harriers patrolled the ditches. We saw a few terns here including two superb Caspian Terns, one of which was wearing a satellite transmitter. Parties of Bee-eaters passed overhead regularly and one Flamingo gave us a superbly close flyover!

I again briefly saw one of those odd larks on the track between pans, then Ian called me over as he had found some more which were displaying over a drier area just to the north. We couldn't get very close to them due to the drainage ditches being in the way but we could see that the birds displaying here were definitely Lesser Short-toed Larks. Of course, this prompted us to realise that the birds we'd seen before were also LSTLs, and it shows you that if birds don't appear as you expect them to, it can throw you off a bit. I think it was especially the raising of the crests which put us off the correct ID but at least we worked it out in the end. Also in this spot we saw a Calandra Lark fly up and away.

Displaying Lesser Short-toed Lark - Bonanza Saltpans

We decided, reluctantly, that it was time to move on. Simon and Niki (who's directions and tips here were again invaluable) had told us that you could spend all day and they were right. But, there were other nearby spots that we wanted to try so we returned to the car. We thought that it was about time we broke into our lunch but, after a couple of "where is it?"s and "Erm, depends where you put it?"s, we realised that our lunch was still on the counter at the apartment. It was a good job that we had seen lots of birds otherwise that kind of schoolboy error could have sent us over the edge!

Luckily, we had to drive back the way we had come in, which meant passing the feeding Slender-billed Gulls again which made us forget our hunger temporarily. Bonanza Saltpans is definitely one of my favourite birding sites and I thoroughly recommend a visit.

If you are interested in the birds of the area and would like to join a guided tour, why not check out local experts Niki and Simon at their website here: https://ingloriousbustards.com/

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Mark Lawlor's Nature Blog

Just A Bird

Thursday 5th April 2018 (b)

BUBO in ANDALUCIA - part 7

Thursday 5th April 2018 (a)

BUBO in ANDALUCIA - part 6

Just A Bird