Into Portugal, Tavira and back into Spain for the 'Bonanza' experience... displaying Booted Eagles, Spoonbills and Kites plus new migrants

My last 2 or 3 weeks here and the journey back north through Spain starts with a journey into Portugal to pick up my buddy Mark from Faro airport. Slightly dodgy start with a police fine of 30 euros for parking where I shouldn't have at the airport but great to catch up and have some company and banter along the way.

Tavira and Castro Marim being the obvious destinations before heading back into Spain and the salt pans of Sanlucar de Barremeda & Bonanza.

Spotted Redshank, Tavira (12th March 2015)

Tavira is part and parcel Algarve, part tourist, part good estuarine birding, always a good spot for waders with  Redshank, Whimbrel, Curlew, Dunlin, Sanderling, Little Stint, Ringed & Little Ringed Plovers  all in good numbers plus a good Spotted Redshank and another first for the trip ..  those legendary travellers - Bar Tailed Godwits.



Bar Tailed Godwits, Tavira

Whimbrel, Tavira (12th March 2015)

Sandwich Tern, Tavira

We searched in vain for a different tern species and did get a few Caspian Terns but in the main it was Sandwich Terns that were passing.

Further east towards the Spanish border a failed attempt to access the Castro Marim parc natural because of roadworks and diversions, took us instead to the fishing village of Villareal de Santa Antonio where we saw 100s of passing Gannets, some of them no doubt bound for UK breeding grounds, a few Great Skuas and some Pallid Swifts in off the sea.















Of human interest here were the activities of the many local shellfishers ... stretching as far as the eye could sea across the shallow estuary. One of the few times my 400m lens has come out for a landscape pic!


Shellfishers of Villareal de Santa Antonio

Nice place for a boat too .....

Villareal de San Antonio

The saltpans of Sanlucar/ Bonanza and the adjacent forests of parcel pine (or algeida) are old and favourite haunts of mine and Mark's. They make up the part of the mighty Donana reserve on the other side of the Guadalquiver river and although only a relatively short distance along the coast from where we were in Portugal, to get there involves a drive all the way to Sevilla and then down the other side of the river - 3 hrs!

 

 

 

On yer bike Mark! Bonanza

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worth it though. The weather was hot, the birds plentiful and Mark discovered he quite liked riding around on my bike!

 

 

So much to see here as always .... skies full of displaying Booted Eagles, Storks and migrant Black Kites, nesting Grey Herons and Spoonbills, flocks of Night Herons and to cap it all off 3 new migrants - Subalpine Warbler,a single Willow Warbler amongst the many wintering Chiffchaffs and 1 singing Nightingale.

 

 

Nesting Spoonbills, Bonanza, 16/03/15



White Storks nest building, Bonanza, 16/03/15



Black Kite overhead, Bonanza, 16/03/15



Black Kite, Bonanza, 16/03/15



Black Stork, Bonanza, 16/03/15



Willow Warbler, Bonanza, 16/03/15

 

 

Tricky to convey the majesty of displaying Booted Eagles in a hot blue sky but here's a pair circling together - a dark phase female and a light phase male.



Booted Eagle display flight

.... and the same male performing, soaring up, curling himself into a ball and then diving down in an almost vertical stoop before repeating in a series of looping soars and dives. Pretty awesome to see, the first time I've managed to photograph the event and these pics don't do the show any justice at all!

 

 

Booted Eagle display flight

 

 

 

 

 

Narcissus (wild daffodil), Bonanza, 16/03/15

Spring flowers like these Narcissus or wild Daffodil look as if they've been out for a week or so, in fact some seem to have 'gone over'

The other flower is Halimium, a kind of rock rose and a flowering shrub that dominates and covers the scrubland in places with gorgeous yellow blooms.

Halimium, Bonanza, 16/03/15



We searched in vain, as we always do, for a Western 'British' type Yellow Wagtail on passage but all seen, and there were a lot, were all of the Blue headed race. Jolly nice to see flitting about everywhere though!



Yellow Wagtail (Iberian / Blue headed), Bonanza, 16/03/15



Night Herons, Bonanza, 16/03/15 ... not the best of pics but never seen a flock this big!

 

 

Other good birds seen here but not photographed included Long Eared and Tawny Owl, Purple Swamphen, Osprey, 20 or so Marsh Harriers, Ruff, Tree & Spanish Sparrows and Calandra Larks.

 

Onto Extramudra next and our first point of call will be the plains of Serena, the biggest area of uncultivated land in Western Europe!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mar Menor blasted by the elements, Mountains high and calm, Guadix eagles and a cracking Chough to boot!

Cabo de Palos, Feb 18th 2015

You can see Mar Menor on the map but you'll not see much footage from here because the gale force winds that have been blowing from the North persisted the whole time I was there. It rained all day the 17th at San Pedro del Pinatar and the normally calm Med looked like this at Cabo de Palos.






Cabo de Palos harbour

The nice little harbour there housed some nice little and not so little yachts and boats and during a brief lull in the wind and the rain brought a much needed dash of colour to the day.


Enough was enough and I decided to drive away from the weather, into Almeria and the semi desert areas around Tabernas, surely it would be dry and warm there!

Nr Tabernas, Almeria, Feb 19th 2015

Nope, not really! In the shadow of the Sierra Nevada to the east I was expecting it to be cold (it was) but in a place that receives less than 250mm of rain a year I wasn't expecting light drizzle and as you can see from this pic of Almerian heights rising towards the Sierra Nevada, the wind was still blowing! Not nearly as strong but enough to blow those Tamarisks around!

Blue Rock Thrush, Tabernas

From the town of Tabernas itself I got my first Blue Rock Thrush of the trip, bit of a grainy effort due to the poor light but never seen one perched on Prickly Pear before, and speaking of cactus this is one I've not seen here before and as yet not identified.

Cactus sp, Tabernas, Almeria, Feb 2015




Spanish Ibex, Olula, Almeria

Amidst the turbulence there were calmer moments and none more so than when I dragged the van up to the top of Castro de Filabres and Olula de Castro on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada. Splendid views, hardly a soul to be seen and the only sound to disturb the silence was the clattering of hooves on rock of Spanish Ibex

By the sixe of their horns these are surely young 'uns



Spanish Ibex, Olula, Almeria

Olula de Castro

Almerian rack and ruin, nr Tabernas.

Further down, in the dusty foothills, this is more typical of Almeria and whilst there are the plenty of Larks (Thekla and Crested mainly) and the odd Blue Rock Thrush and Rock Bunting nothing much stirs!















But certainly, if you want to get away from it all and have a quiet time, this is the place!

On the edge of the Sierra Nevada, nr Olula de Castro
 

El Almendral, Almeria

The van loved the descent from there! Back down in Gergal and a café on the outskirts of town, a Spanish naturalist tapped me on the shoulder as I was processing some pics and despite his English being as bad as my Spanish, by the power of the photographic image I was able to establish that he was a butterfly enthusiast, but he knew his birds too, and he pointed me in the direction of a pair of Bonelli's Eagles. I didn't see them but the trip up to said place was memorable and around the small village of El Almendral, where they were supposed to be, was wild, weird and wonderful!







Heading further west I stopped for a day close to the Sierra de Baza parc naturel nr Guadix. Wind free and warm for a change, the sandy dry riverbed of the Rambla de Finana brought me a splendidly close Red Billed Chough, one of a pair that looked like they were nest prospecting.

Red Billed Chough, nr Guadix, 22nd Feb 2015

There are dry river beds, or ramblas as they are known colloquially, right across the region of Almeria and the trick is to find one that still has a bit of water in it ... then you'll get wildlife. This one started off dry and barren then suddenly developed a trickle!

Rambla de Finana, Nr Guadix

Rambla de Finana, Nr Guadix



Rambla de Finana, Nr Guadix



Rambla de Finana, Nr Guadix

.... and as soon as you get water, you get life

Red Squirrel, Rambla de Finana

Red Squirrel, Rambla de Finana

Chiffchaff, Rambla de Finana

Chiffchaff, Rambla de Finana

The Chiffchaff was one of 10 or so all within 30 metres of wet stream.




Black Wheatera, Rambla de Finan

Its easy to get lost in a world of your own down in some of these ramblas. With a bit more care and attention, not to mention focus, this could have been my best ever Black Wheatear pic .. they're devilishly skitty!

Golden Eagle, imm / juv, Rambla de Finan, 22 feb 2015

Stepping outside the river bed in an attempt to gain some height and perspective I certainly did have to focus as 2 immature / juv Golden Eagles sailed past!

Never easy to get a close shot, these 2 came right over my head and then kept going without flapping once!



Golden Eagle, imm / juv, Rambla de Finan, 22 feb 2015

Golden Eagle, imm / juv, Rambla de Finan, 22 feb 2015

That made my morning, the way the light was shining through these magnificent bird's wings as they sailed majestically above me was nothing short of breath taking. This last pic isn't the best by any means, this bird was a kilometre above me, but look at those wing spots ... awesome!