Boss the Costa (Part 3)

Day 3 (April 6th) started with an early morning visit to the city park in Torrevieja to give my wife some respite from the little darling. Due to Peppa Pig the park was duly renamed Potato City Park. Other parents may/may not get this but hey - the machinations of a 2 1/2 year olds mind are odd. I did add Robin here, a migrant presumably (although 2 were present and holding territory on all 3 visits here). A basking Red-eared Slider was presumably an escaped pet (dumped more likely) although they do breed at Clot. Various Audouin's Gulls and Yellow-legged Gulls were bathing in the fountain here and a Willow Warbler showed that migs were still passing through.

My good deed was reinforced by taking the little one out in the afternoon for a ramble. She unfortunately fell asleep for 90 minutes instead so I took the opportunity to head to the outskirts of El Hondo and have a gander (the reserve proper is only open for 3 hours twice a week which is a crime). A Corn Bunting was calling from a crop near the Roller site (about a fortnight too early for these guys sadly).

I moved round to view the reserve and the sky was full of swifts and martins. Scanning through them found a Kestrel but no Alpines. Rather nicely a pair of Booted Eagles emerged, presumably migrants as few pairs breed in the province. One each of light morph and dark morph. These guys circled above for 20 minutes before heading east.

 Moving to the North Gate only gave me a Mosquito bite and I rescued the child as she was coming to from a monster of a mozzy on her leg. Splat! We had a look at the tip which held no storks as hoped for but plenty of gulls including Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull. There were plenty of scabby Cattle Egrets knocking about as well. I also noticed a small colony of Jackdaws in the palms which are a newish development I think. As we left a Stone Curlew flushed from crop close to the car and flew over the bonnet. I was surprised it took so long to find one to be honest as they are really common in the locale.

A beach day on the 7th at Los Arenales de Sol meant a family walk around El Clot de Galvany, the gem of the villa steppe. This little oasis regularly produces rare birds and usually has plenty of scarce breeders in the scrub, vegetation and on the pools. Sadly not this time although a Spanish tick in a Whitethroat was cool but the only other additions to the trip list were Sand Martin, Moorhen, Turtle Dove (the only one of the trip) & Little Egret. There were hordes of Red-rumped Swallows amongst the swifts and hirundines which was cool and plenty of vocal (if not visible) Ibe Woodies. The beach failed to produce any seabirds aside from the ever present Audouin's Gulls.

The 8th was largely a lazy day on the balcony as my wife was struck down with morning sickness but I esconced myself on the balcony watching a huge passage of Common Swifts with about 20/minute passing all day. Associated with this were a few Pallid Swifts, a Bee-eater and a single Alpine Swift mere feet from the balcony. A Purple Heron came in off and after circling landed not by the lake but in thick scrub. A largish raptor came in off as well - this made it interesting but sadly not that interesting as it was a light phase Booted Eagle which stayed well away from the flat.

This was bobbing about in front of the balcony most of the day so I had to take a photo. Love them!

Late afternoon and Isabelle was napping again. This time I did go to the west end of the lake and watching the scrub from the car I noticed two raptors high up - both pale phase Booted Eagles so 2-3 in the day. These headed south west over La Salina de Torrevieja, La Mata's bigger brother which still operates for salt extraction. A small flock of Redshank bombed about and a Cuckoo passed east. 3 Montagu's Harriers were hunting the reedbed - seemingly we are still waiting for a few to get back as 4 pairs were present last easter. Round on the Lemon Tree Road - closer to the reedbeds I found some migrants! A Subalpine Warbler was brief but a smart male. The arse end of a female Redstart was tricky to pin down as I chased it through the salicornia with it raising hopes of a Nightingale with its atypically shy behaviour. 6 Northern Wheatears were in the usual place and all looked to be Greenland race. An unseen Lesser Short-toed Lark flew overhead without me clapping eyes on it. I still havent seen one on the deck - just heard the call whilst a small passerine goes over. A pair of Little Grebes were breeding on a small reervoir used to irrigate the Citrus groves.

Record Shot?

Boss the Costa (part 2)

Second full day and my morning cuppa was rudely interupted by a flock of 4 Bee-eaters drifted west over the apartment vrrrtt-ing as they passed. To be fair all I heard for the most part was the noise before I picked up 4 specks in the sky amongst the large westerley passage of Common and Pallid Swifts.

As a family we decamped to the Sierra Espuna in Murcia - about 90 minutes away and an exceptionally beautiful place. In the foothills we came across a short walk with the stations of the cross up it with a large statue of Christ at the top. As an atheist it is all a bit meaningless normally for me but with a Catholic wife in a catholic country on the first day of the Spanish Easter weekend (they start to celebrate on the Thursday) in the sun it was super nice. We had a picnic at the bottom before ascending.

On the way up a Crested Tit came and had a look at us and there were tonnes of Chaffinches, Sards, Great Tits and Serins. A dark mid-sized raptor overflew us and I couldn't put a name to it. Looked too long-tailed for Common Buzzard and too early for Honey Buzzard but I was erring to the latter on plumage and shape as it moved across into the next valley obviously migrating. A green butterfly was photographed on the way up. Any ideas?

The statues were quite pleasant but I wanted to get into Espuna proper... House Martins flitted overhead as we got going. The drive up was bumpy but we ascended into the pine forest and quickly saw lots of Spanish subspecies of Red Squirrels. 3 goat-deers as my wife called them turned out to be Barbary Sheep, an introduced type of goat for game shooting in the park in its former incarnation. I picked up the self same raptor I had seen earlier a few miles to the south west and it was evidently a very dark Common Buzzard doing a Honey Buzzard impersanation. Up with it were a handful of Red-rumped Swallows. Black Redstart were in evidence amongst the smaller pines and there were plenty of tits and chaffinches bombing about.I didnt get much chance to do any birding as my little girl wanted to amble about and play but my wifes sharp eyes picked up a pair of Bonelli's Eagles over the ridge displaying. They appeared to be 2CY and 3CY birds (I think) but they drifted south west out of view. Our journey home turned up Cattle Egret and Kestrel. That was it for Espuna and Murcia but an area well worth a proper birding return visit (along with the Guadalentin Valley nearby). Now up to 48 species for the trip and the Crested Tit was a Spanish Lifer.

Sierra Espuna

Boss the Costa

I'm just back from a n 11 day stint in the Costa Blanca. Not sad to leave the expats behind but a very pleasant break with plenty of birding slammed in. Im going to update chronologically with a species list at the end. That ok? Tough luck bad boy!



Cool looking Red Squirrel

 Boring bit first we flew with Ryanair and hired cars from......snoring already. Why do people put that shit on trip reports - if you want a cheap car, flight and accomodation ask about it. Use the internet. Write about the birds!!!!

Now the pictures in the report are genuinely awful - they are all pretty much record shots of stuff as I didnt set out to photograph stuff well (just bird bird bird). Anyhow after shit air left us sat on the tarmac for 2 hours we got off narrowly avoiding the French air traffic control strike which paralysed everything. A swiftish couple of hours later we landed in Alicante and in the late afternoon sun picked up our hire car. First bird of the trip was... a House Sparrow. I suppose you have to start somewhere but the usual dross (Blackbird, Greenfinch, Serin, Spotless Starling, Hoopoe, Swallow) was soon UTB without trying. We passed Santa Pola salinas in the falling light of the evening where we picked out Yellow-legged Gulls but little else.

Soon we were passing La Mata - the huge saltlake next to where we stay and notched an early Montagu's Harrier at the west end. We arrived at our flat in La Siesta, Torrevieja a few moments later. From the apartment Collared Doves, Woodpigeons and Pallid Swifts could be seen. This visit, due to the expanding family we were in a 1st floor apartment next door to our elderly relative that we stay with. This gave an amazing vista over La Mata and the surrounding area. The video is taken looking north east. The west end has a reedbed, some sandy scrub and loads of Citrus Groves. Adjacent to our flat is loads of scrub with some salicornia near the water and small stands of trees. To the east is the visitor centre with some basic agriculture, pasture, pine plantations and sand flats. Nice variety.

The firt full day (the 4th) I had two rambles around the local area inbetween doing the things you do on the first day... The first walk was at dawn and the highlight was hearing a Red-necked Nightjar doing its steam train impression. The rest of the stuff was pretty normal (but nice to see in a UK context). Mostly covering the scrub and lake edge I pulled out Iberian Grey Shrike, Thekla Lark, Zitting Cisticola, Slender-billed Gull, Sardinian Warbler, Crested Lark, White Wagtail, Kentish Plover, Avocet, loads of Corn Buntings, a flyover Grey Heron plus dross like Goldfinch, Red-legged Partridge, Common Swift & Shelduck. Waiting for the family to awake from their slumber I chilled out on the balcony with a coffee and my bins taking the above video. Temperatures were high teens (they touched 26 degrees one day and were typically 18-21 with a cold day of 16). A pair of Woodchat Shrikes were flitting about in the scrub ahead and a band of Cormorants flew north west on migration (passage and winter visitors to the province).

Once the motley crew was assembled we headed into Torrevieja where aside from being a good dad and husband I couldnt help noticing a Lesser Black-backed Gull circling a trawler from my vantage point on the promenade. Plenty of Audouin's Gulls were patrolling the harbour - they were more common than Yellow-legged Gulls generally throughout the trip. I couldnt help but notice the plethora of Feral Pigeons in the town... Yuk. A shower was looming and this cut short our trip.

Impressionist. I forgot to take photos of gulls...

Once the rain had passed I had a late afternoon ramble which saw a few migrants including 7+ Willow Warblers and 3 Cuckoos. Other stuff included the distinctive Iberian Green Woodpecker (full species surely) plus Redshank, Great Tit & Common Tern. The latter on their breeding colony. Day 1 done and 38 species (plus 1 heard) mostly reacquainting myself with the locals although the Lesser Black-back was a Spanish Tick

A Bit of Stuff

Yesterday I did a bit of ringing at Tophill Low - my first session of the year. We only caught about a dozen birds but a nice selection of stuff included Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit and a few Wrens. Somehow the jedi mind trick of ageing birds seemed to become clear and I managed to see some moult limits on the greater coverts in the 2CY birds which was pretty cool. It was really dull so no photos. A couple of Sand Martins were my first of the year and other vis migs were getting on for 80 Fieldfares and a bunch of Bullfinches.

Today I took a few photos of the many insects on the verdent blossom in the garden including the Peacock Butterfly above. Plenty of strange types of bees, hoverfly and a Beefly were seen. I got a few photos so any idea of ID would be appreciated.

South Bank Sun

Yesterday I finished my monthly low-tide counts with a sojourn to the south bank of the Humber. It was scorchio with 23 degrees registering on my car thermometer. A mid afternoon start at Barrow Haven saw 3 Chiffchaff to greet me from the car door. These were the first of 18 that I noted across the couple of hours that I was out. A sprinkling of Lapwing were notable as were a few pairs of Shelduck. Little was on any of the lagoons behind the bank but on heading back after finishing up a Short-eared Owl appeared hunting the thin strip of saltmarsh. I watched the owl for about ten minutes as I wandered up the floodbank. I have seen SEOs hunting in the day but never in bright, strong sun before. Certainly a pleasant surprise.

Humber Bridge seen from Barrow Haven

The second survey at Barton was a little more mundane with tonnes of Black-headed, Common, Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Little else was seen on the mudflat but I was serenaded by more Chiffchaf plus the odd Bullfinch and Reed Bunting. I thought I heard a sub-singing Cetti's Warbler briefly at one point but it could equally have been a Wren in the reeds, so brief was the snatch of song. I was getting hot and tired when I noticed a decent group of Aythya ducks on a water skiing pit. 4 or 5 pairs of Pochard were farting about in the reeds to hold my attention when two bigger ducks surfaced. A 1st winter drake Scaup and an adult female. These birds weren't particularly playing ball but patience yielded decent enough views. Happy days. And that was it... Im ringing on Saturday so hopefully I can get a few decent photos and see some migrants.

Watersports Pits, Barton-upon-Humber. The Scaup were on the back pit in the photo

Im not dead. Honest

Sorry for the massive gap in postings. It was neither apathy or acute death but perhaps a more serious issue. No birding. I have been desk bound for several weeks now and although there is light at the end of the tunnel I am still due to be stuck indoors during the majority of daylight hours until the middle of next week.

I did manage to sneak away for a couple of hours today for a low-tide count but that was largely dross with 4 Turnstone, 4 Mallard & 4 Oystercatcher the sum total of 7.6km walking. I did notice numbers of Herring Gulls picking up as they return to Hull to breed. Plenty of sub-adults were dossing on exposed mud banks in the river. The passerine assemblage behind the bank was quite horny with plenty of singing despite it being the middle of the day. An unusual song that I couldnt place immediately on a rooftop turned out to be a Linnet still in its winter dress. My head was saying finch but the fact it was on a roof I was trying to make it a buzzy Greenfinch. Eventually the penny dropped and I could get on with life. Even better than the out of place Linnet was the fact that I came across an addition to the avifaunal ensemble. Yes, the Chiffchaffs are back. 2 from my front door this morning and at least 2 on my walk today. I thought I heard one in sub song yesterday at home but I wasnt sure (and was on Dad duty). Its good to hear them although I didnt lay bins on any (a brief non-bin view of a small brown thing in a tree sufficed for the year tick). No Wheatears in the horse paddocks yet. Plenty of time.

The second part of this post relates to the Darvic ringed Black-headed Gull that I encountered a couple of times at Hornsea. Sadly it isnt a particularly interesting story but it does come from Denmark. It was ringed last spring by Kjeld Tommy Pedersen as a 3CY+ (making it now a 4CY+). It was refound at Kirkholme Point, Hornsea Mere in August and has been seen there about a dozen times. I will google map the movement when I have the chance (with a badly centred map of course).

Oh and Im going to Spain for 11 days in 10 days. Woo woo!!! 

Cold as Ice

Finally, finally I caught up with one of the many Iceland Gulls that have invaded the UK this winter. It was pounding with rain so following local gen I sacrificed a golden nugget and scoped the beauty from the covered multi-storey car opposite the fish market in the locale where the gulls had been loafing. I was stuck in port due to weather and was damned if I was staying put. I got some nice views of the bird, an adult, flying around the harbour and briefly alighted on the fish market roof. It is a streaky headed individual - not something I readily associated with Iceland Gulls. When I arrived all the birds were facing the car park and not showing the primary tips yet the common gull esque bill was easy to pick amongst the more brutish Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls. At sea we had little of interest although I did get offshore ticks in Gadwall, Pintail and Black-tailed Godwit.



Adult Iceland Gull, Lowestoft. Copyright Peter Ransome