Success again with the wildlife around Embalse de la Pedrera. I had just opened the car door when a Green Woodpecker called and flew into a nearby tree. I could clearly see the face of this female Iberian bird. A female stonechat perched on a shooting sign with an Eagle owl calling. I had to use the scope but there it was perched in pine tree. The sun was very low but shining right into this tree. It was the best view I have had of this owl. I watched it for at least half an hour before it flew up into a tree on the ridge. It stayed for a short time then flow off to the other side of the ridge. A good evening, well spent but how many other sites are there in my area.

Yesterday evening we headed to one of our Eagle Owl sites to be rewarded in the chill air by two calling as the light faded. A scan of the ridge revealed a likely blob on the bare branch of a tree. The scope revealed an Eagle Owl calling and bobbing as it did so. It moved twice then disappeared into the dusk.
I will visit the other site tonight. Hopefully I will be lucky again.,

HEADED TOWARDS ALBACETE

I spent the day with the most enthusiastic birder I have ever met. Mark Begg is from Livingstone and his total for this trip (so far) stands at 126 species with 12 lifers.

Today we headed for Bonete, Petrola, and Coral Rubio particularly to watch Great Bustard. We started very well when a Rock Sparrow hopped up. That was lifer and an easy one.

Larks were plentiful with a Calendra stationary on the ground. Later on there was another view with a singing, high flying Calendra Lark with both Great Crested and Thekla flying. Next were the Great Bustards which we watched for well over an hour from various points. We saw about ten in all with my best views ever.

I was amazed to find that there were so many lagoons as I had not been to here during the winter months. Locations were numerous culminating with the large one at Petrola. I won’t list all of the birds here but we saw two Ruff, Mark identified a Marble Teal and thanks to his great eyes and knowledge I was able to know all of everything. Prior to that, we saw two Black-bellied Sandgrouse fly, although we had heard them calling in other locations. Also we had two incredibly good views of a male and female Marsh Harrier flying and resting.

We started early arriving as the light was sufficient to see well. We stayed all morning. We enjoyed it and l would do it all again.

Our target for the afternoon was to visit a location where there should be Dupont’s Lark. We drew a total blank but there we saw two perched Mistle Thrush together with, four Blue Rock Thrush, on the rocks below.

SALINAS SAN PEDRO

Bird list for today by Mark Begg

Kentish Plover
Ringed Plover
Black tailed Godwit (15)
Flamingo
Shellduck
Yellow legged gull
Stonechat
Barn Swallow (1)
Avocet
Slender billed Gull
Cormorant
Sanderling (18) +(8)
Spotless Starling
Black Redstart
Ctested Lark
Linnet
Turnstone (3)
White Wagtail
Kestrel
Gannet
Dartford warbler
Black headed gull
Little egret
Black winged stilt
Moorhen
Black necked grebe
Spotted redshank ( 8 )
Spoonbill ( 4 )
Kingfisher
Grey wagtail
Serin
Reed Warbler
Buzzard
Green woodpecker
Eurasian Starling
Stone curlew
Monk Parakeet
Blackbird
Hoopoe
Sardinian Warbler
Chiffchaff
Collard Dove

SAN PEDRO DOES IT AGAIN

Mark had two for the list when he picked me up this morning. He had spotted another Stone-curlew with a small squadron of Monk Parakeets screaming past. On the Campoamar Road a Green Woodpecker flew either side of us.

We headed for the Salinas at San Pedro. Starting next to the car park there were the usual culprits but thankfully we had close-up views of two Kentish Plovers. In the dune area I was able to get the scope on to a perched Dartford Warbler. Sardinians were calling and showing with Crested Larks in clear view. On the beach were a group of Sanderling with more Kentish Plovers.

Going back inland Slender-billed Gulls were only feet away from the road as were Avocet, Black-winged Stilts and a juvenile Flamingo. Michelle had photographed a Spotted Redshank here, so we were not surprised to see one but then the number rose to eight by the time we had left. Most of them were on the canal that runs alongside the road to Lo Pagan. At one time we counted over twenty birds in the water of varying species. This is a very good spot to spend some time as there is so much to see. Chiffchaffs were flitting around, a Grey Wagtail flew and perched and a beautiful cock Serin sang from the tree above our heads. Fifteen Black-tailed Godwits were in the corner by the canal with one in breeding plumage. There were also several Black-necked Grebe with one of those in his breeding plumage. Four Spoonbills were resting in the distance.

Mark was fortunate to see a Kingfisher fly, perch and dive. He then had a quick glimpse of a Reed Warbler. I believe that I may have spotted a Pipit, probably a meadow, but it did have white on the sides of the tail. I will look again.

On the way back a Kestrel flew, three Common Buzzards displayed above us with another flying away. This was in the region of the Campoamar Golf Course.

Thanks to Mark, less wind, warmer temperatures and a beautiful place to be we had another good session. The list for today was in excess of forty. I will attach the full list later.

For me my next trip will be to concentrate on an Eagle Owl location, hopefully to get a photograph and for Mark to see them fly again.

BIRD LIST FOR WEDNESDAY 13th FEBRUARY

Hoopoe
Common sandpiper
Serin
Red legged partridge
Stone curlew
Robin
Black redstart
Linnet
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Sardinian warbler
Stonechat
Great tit
Greenshank
Shelduck
Little grebe
Crag Martin
Chaffinch male
House Martin
Dartford warbler
Chiffchaff
Green woodpecker
Mallard duck
Cormorant
Grey wagtail
Great crested grebe
Great white egret
Teal
Yellow legged gull
Black necked grebe
Grey heron
Great grey shrike
Lapwing
Sand Martin
Little owl
Sparrowhawk
Swallow
Eurasian starling
Black headed gull
Long tailed tit
Song thrush
Goldcrest
Wood warbler ?
Booted eagle
Eagle owl

ANOTHER GOOD DAY

Mark had arrived from Scotland on Tuesday and he was keen to get birding as soon as he possible could. We were on our way in a good morning light. We stayed local to San Miguel notching up twenty three species before we moved away down the canal road and then heading up towards Embalse de la Pedrera.

Our species around San Miguel included Stone Curlew, Dartford and Sardinian Warblers, but Mark was especially enthusiastic about the clear sighting of a male Green Woodpecker which flew to then perch in an almond tree. I was pleased to see several Robins but even more pleased to see my second House Martin for this year. A Greenshank flew as well.

We moved on to Pedrera seeing a good collection of Yellow Legs with six Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Four Teal swam by which were identified by Mark. The Great White Egret again patrolled the margins. We carried on to an Eagle Owl site and examined that ridge in a good clear light but nothing flew. A few metres on, over an area of water we saw Swallows, House Martins, Sand Martins but then we had a superb treat when a female Sparrowhawk came swooping down in attempt to take a Greenfinch in flight. It made several attempts before the escape of the finch. We had terrific views with the hawk flying away over our heads.

We then went to another Eagle owl site. We scanned the ridge but nothing was obvious. A walk among the pines revealed some lovely sights with Long Tailed Tits feeding together with a Goldcrest which took some locating. A decision was made to stay to wait for the birds that Mark had really come to see. We set up the scopes on known perches, listening in the hope that we could hear them calling even against the wind. The light was going fast when Mark again checked a perch and there she was. We watched and then the male arrived landing straight onto her back to mate. Both flew down the ridge with the second one seemingly flushing a large unidentified raptor.

This was a wonderful way to end our day with a total of species seen being forty-five. I expected to see several other species that are common but we will have to wait another time for that.

ANN CLEEVE ETC

On cosy winter evenings I have read several books of varying genres. I have now finished my third Anne Cleeve´s book – Raven Black – which is one of her Shetland series. This was again a damn good read and I like the way she throws in a bit about wildlife. This was another story driven along by some superb characters for she certainly knows how to bring them to life (and to kill them!). I will be looking out for her other stories.

I am now reading Andrew Marr’s ‘The Diamond Queen’. It is no surprised that it is well is written. He moves it along at a very good pace so the reader is kept with him. There is so much to know about the history in my lifetime.

Previously to these two books I have been dipping in and out of selected writings from The Telegraph of John Betjeman’s ‘Lovely Bits of Old England’ I find that it is so refreshing to read something in this style of writing where he describes and comments upon ‘my England’. Before that I read, Janan Ganash’s, biography of George Osborne. What a superb writer this man is and it is another excellent example of very recent history that gives a good insight into how it works within ‘The Westminster Village’.

Staying with history, I have read Stephen Walker’s ‘Hide & Seek’, about Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty. He was the Irish priest in The Vatican who defied the Nazi Command. It is a superb story that again reminds me of the horrors of what Facism was capable of. It is also a love story in that Colonel Herbert Kappler, SS Commander of Rome was eventually rescued by his wife, from imprisonment, to be able to spend the last few months of his life in his native country. Perhaps it was not something that he deserved and there would have been many in Rome who would have wished him a very uncomfortable death. However he died a catholic, having been baptized into that church, by his former adversary Monsignor O’Flaherty. It is a marvellous story about faith, subterfuge, escape routes and executions.

One of the intriguing pieces in this story for me was that ‘our’ Irish priest – product of Cahersiveen in the Kingdom of Kerry – was a staunch republican without any sympathy for The British Empire or The Allied Cause. He not only places himself in considerable danger but changes his attitude from not supporting The Allies but to wanting them to win the war. From within The Vatican he wheeled and dealed to save lives. He set up escape routes for our servicemen who had escaped from POW camps. You could also say that he was ‘Ireland’s Oskar Schindler’ for he helped whoever he could whether Jew or Gentile. Several other books have been written on this piece of history and two films have been made. It is a serious reminder of what the Second World War really was about. Europe is free to do what it wants within its own democracies. I can write what I want.

On my personal side I have been writing about a period in my Police career and I will start another section soon. I have also ‘topped and tailed’ my first poem of the year, entitled ‘Skyscar’ which is about the plethora of unnecessary street signs and what to do with them. I am busy working on others that can appertain to news items. The Chris Huhne debacle may provide a source of something. It is worth watching the news just for the spark it can give.

I am also busy seeing what I have produce which could see them being resurrected from the very dark drawer that they are tucked away in. I have the ‘competition’ of The Poetic Republic in mind that other members of The Poetry Society Stanza Mar Menor are also considering.

NON-BIRDING WIND

While English temperatures have been below zero with several dustings of snow all we can complain about here in San Miguel is the gusting wind which has been up to 40 kmph. The blue skies and afternoon temperatures are great but that wind does not help. I watched my first, (on 6th February) House Martin – Avion Comun – battling, more correctly being blown around by the wind. However it was going north. I remember it was this time last year when I saw one visiting an old nest in the centre of San Miguel. Viewing small birds in these conditions is not easy but they still have to be about to eat.

I am delighted to say that an Eagle Owl – Buho Real - site that I found several years ago is still very active. We heard two calling and on our second visit we saw one sitting at the base of a pine tree which was Michelle’s second sighting ever. This one being a much closer view than the one the other week. We have now made contact with a local Spanish birder who visits the nest sites, evaluates and rings.

The wind is not due abate this week so we will just have to be patient. However, when checking this area out in full daylight I saw a Great White Egret – Garceta Grande – hunting along the fringes of the diminishing Embalse de la Pedrera. No eagles but very active with Kestrels – Cernicalo Vulgar - and Little Owls – Mochuelo Europea. I just cannot compete with Julian Sykes who is Sierra Morena who has had some wonder sightings of mammals, including Lynx, bats, a snake, as well as eagles and kites. I think that I am in the wrong place but we have the Figueres region to visit in March and then New York in April. I am lining up the birding trips but in the meantime I will carry on checking out our Buho Reals.