PARAJE NATURAL DEL CLOT DE GALVANY, GRAN ALACANT.

On Friday 19th in light rain and seventeen degrees I left San Miguel and headed north towards Gran Alacant. There was no doubt in my mind that my target birds were going to be a pair of Ferruginous Ducks. Other birders had seen and photographed this pair, had passed on the information for the benefit of other birders and now I wanted to see them for myself.

Bryan and I sat in the hide and there they were. They did several swim pasts, dived, perched on a stone or log and preened. At one stage they were only meters away. They are smart birds and I enjoyed watching them. We even saw the male throw back his head as he swam past. They were great, but will they over-winter here or go south?

Female Ferruginous Duck

Male Ferruginous Duck

On the water there was an abundance of other ducks. Some Mallard (including hybrids) Common Pochard, Shovellers, Green-winged Teal and one White-headed Duck. Also many Moorhen, Coot and Little Grebe played around on the water. Overhead Swallows were flying over. While all this was going on Cetti's kept calling and Robins were heard, but remained hidden. A Reed Warbler flitted around with a Chiff and then later, the Warbler, perched in full view, quite close, on an horizontal reed just asking to be photographed and it was. A superb view of this bird.



To the right of the hide, between the water’s edge and between the fence a (White-Spot) Blue Throat hopped around, feeding amongst the detritus and natural vegetation. It reappeared several times and was seen by other birders too.



This was a day of close up views of birds behaving naturally in a great environment.

What a privilege to see all this and all from a hide. It's so easy! It is good to be out there seeing beautiful things and in good company.

But on the reverse side and I quote "Bryan is not feeling positive about San Felipe." He has commented on his own blog and you can see that here. https://birdingcostablanca.blogspot.com