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General

This was an exploratory birding trip to look at the birds, migration, birding sites, accommodation & logistics of running a birding trip in September 2010.

I was already familiar with the main sites & general area having birded in the region on two other visits, previously I had been visited earlier in September or late August & witnessed wonderful raptor & stork migration throughout the southern peninsula towards Tarifa & Gibraltatar.

My main objective was to put together a weeks trip with a great selection of birds, but with an emphasis on seeing good numbers of migrants & raptor/stork migration in a relaxed fashion in beautiful surroundings. I was also keen that the distances travelled were relatively small, rather than spending long journeys & time heading off for 1-2 species. This was easily achieved in the area we chose, recording 146 species, with the longest journey being around 1 hr & 20 minutes, but the majority of areas being within 30 minutes of our accommodation.

We stayed with a Penny & John Hale, whom we must thank for a wonderful hospitable stay, excellent food & a Western Bonelli’s Warbler! There place was at Casares, a beautiful little white-washed town about 30KM north east of Gibraltar.
From this base we were able to explore a variety of birding localities & had easy access via car to the Tarifa area, which is the main flight path for the raptors & storks as they pass south over “The Straits” to Morocco.

Accommodation

The proposed trip for September 2010 will be based from Cortijo el Papudo, we visited the accommodation here & found everything we will need, including a lovely overhead passage of Bee-eaters!

This beautiful converted farmhouse is set in a 27 hectare farm overlooking orange groves, 8 km inland from the sea at Sotogrande, this unique old "cortijo" has recently been restored with great care to retain all the original features and charm.
All 11 rooms have en-suite bathrooms, bath with shower over, and tea and coffee facilities. The rooms are wonderfully & tastefully renovated retaining their natural aesthetics with modern comfort.

There is an 11 metre pool for guest use set in an exotic garden which has plants collected from all over the world and propagated in the nursery on the farm. There are ceiling fans in most rooms for the summer.

There is a spacious lounge and breakfast room for those not wishing to sit out under the palm trees.

It is just 30 minutes from Gibraltar airport. A few images from the accommodation are below.

11^th September 2009

We arrived at just after 10.00am & collected our hire car. After a light brunch & coffee we headed east along the E5. We stopped off for fuel & were distracted by a few birds a quick scan of the field adjacent to the Petrol station resulted in 30 Corn Bunting, several Crested Lark, 30 Spotless Starling, several Sardinian Warbler & 2 Stonechat.

We arrived a little later at Finca La Molina & were welcomed by John & Penny Hale. Over a light lunch we had Griffon Vultures soaring around overhead & Blue Rock Thrush perching on the roof!

By the time we had unpacked it was mid afternoon & Penny was keen to take us off to a local birding area. We headed down into the Rio Genal, an area we were to visit several times during our stay. This is a river valley running north to south and eventually running into the sea at Sotogrande some 10Km north of La Linea (Gibraltar). The river had all but dried up, save a few pools here and there, but the lush vegetation & pools were a magnet for migrants.

During our first visit we headed in on a minor road east off the A377, the turning is just south of the road into Casares, you descend through a mixture of fields into the valley. All of these fields are worth of searching, a brief drive and a couple of stops produced 20 Serin, 19 Bee-eater, 2 Booted Eagle, 10 Short-toed Eagle, 2 Red-rumped Swallow, 10 Corn Bunting, Southern Grey Shrike, 4 Cetti’s Warbler, 12 Griffon Vulture, 2 Cirl Bunting, 1 Hoopoe & a mixture of commoner birds.

Down in the valley we had time for a quick search of the river bed & found Kingfisher, Green Sandpiper, Cattle Egret, Little Egret plus some of the aforementioned species.

Slightly tired we headed back to the Finca & enjoyed a lovely evening meal, whilst listening to the deep calls of an Eagle Owl on the cliff face above the house.

12^th September 2009

We allowed ourselves a slight lie in & had a leisurely breakfast at around 8.30, birding was compulsory during breakfast & we had 20 Bee-eater, 6 Crag Martin & Griffon Vulture were overhead, whilst a few migrants flitted in the bushes from the balcony - 2 Redstart, 1 Spotted Flycatcher whilst the Blue Rock Thrush showed again along the walls of the garden.

After breakfast it was already starting to warm up around 23 -24c so we took a short drive to an area of Cork woodland in the Sierra Crestallina, a mountainous valley.

Here we found 3 Firecrest, 2 Short-toed Treecreeper, 2 Crested Tit, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Iberian Chiff-chaff, the Iberian race of Jay & a mix of commoner woodland birds.

Over the valley we also had 12 Griffon Vulture, 3 Booted Eagle, Bee-eater, 1 Alpine Swift, 2 Pallid Swift & Swift.

In the afternoon we spent a few hours again down in the Rio Genal & saw a similar mix of birds to the previous afternoon but also this time had lovely views of Woodchat Shrike.

13^th September 2009

We set the alarm for 6am, had a quick coffee & cereal & hit the road heading for Tarifa. The mission was to try & locate a point to watch some aerial migration.

As the sun started to rise we were driving along the main coast road just east of Tarifa, a few raptors passed overhead & then a small “kettle” of birds were evident.
We decided this looked promising & drove the car to a high point & set up the scopes & sat waiting - we weren’t to be disappointed!

It was really exciting as you were never sure what was going to appear next. The start was as us the first real mass of birds rose steadily from a roost, these were Black Kites & it wasn’t long before 300+ were swirling around just in front of us, this continued steadily with birds getting higher as the temperature rose, these were soon joined by eagles & buzzards. The watchpoint we had chosen is known by Spanish birders & we were joined for some of the morning by a couple of them.
As you reach the eastern edge of Tarifa, there is a turn off into the town, this is the first turn off the E5, about 100m before this on your left & south of the main road is a bumpy track up a slight rise, adjacent to an industrial building, there is enough room to park & stop and lookout from this rise. From here you can see Tarifa & The Straits to the south & east, plus the fields & mountains inalnd to the north.

Over the next 3 hours a steady stream of both raptors & other migrants passed overhead, 2000 Black Kite, 150 White Stork, 6 Black Stork, 30 Cattle Egret, 8 Egyptian Vulture, 200 Bee-eater, 20 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Turtle Dove, 6 Montagu’s Harrier, 50 Short-toed Eagle, 1 Tree Pipit, 2 Wheatear, 20 Sparrowhawk, 40+ Booted Eagle, 30 Honey Buzzard & 1 Marsh Harrier. We also had a lovely Roller, a surprise bird land on the overhead wires, plus 2 Northern Wheatear nearby in the fields.

It was great fun watching many of the birds gain height & then start to head out over the sea & straits bound for the northern shores of Morocco.

Satisfied with our mornings haul we headed into Tarifa for lunch, even this was disrupted as our attention was drawn by tourists pointing to the skies, another 150 White Stork passed overhead! During the afternoon we tried several other watchpoints, & we came across an official watchpoint that is about 5KM east of Tarifa & situated to the North of the E5. We saw plenty more raptors but smaller numbers than in the morning & a similar range of species.

We arrived back at the Finca & over a fine evening meal noted the usual species with a few additions, 2 Booted Eagle, 1 Peregrine, 2 Raven & 4 Chough overhead, 1 Pied Flycatcher in the garden.

14^th September 2009

We started out with John Hale this morning and visited a small drinking pool in the Rio Genal, & had lovely close views of a nice mixture of birds:- 12 Sardinian Warbler, 5+ Cetti’s warbler, 1 Cirl Bunting, 1 Tree Pipit, 3 Grey Wagtail, 20 Corn Bunting, 1 Redstart, 2 Garden Warbler, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, sev Chiff-chaff of which at least one gave the call of Iberian, 5+ Serin. Nearby we also had a Southern Grey Shrike.

From here we headed south towards Tarifa, and on arrival we headed for the shoreline east of the town & a reserve area with a hide at Playa de los Lances - there was a nice mix of waders & seabirds. Birds here included, 5+ Kentish Plover, Whimbrel, mix of commoner shorebirds, 250 Spotless Starling, 65 Audoins Gull, 100’s Yellow-legged Gull, 1 Caspian Tern, 50 Sandwich Tern, 5+ Fan-tailed warbler,
40 Bee-eater, several Yellow wags & a Wheatear. But the best bird was located amongst the Sandwich terns, perched on a post was a Lesser crested Tern, this is a sought after and scarce visitor to Southern Spain.

It was now lunchtime & quite warm, we took lunch in lovely local restaurant & were served a wonderful plate of paella. We then continued east & on to La Janda - this is a remnant piece of wetland, but still holds many birds. It is a vast area & is best worked by driving the roads & making regular stops - we headed through the entire area eventually finishing up on the west shore of Embalse de Barbate.

Through this area the highlights were:- 120 Glossy Ibis, 2 Black-shouldered Kite, 10 Booted eagle, 1 juvenile Bonelli’s eagle, 20 Montagu’s Harrier inclusive of one dark morph, 8 Marsh harrier, 1 Purple Gallinule, 20 Turtle Dove, 1 Bluethroat, 100’s of Kestrel sp. several identified as Lesser Kestrel, 1 Woodchat Shrike & several flocks of 100+ mixed finces.

We passed the reservoir Embalse de Barbate as we headed home late afternoon, this is massive body of water & a quick look produced 1000’s of Mallard & 2 Common Sandpiper, there are probably more species of duck if you have more time to search the area.

15^th September 2009

Whilst eating breakfast John arrived with a glint in his eye & bird in the hand - a male Western Orphean Warbler!! The bird had flown into a window but now appeared to be none the worst now for its accident, and after a few pictures we were able to watch it disappear off into the garden, what a bonus!

A few migrant raptors again passed over the Finca, 4 Honey Buzzard, 8 Black Kite and also several resident Chough & Griffon Vultures.

We headed off to the Sotogrande area, and were pleased to find a nice migrant flock of hirundines, amongst these were 20 Red-rumped Swallow & several Sand martin.
On the shore there was 2 Mediterranean Gull, & 5 Booted Eagle passed overhead.

We then headed over Palmones here there was 5 Mediterranean Gull, 70 Yellow-legged Gull, 40 Sandwich tern, 10 Little Tern, 1 Osprey was fishing and took a fish right in front of us, 70 Sanderling, 2 Whimbrel, 1 Knot, 40 Ringed Plover, 12 Dunlin & 100 Grey Heron.

We then drove on to Gibraltar & down to Europa Point - here we had 8 Cory’s Shearwater, 2 Gannet, 200 Yellow-legged Gulls, Sandwich tern, but the sea was relatively quiet. We did however, fantastic views of a troop of 12 Barbary Apes - the only primate species other than man in Europe.

16^th September 2009

Today we left early around 6.30 am as we had decided to explore the area of Sierra de las Nieves for some of the higher level specialities. These species are generally more difficult during the autumn & the first two locations proved very quiet. However, following John’s directions we were able to work a valley very successfully. Here we had lovely views of 10+ Black Wheatear, 3 Dartford Warbler, 12 Rock Bunting, 12 Woodlark, 50 Crag Martin & 1 Firecrest. Above the valley we had nice views overhead of 1 Golden Eagle, 1 Lesser kestrel, 2 Raven, 6 Chough & 2 Crossbills flew over.

We arrived back at our Finca & then headed off to take a look at Cortijo el Papudo.
We were met by Vivian Harvey & had a good look around the accommodation. Nearby is the southern area of the Rio Genal valley & 3 fields were being served with sprinklers, this was proving attractive to migrants & the fields & hedge hosted 7 Hoopoe, 1 Nightingale, 2 Whinchat, 1 Wheatear, 50 Blue-headed/Yellow Wagtail, 1 Redstart, 1 Pied Flycatcher & 1 Woodchat Shrike.

17^th September 2009

We had decided to head over & take a look at Laguna de Medina this is around 80-90 minutes drive from Finca La Molina, but we decided to check the fields again near to Cortijo el Papudo, this proved to be a good decision.

Overnight the fields had proven very attractive to migrants & a huge flock of around 700 Yellow/Blue-headed Wagtails were present, the fence & hedge line like a birders dream! 5 Whinchat, 2 Pied Flycatcher, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Redstart, 3 Wryneck, 7 Hoopoe, 1 Southern Grey Shrike & 1 Woodchat Shrike!!

Within the fields the wagtails were also joined by around 250 Corn Bunting, 250 House Sparrow & 100’s of Crested Lark.

We then took the main road up to Lagune de Medina, this reserve is best known for it’s population of the threatened White-headed Duck. The reserve had been dramatically improved since I last visited, with a raised boardwalk & 2 hides. The 2^nd hide gives a really good view across the large body of water.

The lake was filled with birds, the highlights were:- 100+ Little Grebe, 50+ Black-necked Gull, 2 Squacco, 3+ Purple Heron, 85 Greater Flamingo, 1 Pintail, 50 Shoveler, 1 Red-crested Pochard, 2 Feruginous Duck, 250 White-headed Duck, 5 Black-winged Stilt & 10 Black tern. The hedge & reedbed bordering the boardwalk also provided some nice birds 5+ Great Reed Warbler, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Pied Flycatcher, 2 Redstart, numerous Sardinian Warbler & 1 Garden warbler.

In the afternoon we made our return journey via Barbate & Atlanterra on the atlantic coastline - the beaches here are beautiful & very quiet. We tried for the a White-rumped Swift, a species I had seen here in August. On this occasion we could not locate them, but did witness some more migration, with 30+ Alpine Swift, 20 Booted Eagle, 10 Black kite, 10 Short-toed eagle & 5 Griffon Vultures all heading over in an hours observation.

At Barbate there was 100+ Kentish Plover & 200+ Ringed Plover on the marshes adjacent to the road.