Tag: Spain

All these birds are very distracting when you are trying to have a walk!

In truth, we needed to set off earlier as by 11 am it was too hot for a walk and we were back at the hotel having a coffee.

Slideshow of this morning’s photos:

From the balcony of our hotel room I could see that there were spoonbills on the lagoon. So, with a little gentle persuasion, we reorganised the pattern of our morning walk and took in the lagoon. It was too hot out there to stay too long, but it was long enough to see some lovely birds.

There were lots of ruddy turnstone, common ringed plover and sanderlings but my hand wasn’t steady enough in the heat.

A coffee looking across the port and then back to the pool!

Slideshow of photos from this morning:

This morning we had a trip across the river by ferry from Isla Cristina to Isla Canela but decided it was just holiday properties there and without any great interest.

On the way back to the hotel we spent an hour birdwatching on the tidal lagoon in front of the hotel. At first it seemed like there were more people searching for shellfish than birds but then we were pleasantly surprised as we had close up views of whimbrel, sanderlings, grey plover, common redshank, common ringed plover, Kentish plover, turnstone, white storks and bar-tailed godwit.

Oh what fun! On arrival here we had booked an excursion on a tuktuk to visit the town and its surroundings areas.

We hadn’t anticipated what a miserable evening it would be; but what else was there to do on such an evening?

Our driver and guide was full of life and proudly showed us his town. He also took us to some great birding sites but rarely stopped for us to take photos so I had to contend with taking photos us we drove along in the rain and the gloom.

At first, I was frustrated but soon I realised that, although we were to see a cornucopia of wonderful birdlife, I wasn’t going to get many decent shots.

I was pleasantly surprised with what I did achieve.

Fortunately the weather forecast for tomorrow is good.

Slideshow of what I could rescue from my photos this evening:

This morning we had a pleasant walk along the beach east from Isla Cristina and back again in time for lunch and before the weather deteriorated.

There were a few pleasant surprises with a pair of sanderlings and a few turnstones along the way.

Back near the hotel the tide had not dropped enough for the waders to return in numbers to the lagoon but as well as a grey plover, a sanderling and a couple of turnstones contesting with a gull for a dead fish there was a spotted redshank.

Slideshow of this morning’s photos:

We have definitely been doing non-birding events today with a boat trip around the local port. However, I couldn’t resist snapping away as we made our way to and from the terminal.

Non birding holiday indeed!

This morning we took part in our second optional trip: birdwatching around the salt pans and in and around the town we are staying in. Isla Cristina is the second largest fishing port in Andalusia.

We saw some fabulous birds without having to travel too much.

This is the impressive list of the birds I saw and many of them were close enough to get photographs:

Greater Flamingo, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Kentish Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Little Stint, Common Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Slender-billed Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Tern, Caspian Tern, Sandwich Tern, Great Cormorant, Gray Heron, Little Egret, Eurasian Spoonbill, Booted Eagle, Iberian Gray Shrike, Eurasian Magpie, Crested Lark, Eurasian Crag-Martin, Red-rumped Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Willow Warbler, Short-toed Treecreeper, Spotless Starling, European Pied Flycatcher, Whinchat, Northern Wheatear, Western Yellow Wagtail, European Goldfinch

Some of my favourite photos:

Slideshow of some of my photos from this morning:

Strictly speaking we are not on a birding holiday but it just so happens that the first two optional excursions we have opted for are bird watching trips!

Today we were taken to the countryside in a small group of 6 to just north of Huelva in search of small birds and raptors.

It was a very successful trip but I am finding it difficult to compile a blog as I don’t have as many decent photos as I had hoped for. Firstly, I have come equipped only with a bridge camera, and secondly, many of the birds we saw (and on many occasions we had very good views) were seen from inside the minibus which would have benefited from a good clean which I accept, with the shortage of water in this part of Spain, is not practical.

En route we had good views of white storks which live all year round in this part of Spain.

On our first stop near to Niebla we saw a black-winged kite (a first for me) which looked spectacular through the telescope.

At this first stop we also saw lots of crested lark, spotless starlings, hoopoes, stonechats, a woodchat shrike, several kestrels and (as usual) heard Cetti’s warbler.

We then stopped at the Rio Tinto which should have been rust red but was completely dried up and quite verdant. Here, under a bridge we saw a couple of crag martins.

We went into the town of Niebla and saw the spectacular castle from the outside in the hope of seeing lesser kestrels; but, as our guide could see none, we didn’t make a stop – hence no photos.

Soon afterwards we had a sighting of our first short-toed eagle.

Around here we saw lots of small birds including common whitethroat, willow warbler, spotted flycatcher, stonechat, northern wheatear and two new birds to me a zitting cisticole and a melodious warbler.

There were also quite a few Iberian magpies which seemed very shy here compared to the picnic spots where we had seen them before.

We also had good views of a booted eagle, another short-toed eagle and an osprey in flight.

Just before the village of Trigueros we also saw red-rumped swallows and a male marsh harrier as well as a raven and another kestrel.

At this point the weather was deteriorating and, much to the thrill of our guide, looked like rain. However, none materialised and as we returned to Isla Cristina, where we are staying, the weather began to improve.

As we crossed the salt pans we could see flamingos and Audouin gulls. But more of those tomorrow when we have the second of our morning bird watching trips.