March

On tour March 31st March Monfrague Finally got my first Great Bustards. 30th March my birthday and what a birthday, I have longed to see these fantastic animals since I saw a film called "The Great Adventure" at the age of 10 or 11. When I saw them all got the first few photos, it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you to my Mancunian friends for all their help without them I may have missed the opportunity. Location La Lancha.  Travel north of Adujar, on the A6177 for 14 km Turn right after you see a Bar La Rancho on your left and another Resturant on your right. Joseph will be happy to see you in and exchange Lynx stories with you. La Rancho also has Wifi. The track is cratered (potholes) and very dusty in dry weather. Turn right at El pino when you see a vantage point on your right or other people looking for the lynx stop and search. Magpies are a great sign as they often give the lynx away, by mobbing it. Some of the birds in the area, Imperial Eagle, Black Vulture, Bonelli's Eagle, Wallcreeper, Chough, Sub-alpine Warbler, Red-rumped swallow, a lot of Green, Great & Lesser-spotted Woodpecker. Other mammals to look out for, Red Deer, Wild Boar, Mufflon, Otter at La Lancha.  Iberian Lynx For help seeing these great animals contact John Hallowell, Wildlife tours in rural Spain, www.wildwolfexperience.com you can contact him at john@wildwolfexperience.com Tel: (+34 636 03 14 72. Red-rumped Swallow 28th  Looking for Iberian Lynx. No luck yet. Plenty of flowers. Red Deer, Kestral, sparrow hawk, Chough, Imperial Eagle, Black Vulture, heard Cuckoo & Little Owl all day, heard Lynx in the night. There are many Red Deer in the area, This one taken in poor light. 27th Osuma and my first Great Bustard On my way to Andujar I saw a Great crested Cuckoo to the annoyance of the driver behind me. Alas no photo. Osprey (poor picture) 1 or 2 or 120 White Stork Marsh Harrier (No better) 26th Barbate more photos and video of Collared Pratincole & Northern Bald Ibis, to appear shortly Northern Bald Ibis (Barbate) The nest site at La Barca Cattle Egret Cropped image of a distant Short Toed Eagle 25th My new favourite bird the Collared Pratincole. (Barbate) Also present, Tawny Pipit, Kentish Plover, lots of Flamingo. Some more sea watching were I met recent friends Fernando & Juan two helpful and very knowledgeable Spanish birders Had to say goodbye to Tim & Ivy as they head back to Sydney. 24th More Sea watching with Dr Tim & Ivy. Another Griffin Vulture. I did see Rueppell's Griffon from the car no pic Another Booted Eagle 23rd Barbate, Lahandra, Cadiz, My companions for the day Tim & Ivy from Sydney. Collared Pratincole Northern Bald Ibis Were extinct in Spain but have been successfully reintroduced. Spanish festoon butterfly (Zerynthia rumina) I also saw my first Swallowtail. Greater Flamingo 21st & 22nd Bad weather kept the birds back in the mornings and the birds that came in the afternoon were mostly to high for good photos. Worst of all is saying goodbye to a wonderful couple who have become good friends. Marianna & Tage. Resident Osprey Female Sparrowhawk 20th I was glad to see these Griffin Vultures away safe from the windfarm. Gecko 19th Punta Carnero Short-toed Eagle Juvenile. Black Kite Booted Eagle 18th 17th Punta Carnero Griffin, Egyptian & Black Vultures This Griffon is suffering from exhaustion, it only just made it, an open bill is a sure sign. Black Vulture Booted Eagle Short Toed Eagle There was a happy ending for this Short-toed Eagle but some are drowned by gulls. Black Kite in the thousands cross daily European Bee-eater 15th Shopping in Gibralter Drove to Malaga to see a white headed duck at 14th 15th Grazalema Ibex, Griffin, Blue Rock-thrush & Orchids 13th A new day The Straits of Gibralter. A few commoner birds Cattle Egret Linnet Crested Lark And a new bird for me, Short-toed Lark 12th Egyptian Vulture. 11th Short-toed Eagle Marsh Harrier More Black Kites, etc. A pair of Long legged Buzzard made my day. Couldn't possibly live up to yesterday but still good. 10th Raptor extravaganza Black Kite 8th Quite happy to wait around for Migration to start. This Chiffchaff was keeping me amused as I washed up after breakfast. Then this Osprey gave me a flypast. I headed to a point near Gibralter. 2,400 Black Kite in thirty minutes & they kept coming all day. 70 plus Black Stork, 4 Booted Eagle, 3 more Osprey. The Short-toed Eagle came all day as did Sparrow Hawk. 7th Waiting for tyre place to open. Goodyear tyre place now open but has to order tyre. Hospitality great, dry sherry & coffee superb. New tyre 131 Euros not so good. Unhappy with tyrecar as they managed to brake two bolts which were already loose. Not speaking the language is a disadvantage and I feel that I was robbed of another 170 Euros. Drove passed all the wetlands around Cadiz and parked up for the night on a beach just North West of Tarifa. 6th A puncture ended fun for the day. Managed to change wheels but couldn't tighten wheel enough, Sunday everywhere closed. A distant Golden Plover Spotted Redshank 5th Cota Danana My initials are everywhere, 1949 what a good year. White Stork Purple Gallinule  Dabchick Serin Greater Flamingo These enterprising Black-winged Stilt are using Northern Shoveler to disturb their prey. I have never seen this behavior before. Crested Tit record shot. Coto Donana Kentish Plover Iberian Magpie. I can never get a good shot. Glossy Ibis Parce Naturel Cadiz Black-tailed Godwit & Black_winged Stilt. Two spotless Starlings with North Africa as a back drop. March the 2nd Ubeda to Tarifa Griffin Vulture 1st  Xerta to Ubeda Good bye old favourites. Didn't expect to see snow on the roadside but a small herd of Iberian Ibex were welcome. Reached Tarifa. The local police were pulling all moterhomes and checking papers. Matt Ford +658191762