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| White-headed Duck |
Following our visit to Scotland (following post) we checked out the
English town of Liverpool before flying to Porto in Portugal. A few
days sight-seeing here before hopping on to the train to Lisbon. One
bird on my wishlist was Iberian Chiffchaff but I thought with the
time of our visit (early October) the birds would have headed south
on migration. This was a particularly warm autumn, however, so plenty
of migrants were still about. I found an Iberian Chiffchaff recorded
on ebird while I was in Lisbon at a city park, Jardin do Cobeca, a
known hotspot for the species. I went there and eventually located a
dark-legged bird giving the characteristic call of the species among
a tumble of Willow Warblers. I believe but am not entirely sure that
this is the bird in the image below. Later I located another calling
Iberian Chiffchaff in another Lisbon park, Jardin Afonse de
Albuquerque.
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| Iberian Chiffchaff |
In these parks and
elsewhere, plenty of migratory passerines were gathering for an
expected exodus southward, possible awaiting a cool change in the
still hot weather. These included European Pied and Spotted
flycatchers and numerous warblers of various species.
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| European Pied Flycatcher |
We picked up a car hire
and headed through southern Portugal, spending a few days in the
pleasant village of Redondo and surrounding towns before crossing the
border into Spain and a spell of sight-seeing in Seville. We
continued south to connect with a much-wanted White-headed Duck, a
bird I had repeatedly dipped on. A single female was present in
Laguna de Camino and another female in the adjoining Laguna de
Bonanza.
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| White-headed Duck female |
Small numbers of Marbled
Teal were in the lagoons.
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| Marbled Teal |
Continuing south, I saw
small numbers of Scopoli’s Shearwaters in the Strait of Gibralter
from several points on the southern Spanish coast, all heading
westwards in migration. One bird showed very well at close quarters
at Tarifa. Later I saw more Scopoli’s Shearwaters further east off
the coast near Malaga. The British outpost of
Gibralter was visited, where a dark phase Eleanora’s Falcon and
Barbary Macaque showed well.
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| Barbary Macaque |
Good numbers of Greater
Flamingo were present at Malaga’s Parque del Guadalhorce. Spotless Starling was
common here.
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| Greater Flamingo |
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| Spotless Starling |
We had several days in
the extensive forest reserves of Sierra de Andujar, staying at Villa
Matilde which I’m afraid to say seems to have gone downhill
somewhat and may not be the best accommodation option. This was the
place I expected to see Iberian Lynx but searching over five days
failed to come up with the goods. Over that time I was regularly in
touch with local and overseas wildlife enthusiasts in the area; none
of us saw a lynx, though collectively we learned of a total of 4
sightings by others. Visitor numbers to the area have risen greatly,
in part because of the lynx’s fame, and observers fear this is
impacting the animal’s presence in areas which had been reliable
for sightings. Compensation in some form came with the splendid scenery.
And raptors. Spanish
Eagle was on my wishlist and several were seen, mostly on the first
day in windy and wet conditions. The only one to offer a picture was
a bedraggled three or four-year-old bird that passed reasonably
close.
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| Spanish Eagle |
Griffon and Black
(Cinereous) Vultures were common.
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| Black Vulture |
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| Griffon Vulture |
Iberian Green Woodpecker
was another on the target list and several obliged, with none
offering a photographic opportunity. Azure-winged Magpie and
Red-legged Partridge were more obliging.
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| Azure-winged Magpie |
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| Red-leggedPartridge |
Other mammals performed a
little better. Red and Fallow Deer were common.
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| Red Deer |
A single Mouflon was
seen along with a distant male Iberian Ibex.
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| Iberian Ibex |
In the tunnel at Jindula
Dam I found three species of bat – Myotis daubentonii (Daubenton’s
Bat), Myotis myotis (Greater Mouse-eared Bat) and Miniopterus
schreibersii (Schreiber’s Bat).
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| Daubenton's Bat |
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| Greater Mouse-eared Bat |
We overnighted in Alcazar
de San Juan, visiting the splendid wetland of Laguna de Veguilla.
About 25 White-headed Duck were present including several lovely
males.
We moved on to the town
of Cascante, north-east of Madrid, to look for larks in the Ablitas
area around the Ebro Valley. This a go-to site for Dupont’s Lark,
another species high on my wishlist that I missed in Morroco and on a
previous visit to Spain. Although it’s a bad time of year to see
this cryptic species, thanks to help from Dani Lopez and Jose Ardaiz,
I managed to see a Dupont’s Lark at close quarters and heard a
total of 4-5 giving their characteristic call before sunrise.
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| Ebro Valley - Dupont's Lark site |
Also of interest was a
Eurasian Eagle-Owl calling outside our hotel in Cascante before dawn.
Three more owls were seen later in the morning in flight. The
Dupont’s could not be photographed so I settled for an image of a
singing Greater Short-toed Lark. Our trip ended with a few days of
sight-seeing in the pleasant Spanish capital of Madrid.
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| Greater Short-toed Lark |
