A days birding for me and some shopping for Jayne.
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| Common Bulbul (Bulbul Naranjero / Pycnonotus barbatus). |
Jayne and I headed down to the crossing over to Gibraltar where I dropped her off for a day wandering around the rocks shops and I headed to a spot near to Los Barrios to look for Dragonflies and birds but the site was very quiet. I did however see Violet (Trithemis annulata) and Orange-winged Dropwings (Trithemis kirbyi), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea), Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma) and White Featherleg (Platycnemis latipes) for the dragon list. Birds seen included Jay (Arrendajo / Garrulus glandarius), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Zitting Cisticola (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis) and White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia).
After a good search around the site I decided that I would head for the town of Tarifa and have a look for the recently reported Common Bulbuls (Bulbul Naranjero / Pycnonotus barbatus) which have been around for a few years now but they remained elusive and I only found Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Pallid Swift (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica), Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous) and Swallowtail (Papilio machaon).
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| Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops). |
My nest stop was up at Los Lances beach but this was a waste of time as there were Kite surfers and other people all over the pool infront of the hide. I had a quick scan along the channel to the right and did find
Yellow-legged,
Black-headed (Gaviota Reidora / Chroicocephalus ridibundus) and
Audouin's Gulls (Gaviota de Audouin / Larus audouinii),
Sandwich Tern (Charrán Patinegro / Sterna sandvicensis),
Sanderling (Correlimos Tridáctilo / Calidris alba),
Ringed (Chorlitejo Grande / Charadrius hiaticula) and
Kentish Plovers (Chorlitejo Patinegro / Charadrius alexandrinus),
Red Knot ( Correlimos Gordo /
Calidris canutus), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata),
Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis) and
Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis) as well as
Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) and
Small White (Artogeia rapae).
On the way back toward La Linea I called at another site where I had seen the Bulbuls and checked it out and after about half an hour I located two, one adult and a young bird in the tops of a flowering Agarve plant. In the same area I had European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster), Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricapilla) and Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops).
From here I went back and met Jayne and we checking in at the NH Hotel and then went for a walk and checked a bar that friends had recommended and booked a table for the evening. We later went back to the beach club bar on the beach and had a very nice meal before hitting the pit.
