Scout Dyke

We took Laddie to Scout Dyke today and I took my bins along to see what I could see amongst the many fisherman... glad I did! There were the usual suspects around such as Carrion Crow, Coot (complete with babies) and Mallard.

There were also a pair of Great Crested Grebes with 3 young which gave me a sight I've always wanted to see... one of the babies being carried on the adults back! Absolutely wonderful.

There was also a terrific view of a Heron, a Lapwing flew over, a Yellowhammer and around 10 Canada Geese (in the field) with a Greylag Goose tagging along.

What else... well a few Swallows and a pair of Reed Buntings who showed for an eternity, beak stuffed with insects presumably to feed nearby young.

But the best sight of the day as a male Linnet sitting on top of a tree surrounded by gorse, singing away and puffing out his Summer pink breast... my first Linnet! A good day... Scout Dyke seems to be a great place for smaller birds rather than wildfowl... I'll be back!

Garden Pond 3

The pond is already full of life... it's amazing really. The relocated frog spawn has turned into numerous tadpoles that should have legs very soon and we've even had a frog in there of his own accord. How do they know? There are also lots of insects and pondlife creepy crawlies making a new home for themselves and even the plants are coming along nicely. I'll put a new post up with a photo when the tadpoles develop to the next level.

Honley Wood

We've just been walking Laddie in Honley Wood... a place quite close by but somewhere we've not been before. There were quite a few birds around singing their springtime hearts out (Blue Tit, Chaffinch) and a few Carrion Crows and House Martins milling around the farm. The best finds today were a pair of Bullfinches... the male feeding insects to the female, a treat to watch and at least hearing a Cuckooeven though we didn't see it.

We also wandered into something that felt like an Alfred Hitchcock scene. There was a large colony of nesting Starlings making an enormous racket as we wandered through what was probably the middle of it. There were dozens and dozens of juveniles (i.e. no spots) in the trees... it was rather amazing actually.

House (Sparrow) Guests

It looks like a pair of House Sparrows are nesting in the roof tiles of the house opposite my office window again... which will make for some fun daytime viewing.

Patch SBJ

A new bird on my local patch today... a SBJ. I got a pretty good view of it suggesting a Chiffchaff or Willow Warbler but the little fellow kept his beak well and truly shut so your guess is as good as mind. I've not seen it since nor heard the call either bird. Hey ho. I will have to console myself that at least there was a new bird even if I'm not sure what it was.

Twice now I've also seen a pair of Goldfinches around which suggest a nesting pair on the edge of the "tree field".

Spanish Birding

We've just been on holiday to Spain (Murcia) and armed with my bins and European field guide managed to do a spot of birding. We took in the common birds as well as going on a couple of little birding trips... and it was fanastic with quite a few new ticks!

General
I saw quite a few common species in a variety of places around Mazzaron... House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Swallow, Swift, Blackbird, Black Wheatear, Spotless Starling, Serin, Crested Lark and White Wagtail. Quite a common site down on the beach were Yellow Legged Gulls and a Little Egret who spent many hours hopping around the rocks just out to sea, persumably after the little fishies.

07/05 - A Mountain Road
We just stopped for 10 minutes after a Bee Eater flew across us (I'm not 100% on this as I have a suspicion it may even have been a Roller. Anyway, we did hear a Cuckoo and got a new tick with a Woodchat Shrike. There was also another Black Wheatear.

09/05 - Sierra De Almenara
A mountainous national park... which was shut. Neverless we saw a few things... Blackbird, Jays, Serin and Chaffinch. We also saw brown coloured squirrels.

10/05 - Coastal Path
We walked along the coastal path just a short distance and saw Yellow Legged Gull, Serin, Kestrel, Black Wheatear, Spotless Starling and Crested Larks... which as the week went on we discovered are everywhere as soon as you're out of the town. We also came across some small lizards, greeny/browny and stripey but with orange tails and legs. I will look up what these were, remember my blog is mainly a place to write up my notes :)

10/05 - Birding Drive
We set out on a drive to look for Hoopoes and Bea Eaters... and we found them!! We followed a mountain road that also went through various fields and over a large river bed (home to nesting Bee Eaters. Crested Larks were everywere we looked and we even managed to come across a family of Quail complete with chicks. And just as we were heading back a Little Owl was sat in a tree right at the side of the narrow mountain road and even flew away to the mountain side when he's decided he's showed long enough. And not to format mammals, we even saw a tiny rabbit by the side of the road. A great wildlife drive for sure.

11/05 Salinas de San Pedro
This place is a great little reserve... salt lakes and bits of desert right on the coast. And it certainly didn't disappoint... Ringed Plover, Avocet, Shelduck, Hoopoe (amazing views here), Black Headed Gull, Crested Larks, Flamingoes (yes real wild ones!!) and best of all, Black Backed Stilt. This was my favourite bird of the whole trip, an amazing looking creature that looks even more amazing in flight. There were also some little waders around, probably Little Stint but my small brown wader skills are poor... so I'm not sure. But I will make sure I'm better equiped for next time!

There were also lots of lizards around but we came across a Common Chameleon (see photo)... it was moving extremely slowly across the path, I don't know if he hadn't warmed up or he was old but it was most odd. An amazing creature to see though!!




15/05 - Final Walk
I think I must have got my eye in by now as on the final day we walked for 10 minutes along the dry river bed near the house and saw most ticks I'd been collecting all week in one go!... White Wagtail, Black Wheatear, Blackbird, House Sparrow, Collared Dove, Spotless Starling, Swallow, Serin, Bee Eater (sitting on a wire as they do) and Hoopoe... some great views of him cracking a seed pod on the floor and gorging on it's contents.

In short... go to Spain... the birding is fantastic and I only dabbled!!