The wild Southwest of Bonanza and Brazo Del Este... thousands of birds, a fab tractor and some stunning location shots.

'Tis with a slight tinge of sadness that I leave Tarifa and begin my northward journey back, but its a fool who dashes away when the riches abound and its the wetlands where most of the action seems to be occurring, so rather than head due North, I dally awhile around the Rio Guadalquivir and my first port of call is Bonanza, just outside Sanlucar de Barameda and now part of the Donana nature reserve. Been here before many times in the Spring but never at this time of the year. Surrounded by Parcel Pine forest on one side and salt pans on the other, Bonanza never disappoints!!

Booted Eagle, Bonanza



Booted Eagle, Bonanza

These shots of a Booted Eagle flying over the pine trees was my first of the morning ... no idea what its doing on the 2nd shot!



Black Stork, Bonanza

I'd seen my first Black Storks over La Janda the day before and boy are they wary! Unlike the White Storks they fly at the first hint of camera movement ... one distant shot here followed by one flying away .... I do manage a few better shots later.... ugly critters really aren't they!

Black Stork, Bonanza

It's difficult to convey the sheer number of birds here in Spain in the Winter, on a daily basis down here I witness massive flocks of Meadow Pipits, White Wagtails, Larks, Finches as well as huge numbers of Chiff Chaffs, Black Redstarts, Robins, Stonechats ... and that's without mentioning raptors, storks, egrets, ducks and waders! Almost too much to take in sometimes. Here's a bit more of Bonanza and then its on to Brazo Del Este.

Banks of the Guadalquivir, Bonanza

 

Bar Tailed Godwit, Bonanza

Caspian Tern, Bonanza

Chiff Chaffs galore... not the best of pictures but this is typical. Point your bins or camera just about anywhere and there'll be up to half a dozen around .... only 3 in the pic below but you get the picture! 

Chiff Chaffs.... typical vista!

Common Waxbill, Bonanza



Greater Flamingoe, Bonanza ... off centre, dammit!!

 
A little further North and on the East of the Guadalquivir lies Brazo Del Este - a subsidiary river and system of drainage dykes that again hold huge numbers of Storks, Waders, Raptors as well as smaller birds in the many wet fields, many of them rice paddies .... its yet another birding heaven!

I kid you not, when I arrived in the late afternoon, the first thing I witnessed was a field full of about 300 White Storks .... and then I realised this was just one of many fields, with just as many Storks, some Black Storks, Glossy Ibis, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed & Black Headed Gulls, Marsh Harriers everywhere... even had a flock of Golden Plover (new bird for the trip!)

Here's a photo montage because time is short for blogging and I'm doing this in bed in a hotel in El Rocio and its already gone midnight!!

One White Stork ...

 



Lots of White Storks!! Brazo Del Este

In total, I don't know, but over 2500 White Storks at Brazo alone.

Black Stork, Brazo Del Este

Several Black Storks here too... maybe 15 in total.


Black Storks, Brazo Del Este

 ........ nice Spoonbill pic

Spoonbill, Brazo Del Este

Always been drawn by birds following the plough in the UK .... usually its looking for something different amongst Black Headed Gulls (almost always to find just that), but how about this for something different .....ace retro tractor for a start! Sky in the background is a bit weak but still a good action shot ....


Storks, Ibis & Gulls following the plough, Brazo Del Este




Wet field, Eucalyptus Tree, Pumping station and van pic! Brazo Del Este

Talking about 'locations' - this was not staged, just where I happened to park the van for a stroll, but what pic for the scrapbook!













I'd stopped to scan for Bluethroats, seeing this as a likely old spot .....

Likely Bluethroat location



Bluethroat from loads away!

.... and sure enough if I zoom in on one particular spot on the above (can you see it?!) there was indeed a Bluethroat. Slight cheat involved here because admittedly, I knew there was one there somewhere, but again its the sheer numbers of birds here that continues to astound ... I must have had 20 Bluethroats at Brazo!

Rubbish image of course and highly cropped but here's the zoom in on the right.






Interesting irrigation structures around here, shame I didn't get the birds in focus.....!

Irrigation and Cormorants, Brazo Del Este

Nowt much to write home about, neither bird and certainly not the photograph, but this has to be one of the most difficult birds to get anywhere near to even a distance shot ..... its a Lesser Short Toed Lark, only included here as a record shot and my first ever pic of one. At least you can make out the diagnostic eye ring!

 

 

 

Drainage dyke & Penduline Tit location

This is where I had my 2nd 'lifer' of the trip, a smashing view of a Penduline Tit ... just on the top of one of the nearest mast heads!










Dragonfly species, Brazo Del Este

Lots of dragonflies about here still, maybe they last right through the year? Have to get the field guide out to this one .....

















Nice female Marsh Harrier coming down a drain, just before she clocked me!



Female Marsh Harrier, Brazo Del Este

2 awesome and bird filled locations in 2 days and then I hit the Donana national nature reserve proper and El Rocio is my base for another couple of days before I head up to Extramadura. More from here in my next post.

Tarifa chill out after the scorched earth and plastic of Almeria



Rio Jara Campsite, from the beach

So here I am kicking my heels and in relaxed / reflective mode here in Tarifa .... a place for loafers, surfers, bums & gays from all over Europe. Mellow is my mood and I suspect I may well be here for a couple if not 3 days.





Tarifa shoreline ....Africa in the distance

The weather isn't brilliant, bit windy with the odd squally shower, but hey its 6.30pm, not quite dark and the van door is open as I recline against my many cushions in the camper and write this (wine glass half full by the way).

I've come a long way, seen some great birds and scenery and taken many pictures so here's a bit of a round up, with a bit of reflection, of the last few days after El Fondo and travelling through Murcia and Almeria.

The semi desert area of Almeria ... really struggled for birds around here, despite going up high and tramping around the mountains amidst the wind turbines

Wind Turbines at the top of Taburnas

 

The Almerian Desert, nr Taburnas

Best birds were whenever stopped off to break the journey, on one such break, nr the village of Gonar, I had a Scops Owl perched right in front of the van on a tree, Thekla Lark, 2 Hoopoes and my first Blue Rock Thrush of the trip

 

 

Blue Rock Thrush, nr Gonar

Blue Rock Thrush, nr Gonar

Tekla Lark, nr Gonar

Shame I missed out on a decent pic of that Scops Owl in trying to track it down I stumbled across this exquisite little butterfly .... I have this down as a Desert Orange Tip, much more of an African butterfly and pretty scarce in Spain.

Desert Orange Tip?


Further up in the mountains I had this tired looking Painted Lady .... the pic's good for the rocky surrounds as well as the butterfly itself - scorched earth!!



Painted Lady, nr Taburnas

Had a freshly dead snake in the road up there too .... shows you how arid it still is around here. Not sure what it is, possibly a Whip snake.

Travelling down through Almeria I was appalled at the amount plastic around the place. The locals seem to be taking every piece of suitable land and erecting huge swathes of plastic greenhouse to cover their crops. I know that mouths have to be fed and that men must earn the dollar but surely there's a more sustainable way than this ....

Plastic creeping up the mountains on the Almerian coast

At Las Norias the 'greenhouse effect' was as pronounced as I've seen, still a few good birds about but the rubbish that is left when the greenhouses have done their job and are just left to rot is not one of Spain's better conservation efforts!

Discarded greenhouses at Las Norias

Discarded greenhouses at Las Norias

Plastic rubbish at Las Norias

As with much of this part of Spain, the numbers of small birds, finches, Starlings, White Wagtails and especially Chiff Chaffs is a major feature of the bird-life here in Nov / Dec. I must have had 150, maybe more Chiff Chaffs at Las Norias alone! It was akin to a 'fall' of migrants at say Spurn or Flamborough Head!

Chiff Chaff, Las Norias

Chiff Chaffs, Las Norias

Greenshank, nr Cabo de Gata,

Starlings ... so many over here!!

It took a while to get used to seeing Crag Martins flying over reed beds instead of rock faces and even longer to get a half decent photo but this ain't bad ....



Crag Martin, Las Norias

Red Crested Pochard, Las Norias

So I've had a slight change of plan and decided not to take in the Sierra Andujar - its just much back tracking and for birds and scenery that I'm sure will be replicated in Extramadura, lets just hope it doesn't rain for a week because its pelting down now in Tarifa .... shame, I was hoping for some seascapes and sea birds!

 

I might drift off to Cape Trafalgar later if the weather improves and then tomorrow I'm off to Bonanza!

 

 

 



 

 

El Fondo ... very fond I am! Best Bluethroat, Great Grey Shrike & Wryneck pics ever, plus pretty pink Flamingoes & n Eagle to Boot!

Murcia and Almeria, the 2 most South-eastern regions of Spain do of course have their attractions and with that wonderful thing called hindsight I may have been better off taking in some of the history and heritage of these Moorish / Romanesque areas, like Cartegena or Baez, or even take in a bit of live music .... not doing enough of that and spending too much time on the road! Note to self as I'm halfway through my escapade.

Stand out day by a mile and worth every minute of motorway toil was Sunday at the El Fondo (actually just still inside Valenciana but lets not quibble!). I'd arrived Sat eve and after struggling to find an entrance ('oo er missus!') and then strayed onto the duck hunting area by mistake, I finally navigated myself to the reserve proper ... had about 30mins of decent light left but with Flamingoes and Marsh Harriers flying about, Chiff Chaffs in nearly every bush and some very chatty Flemish tourists (not Belgian .. we're Flemish!), it was enough to persuade me to stop over and do a morning there.

Frustrating as it was, in my walking about the previous day I had in fact added another 3 good species to the tally... Southern Grey Shrike .......

Southern Grey Shrike, Nr El Fondo

Booted Eagle ....

Booted Eagle, Nr El Fondo

and the most elusive, most skulking of birds ever, Bluethroat .....

Bluethroat, Nr El Fondo

Yes I know, rubbish and 'record only' pic, but at the time I seriously thought this was going to be one of my few opportunities to snap one of these 'Robin like' undergrowth dwellers. I needn't have fretted...... day 2 at El Fondo -

Now this is what a Bluethroat through the lens should look like!

Male Bluethroat, El Fondo

Male Bluethroat2, El Fondo

Male Bluethroat3, El Fondo

Male Bluethroat4, El Fondo

 I can't begin to tell you how lucky I was to get this beauty. I'd glimpsed this bird briefly but both it and I were a bit put off by the several groups of Spanish families doing the usual continental 'walkabout somewhere nice of a Sunday morning' kind of thing... but I was persistent and patient, got myself well positioned and just waited. An hour later, my pack up eaten and he showed up again in the same spot!

About 90 mins earlier, when I rolled up in the car park, I was just as lucky ... only had a couple of Wrynecks calling and perched on fence posts just 50 metres away from the van!

Wryneck, El Fondo

Wryneck, El Fondo

I'd not realised that some Wrynecks, so rare in the UK, over winter in this part of Spain. Never photographed one before!

As I was debating getting out of the van to get a closer shot, this monster Great Grey Shrike came and perched on the wire fence just in front of me..... megatastic and almost too close for my lens!!!

Great Grey Shrike, El Fondo

Now I may have happened on a good day but I'd thoroughly recommend El Fondo to any birder in this part of Spain ... its big, got good birds and the viewing platforms are 2nd to none. 



El Fondo reserve, nr Crevillent

Viewing platform, El Fondo .. with added Flamingoes!





 Zoom in on the above and you'll see some Flamingoes flying over. Many Winter here and I reckoned on about 300 in total ... here's a couple of fly pasts (so tricky not to cut at least one of their heads off!)







Flamingoes, El Fondo

Fan Tailed Warbler, or Zitting Cisticola if you prefer!

 Such was my luck on this most glorious of days, I even managed to capture a reasonable image of that most annoyingly cute little buzzy thing that if not heard, always makes you think you've seen something better! Its the curiously named Zitting Cisticola or Fan Tailed Warbler of course!

..... to my mind this is a much 'posier' and 'eagle like' Booted Eagle

Booted Eagle, El Fondo





..... although not the prettiest of birds, this Glossy Ibis, an isolated individual amongst several flocks around the reserve, deserves a slot too on one of my best ever days for bird photography

Glossy Ibis, El Fondo

..... last up and one of my personal favourite and most photogenic of waders, the good old Black Winged Stilt, lots here!

Black Winged Stilt, El Fondo

 Fab day and that was 4 days ago. In Tarifa now, right on the Southern most tip of Spain ... the good old Rio Jara camp site, still going ... I first came here 25 years ago!!!