11-16 November 2016

Hills above Fuengirola :

2 Kestrels, 1 Black Wheatear, 1 Redstart,1 Dartford Warbler, 4 Sardinian Warblers, 4 Linnets ,2 Choughs, 1 Stonechat and a small flock of Serins.

Lots of Crag Martins above the hillside, also a few Robins and Blackbirds around plus singles of Blue Tit and Greenfinch.

Castillo Sohail area :

1 Hoopoe, 3 Sardinian Warblers and 4 Spotless Starlings. On the lawns were 5 Meadow Pipits, numerous White Wagtails and another small flock of Serins.

"Gibraltariensis" Black Redstarts are common, and often appear quite tame.

Offshore and along the beach were 1 adult Audouins Gull, 1 Mediterranean Shearwater, 4 Sandwich Terns, 2 Sanderlings, 4 Turnstones and several Gannets.

Also 2 Little and 2 Great White Egrets. Yellow Legged and Lesser Black Backed Gulls are common, as are Cormorants.

Other wildlife seen in the hills were : 1 Preying Mantis, several Sharp Toed Lizards plus numerous Long Tailed Blue, Red Admiral and Painted Lady butterflies.

On Wednesday the 19th we decided to have day at the apartments. Luckily for us we are staying up till in the mountains so there was plenty of bird watching to be done from the apartment.
The highlights were:
A pair of stonechats (in the car park)
5 Sardinian warblers (in the car park)
And a bird that I was unable to identify and wasnt in any of my books. I have 2 really distant photos and a recording of it calling.

On the Thursday (20th) we went to the beach which only produced one bird which was too distant for me to identify what it was. The highlights from wandering the sand dunes were:
7 Sardinian warblers in the space of about 10 by 10 meters which surprised me seen as I saw no others about, other than the ones I saw in that ditch and most looked like adults as well.
At least 7 Spanish sparrows, could have been more but I was too focused on the Sardinian warblers.

On Friday (21st) we decided to go up to mijas to see the flamenco in the square. As we were getting ready to leave one of the local booted Eagles started flying close to the apartment. It then flew down next to a cat which then ran over and swiped at its face so it flew off again but nice to have such close views. Highlights from mijas were:
3 spotted flycatchers (1 adult with 2 young)
3 booted Eagles
3 male Spanish sparrows feeding with the house sparrows in the stables.
Other wildlife included:
Lots of long tailed blues which are what I saw at the Alhambra which I thought were a hairstreak.
Lots of short tailed blues.
2 swallowtails.

On Tuesday (18th) we drove down to where we were staying for the second half of our holiday. On the way down we decided to stop off at a beach on the way over.
Birds from the car include 2 male sparrowhawks, 4 booted Eagles, 1 spotted flycatcher and 1 male kestrel.
We arrived at the beach and I noticed a few birds feeding out to sea. They were 7 gannets, 2 great black backed gulls and what looked to be yellow legged but we're too far out to tell what they really were. One flew closer and turned out to be audouin's gull (lifer for us all) it then flew round the coast to a rock. I decided to walk around the coast and managed to find the audouin's gull sat on a rock. While sat watching it from the top of a whimbrel which had apparently been feeding under the rock looked up and must of had the fright of its life so it flew over and landed near the audouin's gull. Suddenly another two audouin's gulls came and sat next to the first. They then flew off together and went out and started feeding with the gannets again. We started walking back when I heard a familiar sound and looked around to see a pair of green sandpipers fly round and land next to the whimbrel. Later that day we went into Malaga for dinner and saw 100's of monk parakeets much more than the 4 I saw last year in Barcelona.
Highlights from that day were:
2 adult and 1 juv. Audouin's gull
1 whimbrel
2 green sandpipers
5 adult and 2 1st winter gannets
1 male black wheatear feeding behind the beach on the rock area but it flew off and landed in someone's garden!
3 spotted flycatchers
100+ monk parakeets
1 kestrel
4 booted Eagles
2 sparrowhawks

On the Monday we decided to go to the Alhambra in Granada so we caught the bus into granda and walked over there. The highlights were:
A feeding frenzy of red rumped swallow 200+, swallows 10c and swifts 30c feeding over a cornfield next to the road.
16 grey wagtails feeding along the two rivers
6 white wagtails
8 crag martins feeding around the Alhambra (one of which was sat on the palace giving lovely views)
And probally most surprisingly was a ragged dipper who looked very sorry for its self and made me feel really sorry for it. It was sat under the arch of a bridge obviously not adapted to the city life unlike the grey wagtails.
Other Wildlife
2 continental swallowtails
3 scarce swallowtails (in the gardens we found a scarce and continental swallowtail sat on the same plant but different flowers giving great views side by side)
And a odd butterfly which looked like a hairstreak but couldn't find any thing like it in my Colin's complete guide to British and European butterflies. Any help would be much appreciated.

On Tuesday we spent the day by the pool. The highlights were:
30+ red rumped swallows
7 swifts
1 booted eagle
And later we went for a walk and the same juv. Woodchat shrike as on Saturday.
Other wildlife
2 scarce swallowtails

We arrived on Friday for a 2 week holiday. The first 5 days just outside of Granada and then the rest just outside of Malaga. Birding started as soon as we touched down with 2 juv. Montaguue harriers flying around the airport. As we were pulling up to the campsite we saw 2 little owls.
Highlights from Saturday were:
100+ bee eaters
1 spotted flycatcher
1 griffon vulture
1 light phase booted eagle
1 short toed eagle
3 serin
2 little owls
50+ red rumped swallows
1 juv. Woodchat shrike.
Today's highlights were:
1 female black wheatear
3 black redstarts
1 male blue rock thrush
6 bee eaters
32 crag martins
1 juv. Woodchat shrike
4 serin.

A couple of days in Malaga over Easter, not actively birding but some good stuff about. Highlights
Great Skua (whilst on a boat trip)
Serin
Raven
Booted Eagle
Yellow legged Gull
Sardinian Warbler
Little Egret
Swallow, House Martin, Common and Pallid Swifts.
Ruddy Shelduck
Shag
Monk Parakeet, in abundance !!!

Early November

Calamorro Mountain

Black Redstarts are abundant on the mountain, with Stonechats in the scrub areas close to the motorway, whilst on boulders on the steep slopes,

were two pairs of Black Wheatears. A single Dartford Warbler was also in the scrub near the motorway.

The castle at Fuengirola had numerous Crag Martins resting on it's walls, with many more swooping around the highrise hotels on the sea front.

Whilst the nearby park held a single Hoopoe, a small flock of Serin, numerous "Alba" wagtails, and a solitary Meadow Pipit.

Here a group of 4 Chiffchaffs picked insects off the upper branches of a large tree.

The larger pines alongside the castle attracted a few vocal Spotless Starlings, with a large group of their Common cousins feeding around the lawns.

Gannets patrolled just offshore, as did a few Shags and 4 Sandwich Terns. Small flocks of Turnstones were fed along the shoreline.

I scanned through the flocks of gulls but could'nt pick out any Slender Billed or Audouins.

A flock of a dozen adult winter Mediterranean Gulls stood out though, as did the resplendant adult Yellow Legged Herring Gulls.

Lots of Lesser Black Backed and Black Headed Gulls. Virtually every palm held a noisy group of parakeets.

Also numerous are Goldfinches, which seem adept at extracting pine seeds from their cones.

Several Clouded Yellow and Painted Lady butterflies were around the scrub areas, together with singles of Red Admiral and Common Blue.

There were also lots of small darter dragonflies around, although I'm not of which species?.





-- Edited by John Williams on Sunday 9th of November 2014 09:31:39 PM