21 February 2011

Our Intentions

We would just like to clear up a bit of a misunderstanding. 

We are not professional photographers, or PhotoShop experts... We are simply BIRD WATCHERS!

We go out on regular excursions to locate birds in different habitats and we're either driving or walking around, we are not concealed inside a hide.

Our main aim is to observe the birds (through binoculars), and if we manage to get a clear enough shot to upload to the blog then we will do so, as there are some people who have taken an interest in where we go, and what we see.

We don't intend to win any photography prizes, or become official guides. All we ever wanted to do  is to keep an online diary and perhaps make people more knowledgeable about birds, especially people who live locally.

So if you enjoy our blog, thank you ever so much for your support and positive feedback. We really appreciate it!

18 February 2011

Migration season has started!

Its still relatively early but we're glad to report that the migration season has most definitely started!

We remained local and headed up the Rock and to Europa Point where we managed to capture some great photos of Black Kites that were in the area.

Black Kite
Black Kite
Black Kite
Black Kite
Black Kite
Black Kite
Black Kite
Also spotted this early on were the Crag Martins:

Crag Martin
Crag Martin
Crag Martin
Whilst we were busy watching the Black Kites we also managed to spot some resident birds, such as the Peregrine Falcon and Kestrel. 

Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon near its nest
Peregrine Falcon
The Blue Rock Thrush is also a resident bird in our rocky areas and we were fortunate enough to get photo's of this beautiful bird. 

Blue Rock Thrush
Blue Rock Thrush
Until the next time... Hope you all have a great weekend!

Logo

It has taken us two months to come up with a proper logo for the blog.  After several attempts trying to figure out how to come up with the logo myself, I promptly gave up and had to seek advice from 'the professionals' which turned out to be a friend of mine who works for the local magazine www.gibeasy.com

We shared our ideas, letting him know that we wanted something simple, and we handed over the photograph that we wanted  to use on the logo. He came up with two outstanding designs and after some consideration we chose to use the one below so we hope you all like it as much as we do.

Send us in your comments! We'd love to hear from you.

11 February 2011

Guadalhorce, Malaga

We visited a new location yesterday, as we had never been to Guadalhorce yet we had heard that it was a good place for bird watching. The river flows into the sea so you have several habitats all in one place, meaning different varieties of birds (i.e. sea birds, water fowl, etc).

Guadalhorce is a Nature Reserve so there was a chance to view a map which specified where the hides were located and we used this opportunity to spend some time in each one, scanning the areas and hoping to catch a glimpse of different bird species to make our trip worthwhile.
Fortunately, we had a relatively good day and spotted the following:
  • Black-headed Gull
  •  Lesser Black-backed Gull
  •  Cormorant
  • Monk Parakeet
  • Robin
  • Swallow
  • Penduline Tit
  • Marsh Harrier
  • Booted Eagle
  • Turnstone
  • Sanderling
  • Shoveller
  • Grey Heron 
  • Coot
  • White-headed Duck
  • Fantailed Warbler
  • Black Redstart
  • Stonechat
  • White Wagtail
  • Meadow Pippet
  • Crested Lark
  • Kingfisher
  • Sandwich Tern
  • Sardinian Warbler
  • Green Shank
  • Moorhen
  • Black-winged Stilt
  • Kestrel 


We reckon it will be a very interesting place to visit during the breeding season (spring time) so we will definitely be going to that area again when the time comes.
 
Here are some more photos that we took on the day:
 













 
Enjoyed these? Leave us a comment or simply tick a reaction box below!

We're off to La Janda tomorrow with Stephen Daly and GOHNS so we might be able to bring you some more good photos soon enough... Hope you have a great weekend!