Bird Nerds

26 January 2013

During the storm...

We had already set out knowing that a bad storm was on its way however, we decided to brave it as we had already made all the necessary arrangements to go out on this trip. It'd had been quite some time since our last birding trip together so we were both very enthusiastic, and eager to get some good photos for our blog.

Cranes, as the storm approaches

Lapwings

We headed for La Janda and on the first curve we managed to see plenty of Linnets and Goldfinch, all sat on a fence with a ray of sunlight upon them. The sunshine brought out their colours, enhanced by the greyness of their surroundings (due to the miserable weather).

Horse in La Janda

Kingfisher

Unfortunately, we were totally unprepared for this moment as we didn't have our cameras set up! We immediately got out of the car to grab the equipment but at that precise moment it began to pour down with rain and we had no choice but to give up on taking that spectacular photo. We headed back to the warmth of the car and waited for the next clearing.

Goldfinch

Great White Egret

Chaffinch

As the day cleared up, the sun began to shine, and the birds started to appear again.

Fantailed Warbler

Overall, we had a great day and didn't regret heading out in the bad weather.

Osprey

Redstart

Partridges

Marsh Harriers

21 January 2013

Los Alcornocales

We spent Sunday morning bird watching in Los Alcornocales.

It was a cool start to the day but fortunately it didn't take long for the morning to warm up a little.

As we walked through the woods we would stop and listen to the birds calling, or singing and try to identify the bird before searching for it.

Short -toed Tree Creeper

Black Redstart

It can be quite a challenge as there might be several different birds all calling/singing at the same time!

Long-tailed Tits

We would sit down for a while and watch them fly and scurry about the tree trunks/branches searching for food.

Nuthatch

Overall, it was an exciting and enjoyable morning.

Blue Tit

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Here is a list of the birds we saw on the day, along with some of the photos that we took. Please note that there are more photos in our Picasa gallery.

Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Jay, Short-toed Tree Creeper, Nuthatch, Robin, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Tit

Until our next post, bye for now!

19 December 2012

Bonanza Salt Pans

We arrived at the salt pans in Bonanza at around 10:00hrs but the morning mist was sitting low over the whole area so there wasn't much to see at the time.

We headed back into the town and breakfast whilst we waitws for the sun to break through. At about midday it had finally blown off so we headed back to the salt pans.

Once there we parked and set up the scope to scan the area and start identifing the birds. There were: Black-winged Stilts, Turnstones, Avocets, Whimbrel, Curlew, Redshank, Greenshank, Sanderlings, Snipe, Dunlin, Kentish Plover

Most of the birds were too far away for any photos, except for the ones below.