Return trip to Centro Valverde

After our last outing to Centro Valverde we decided  that a return trip would be be in order.
There was so much to see that it would be worth the effort to return to the area and spend the day .
We drove down a diffrent track this time and it was the right decision as we got close to the centre there

is a large area which is flooded and there we saw plenty of bird movement .

Squacco Heron

Purple Heron

 From the side of the track we  saw good numbers of Purple Herons and Squacco Herons
with a few Night Herons .

Night Heron 

Squacco Heron

Little Egret

This trip we saw a few raptors ,a few Black Kites ,Booted Eagles ,Griffon Vultures
and a single Ruppells Vulture, also a beautiful Red Kite with a Long Legged  Buzzard
one of the highlights of the day.

Vultures feeding

Ruppells Vulture

Black kite

There are Red crested Pochards , Pochards , Gadwall, Black Necked Grebes ,Little Grebes,
Great crested Grebes,

Pochard

Spoonbill

Great crested Grebe

 From the centre its self your can observe Egrets ,Herons ,and Glossy Ibis building
their nests in some near by trees, there are some birds with chicks in the nest as you can see them
feeding .

Coot with chicks

Whiskered Tern

And what was the spot of the day the Nightjar sat there and did not move as they
tend to do .

Nightjar

Nightjar

 Well it was a wonderful day of birding once again the return trip was well worth the effort.
Enjoy the post and we hope to be out bird watching soon before it gets to hot to be out
on the field.

Centro Visitante Valverde

A very early start got us on our way to our next bird watching outing, heading to Huelva and El Centro Valverde. We stopped on the way for some breakfast and to discuss what birds we might see in these areas.

As you drive through the town of Villamanrique, you get to a dirt track and it is approximately 35 km to the centre.

Bird activity had picked up quite a bit in this area as we saw Squacco Herons, Night and  Purple Herons, and some Glossy Ibis, all collecting nesting material.

Below are some of the photos and a  full list of birds that we saw in the area.

Woodchat Shrike

Glossy Ibis

Birds we  saw include the following: Yellow Wagtail, Whinchat, Stonechat, Cettis Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike, Magpie, Spanish Sparrow, Great-crested Grebe, Spoonbill, Pochard, Great White Egret.

Pochard

Greater Flamingo

Whiskered Terns

Also spotted: Greater Flamingo, Gadwall, Red-crested Pochard, Common Cuckoo, Coots, Stone Curlew, Redshank, Hoopoe, Coots, Stone Curlew, Redshank, Black Kite, Montagu's Harrier.

Subalpine Warbler

Subalpine Warbler

Common Cuckoo

And: Greater Spotted Cuckoo, Little Ringed Plover, Great Reed Warbler, Black Stork,

Crested Lark, Little Grebe, Night Herons, Whiskered Terns.

Gadwall

Gadwall

Short-toed Lark

Great Reed warbler, Purple Heron, Short-toed Eagle, Booted Eagle, Common Buzzard, Roller, Bee-eater, Squacco Heron, Glossy Ibis

Purple Heron

Squacco Heron

Short-toed Lark

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Great Reed Warbler

From the centre, you can see the breeding Squacco, Night and Purple Herons, Glossy Ibis, Little and Cattle Egrets.

Purple Heron

Roller

Coot chick

Dunlins 

With so much bird activity in and around the area it turned out to be a very enjoyable day and it was great to just look around, seeing what type of bird you could spot next, especially amongst the smaller birds.

Azure-winged Magpie

Little Grebe

Black Necked Grebe

Until our next outing, we hope you've enjoyed our findings, and the photos taken!

Tarifa and bird migration

On Friday we drove over to Tarifa hoping that there would be some kind of movement regarding the bird migration, especially the raptors, but unfortunately there was not much happening there at the time.

We stayed in the area for a couple of hours and saw about thirty five Black Kites.

Afterwards, we decided to move down to La Janda.

Black Kite

Griffon Vulture

Griffon Vulture

After spending another couple of hours at La Janda we saw  Black Kite, Marsh Harrier,

Spoonbills, Black-winged Kites, Snipe, Reed Bunting, Booted Eagle, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Common Buzzard, Great White Egret, Cranes, Meadow Pipits, Kingfisher.

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Reed Bunting

Cranes

Griffon Vulture

We hope that there will be more bird movement in terms of migration by next week when we would like to return to Tarifa (weather and work permitting, of course) as we can't wait to see that spectacle once again.