We began the day with Pau driving for over an hour along the coast, past Benidorm,
to Alicante and we turned off to drive along a gorge with homesteads and small
farms along the river bed. Before doing so Pau took me to a special place to
show me his favourite bird, a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin (or Bush Chat). This
bid cocked its tail for us, and spread its tail in a lovely display. The gorge
itself delivered our first Crag Martins, a Black-eared Wheatear, a Southern
Grey (Iberian) Shrike, and my first Red-rumped Swallow since my Thailand bird
trip in 2011.
 |
| Black-eared Wheatear |
The next stop was to be the best spot of the day, El Fondo,
and we had a Whiskered Tern – again my first of these since Thailand –
entertain us while we had lunch. The main lagoon had stilts, Little Ringed
Plover and Eurasian Coot, but also at least two Red-knobbed Coot and a Marbled
Teal. The latter had been high on my wish list but did not look as beautiful as
the pictures in the field guides!
 |
| Red-knobbed Coot |
The back
ponds held many Collared Pratincole with young, but my main target bird was
missing to Pau’s surprise and after yesterday’s disappointment I had a feeling
of dread! But apparently there was still hope.
 |
| Collared Pratincole |
We drove a
little further, seeing a European Roller on the way and made a quick stop at
the Salines de Santa Polo and saw several White-headed Ducks! This is the
European equivalent of the Ruddy Ducks that I enjoy so much in the U.S. But a
duck that is recovering after being reduced to very small numbers in Spain and north Africa.
 |
| White-headed Duck |
 |
| White-headed Ducking |
By now it
was getting quite late but we took a quick detour to a spot to see two
Bonelli’s Eagles soaring above the cliffs.
No comments:
Post a Comment