Thirteen and still looking good.

For the thirteenth year running, the Bonaparte's Gull has returned to Oare marshes to spend the summer months and still looking as good as ever. Looking closely, the summer moult has just about started and it will not be long until the handsome black hood will have disappeared, before the Gull moves on to winter in unknown parts. I spent Wednesday afternoon (9th July) at Oare to see the bird before it loses it's summer attire.

Also out on the mud of the Swale were a few Mediterranean Gulls, this individual looking rather scruffy into it's summer moult.

A favourite of mine when visiting Oare is to stand along the path by the sea watching hide and catch the many Black-tailed Godwits as they fly off the east flood to feed on the wet mud from the dropping tide of the Swale.

On the east flood along with the Godwits, were 3 Little Ringed Plovers. The biggest noticeable absence on the flood was the water, there is none apart from small puddles here and there. 

Why ???

 

A trip to Catalonia. (Part 2)

 After leaving Tremp and being returned to our hotel, we had a couple of hours to kill before our late afternoon stint in the Bee Eater hides, a few miles away in Montgai. I suggested a walk along a small side road behind our hotel as I had a quick stroll along there after awaking early that morning and hearing a singing Quail and saw several Crested Lark's, Serins and a Tree Sparrow. We spent about an hour walking along the winding country road, racking up an impressive species list including Zitting Cisticola, Golden Oriole, a Woodchat Shrike, a few Bee-Eater's, several Crested Lark's, a Thekla Lark, (seeing Crested and Thekla together helped with i.d)  and Steve got us on to a Short-toed Snake Eagle drifting high overhead. The Thekla was a lifer for me. We were almost reluctant to return to our hotel but did as we had to meet our guide in Montgai at 5.00 pm.

The Bee-Eater's did not disappoint for Tim and I but Steve fared a little less better in another hide situated 3 to 400 metres behind us, on account that these hides were only big enough for two people. Steve did get to see a couple of Rollers which we were hoping for, but missed. 

A good few hours spent in the company of the Bee Eaters before returning to our hotel for dinner and a few beers before bed. The next morning was when our trip plans changed dramatically. We were due to visit hides for European Roller, which as mentioned, due to nest predation, was now redundant, Montague's Harrier and lastly a hide for Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sand Grouse but both hides relied on the species being drawn in by water. Once again, with an abundance of surface water amassed from several months of heavy rain fall, these hides were also now redundant.

We set off early, driving to the Port del Comte ski resort, about 30 kilometres north of Solsona and spent the morning in a hide set up on the edge of a Pine forest with a drinking pool in front, 1700 metres above sea level and hoping for Alpine bird species. Well, although I did get a lifer in the shape of a Citril Finch, the morning was a complete waste of time. We did get a few fleeting glances of a Crested Tit, a Serin kept appearing but for most of the time stubbornly remained partially hidden in the foliage. I also thought the light was terrible, shadows everywhere and it was not long before I sort of gave up on trying to get any photos. This was for all three of us, our biggest disappointment, we travelled for two hours back tracking on our journey from Solsona earlier in the week and all for nothing really. (and a hundred euros each for the hide)  Not much of a whinge really, the views we had were stunning and it was very strange to see the ski slopes with no snow on, just out of work cable cars resting above a grassy slope. Mind you, some of the slopes were indeed very steep. Also we found a restaurant open and had a superb Ham and Fried egg breakfast.

Serin

Strange seeing the piste with no snow.

Around the ski resort there were a few Crag Martin's in amongst the numerous House Martin's which soon eroded the memory of the Alpine hide, these do travel, especially with a tail wind.

We left the alpine area of Port del Comte and our re arranged schedule saw us driving back to Barcelona and then North for about 50 kilometres to a small town called Montseny. Another very nice hotel for our last night and the morning saw the three of us in a forest pool hide, a small wooden hide in the forest with a pool in front of it funny enough. The various perches were also baited and we enjoyed a busy morning session before leaving and making our way back to the airport at Barcelona for our evening flight home. We had hoped for Hawfinch here to no avail but a visiting female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker softened the blow. She was in and out for most of the time we were there.

My favourite from this session was a really showy Nightingale, a species I do not get to photograph out in the open that much.

Other visitors to the pool included Greater Spotted Woodpecker

Nuthatch

Crested Tit

All too soon, a knock on the door of the hide told us our guide had returned to end the session, which was a shame, as although all the birds visiting the hide pool were mainly of species that were fairly common to us (bar the Crested Tit's), they were all within a few metres of the hide window, but not easy given the dappled forest light casting shadows everywhere, but still a great morning's entertainment with the camera.

The one good thing about are changed itinerary, was instead of finishing in the Sand Grouse hide at Belchite, Aragon, and a three hour drive back to the airport in Barcelona, we were now only 50 kilometres (100 with Tim and Steve's phone navigation skills) North of Barcelona, so we had plenty of time to get back, off hire the car and grab dinner before our evening flight back to Gatwick.

All in all, a fairly successful trip with four new birds for me, Lammergeier, (which was the bird of the trip for me), European Black Vulture, Thekla Lark and the Citril Finch. (Cannot quite believe I never managed even a record shot of the Finch). Glaring misses with the Montagu's Harrier, European Roller and the Sand Grouse but unfortunately, Photo logistics had no control over the weather, no guarantees with wildlife watching I'me afraid but it does leave us something to go back for come the next Spring.

My Bird of the week. 

Lammergeier

Thanks to Steve and Tim for an enjoyable week and also thanks to Photo logistics who done their best,  especially given the trying circumstances.

A trip to Catalonia. (Part 1)

 A trip to Catalonia in the North East of Spain was undertaken by Steve Ray, Tim Gutsell and myself, where we had a week under the guidance of a company called Photo logistics who organised our hotels and photography hides. We left Gatwick on Monday 19th May, an early morning flight into Barcelona where we picked up a hire car and drove North West for about 180 kilometres to a small city called Solsona in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

We were collected by our guide early on Tuesday morning (20th) and driven about 20 minutes North into the mountains, miles from anywhere and deposited into a hide with a one way glass frontage over looking a grassy stretch on the mountain side and waited for some photography action. The one way glass worked surprisingly well, obviously us being able to look out but whatever was in front of the hide could not see us. This did allow for some remarkably close views during the session of Lammergeier, Egyptian and Griffon Vultures. The first to arrive were the Griffons and I would estimate about 40 birds were present. Bearing in mind these birds have a wing span of just over 9 foot, it was quite a spectacular site as they approached the hide.

Next the Lammergeier's (Bearded Vultures) appeared, a pair and the first lifer of the trip for me. They put on a great show, hoovering up the bones of several carcasses and swallowing them whole a few metres from us, the birds completely unaware of our presence. As large as the Griffons but without the long neck, these birds are brutes, strong, stocky and it was amazing to see them in their natural habitat, especially as they were the first Lammergeier's I have seen. The trip never ran according to plan (see later) but these birds were worth the entrance ticket fee alone.

Our third Vulture of the session was the strange looking Egyptian Vulture, or what we all quickly renamed "The Chicken". A strange looking creature, smaller than the Griffon's and Lammergeier's but was not that far short with the wing span. Their aerial ability was remarkable and they put on a great show for us. In spite of their smaller size, they were not for being bullied by the larger Vultures. 

What I presume to be a 2nd calendar year juvenile bird.

There were plenty of Corvids about and the Raven's were the pick of these. I often dismiss Raven's when looking through the viewfinder but when they are posing just a few feet in front of you, they then become harder to dismiss.

After the session in the hide ended, we were collected and taken back to our hotel in Solsona where we then drove about 100 kilometres further west towards Andorra for a two night stay in a basic but pleasant hotel in a small village called Cubells in the Montgai Steppe region of Catalonia. As mentioned earlier, our trip never went to plan, this being for two reasons, firstly the area has had a huge amount of rainfall during the past few months and a normally dry arid area where birds were attracted to what little water supply there was, now had water in abundance, rendering man made constructed water drinking pools surplus to requirements. Basically, the birds could find water anywhere so were not specifically targeting the drinking pools set up in front of hides. The second reason was down to pure bad luck, We were due to spend a morning in a hide for European Roller but their nest was predated by a Brown Rat the day before our arrival. That is nature unfortunately and nothing is guaranteed. The people at Photo logistics were very good and they did all that was humanly possible to get us what we wanted. We were offered a hide about an hours drive from our hotel for the following morning that almost guaranteed us European Black Vulture, which was a lifer for all three of us so we went with this plan and was collected the next morning in a mini bus and we made our way via a very scenic route to a town called Tremp which was about 30 kilometres short of Andorra.

As the previous day, several Griffon were first on the scene.

Lifer number 2 for me was the European Black Vulture. Steve signalled their arrival and looking out to our right was what was akin to a squadron of Lancaster Bombers approaching. About five or six birds, huge in size and had the look of an Eagle as they neared. They landed in amongst the several Griffon and Egyptian Vultures out in front of us but due to the long grass, getting images of them in the open proved rather difficult. This I must say, was one of the very few criticisms we had with the company but I think maybe due to the late swapping and changing of our itinerary, this maybe was the reason for the over grown grass in front of the hide oversight. ( A quick strim to the feeding area would have worked wonders with the photography). A few record shots of the Black Vulture to mark a new lifer for all of us.

The grass never interfered with the aerial photography though and we were treated to superb flight views of both Black and Red Kites throughout are morning stint in the hide.

Black Kite

Red Kite

This was easily the best views I have had with Black Kites and because of their close proximity giving good photo opportunities of them in flight, for me was a highlight of the trip.

Their were a few Egyptian Vultures that came to feed on a carcass and we had better opportunities here to get them in flight as they circled before dropping into the area in front of the hide.

A sub adult bird I think

Being deaf as a post has obvious disadvantages when out looking for birds but not when you have a good pair of ears sitting either side of you. This was the case as we sat in the hide nearing the end of our session. Both Tim and Steve picked up a bird singing behind the hide and after a few minutes it flew into a bush in front of the hide. Although a little distant and we all were suffering a little from a heat haze, we all managed a few images of a singing Tawny Pipit, proving that not all the birds in the area were huge with big bills and ready to rip everything to shreds.

Tawny Pipit

After the session, our guide (a dead ringer for Bruno Fernandez of Man Utd) collected us and drove us back to our hotel In Cubells where he would return at 5.00 PM for a late afternoon stint in the Bee Eater hides. Everybody loves a Bee Eater.

End of Part One. Part Two to follow.