Spain 3rd January 2016

An unexpected trip to Spain.....

Bearing in mind this is a "rescue" mission for a relative, who has been hospitalised in Torremolinos, I'm not expecting great things but the first day has been interesting.

A walk along the sea front brought the expected Yellow Legged Gulls what was unexpected though were the CRAG MARTINS, they winter in their breeding area in Southern Spain, an unidentified EAGLE sp ( no bins ) could have been any of the big Aquila eagles.

An unfamiliar squawk went unidentified but logged in my mind, only to be recognised when the emerald flash of a MONK PARAKEET and many of its fellows flew through the line of palms.

Monk Parakeet, a feral bird in parts of the world.

Monk Parakeet

Other birds included, SPOTLESS STARLING, GREY WAGTAIL, WHITE WAGTAIL, BLACK REDSTART, MALLARD, GANNET, COLLARED DOVE, BLACKBIRD and HOUSE SPARROW another eagle probably, BOOTED EAGLE

Tomorrow is set aside for proper birding on a local nature reserve, a few miles from the hotel.

White Wagtail

Spain 3rd January 2016

An unexpected trip to Spain.....

Bearing in mind this is a "rescue" mission for a relative who has been hospitalised in Torremolinos I'm not expecting great things but the first day has been interesting.

A walk along the sea front brought the expected Yellow Legged Gulls what was unexpected though were the CRAG MARTINS, they winter in their breeding area in Southern Spain, an unidentified EAGLE sp ( no bins ) could have been any of the big Aquila eagles.

An unfamiliar squawk went unidentified but logged in my mind, only to be recognised when the emerald flash of a MONK PARAKEET and many of its fellows flew through the line of palms.

Monk Parakeet, a feral bird in parts of the world.

Monk Parakeet

Other birds included, SPOTLESS STARLING, GREY WAGTAIL, WHITE WAGTAIL, BLACK REDSTART, MALLARD, GANNET, COLLARED DOVE, BLACKBIRD and HOUSE SPARROW another eagle probably, BOOTED EAGLE

Tomorrow is set aside for proper birding on a local nature reserve, a few miles from the hotel.

White Wagtail

NEW YEAR 2016 Friday 1st January

NEWS UPDATE.

The weather has played havoc with any plans to go ringing etc so.....

I'm off, tomorrow, to the Andalucia  region of Spain.

If the technology works there, will hopefully, be updates from there.

Wednesday 23rd December 2015

With a decent day on the cards, and it being Wednesday it was volunteer day at Pembrey LNR.

When I arrived on site I was surprised how busy it was but then today was the first "dry" day for a while.

The light was great.

one of the "ephemeral" pools

After talking to a few visitors I made my way on site to be greeted with the tell-tale signs of poachers- a group of blokes standing around looking at the ground with terriers standing by. Further investigation revealed 6 adult males  and three children, three or four terriers and a couple of ferrets, sadly one of the adults was a local sporting star!

After establishing the rights and wrongs they left and we carried on with some tasks.

Top of the list was putting up some information sheets in the hut, nothing too expensive just in case of vandalism.

the "respect" and "enjoy" board

Birds to be seen

Then it was completing the removal of a field fence before it fell into the sea, and a litter pick.

Thursday 17th December

Its been a bit of a busy week so I've not had much time to be out and about, the best on offer has been the Red Kite and Merlin at Pembrey LNR.

The weather has also been against me with rain and wind most days, so some photos of Lesbos might cheer me up.....

Red Backed Shrike

Greater Flamingos

Friday 11th December 2015

A decent day today with a quick trip to WWT Llanelli, slim pickings though with totals of

Lapwing 236, B H Gull 200+, Wigeon 96+, Greylag 5, Peregrine 1

Down at Pembrey LNR a bit of a raptor fest with Red Kite 2, Buzzard 1, and Merlin ♀/imm

a few Ravens and the obligatory Stonechats.

Merlin ♀/imm, a very cropped long distance  digi shot

Red Kite, a very cropped long distance digi shot

ITV were on site filming the Sea Buckthorn clearance for a short Wales news programme.

Wednesday 9th December 2015

Another breezy day but it remained dry until dark.

The power of wind and wave is becoming increasingly clear on the fore dunes at Pembrey LNR, with huge losses of established dunes being replaced by the formation of embryonic dunes at beach level.

wind blown sand being deposited in front of the fore dunes

Work continues to clear Sea Buckthorn from a 1km stretch of the foredunes the resulting new habitat will benefit the many invertebrates which thrive in this apparently barren landscape.

The machine on tracks makes short work of older stands of Sea Buckthorn while the more nimble "Bobcat" reaches those parts others can't,

A flock of 69 Cormorants had gathered at the tide line early this morning.