As (Corona Virus) restrictions are currently being eased, I recently enjoyed a morning´s birding at one of our local wetland sites with my old friend John. We´d arranged a birding trip together just before the lockdown so had to cancel and for obvious reasons hadn´t seen each other since early March. Although I´ve been birding regularly on my own, this was my first trip with another person, so the social aspect was most welcome!
Applying the measures with regard to masks, distancing and common sense, we met and began our morning with a walk along the coastal stretch of the site. We immediately heard the song of Common Reed Warbler and then spotted a Turtle Dove that flew by. Then we had good views of my “lockdown bird” Zitting Cisticola, so named as during the time when I couldn´t leave my neighboorhood in Valencia, I found lots of them inhabiting patches of waste ground and urban allotments.
Zitting Cisticola
A Great Reed Warbler then popped onto the top of a reed and began singing right in front of us, which is always a fabulous thing to see. We decided to spend a little time on a viewing platform that overlooks a lagoon. This gave us great views of White Headed Duck, specifically a young male which whilst having the blue bill, was in the plumage phase where the head is very dark. As we took our time, enjoying the surroundings, a flock of Glossy Ibis glided past us, a Marsh Harrier was hunting over the reed beds, a Night Heron flew by and a Little Bittern made a brief but very welcome appearance. We also had fabulous views of Purple Heron.
Little Bittern
We then continued our walk along the beach, stopping to watch Whiskered Terns feeding in flight over the marsh. Once we arrived at the hide that we were heading for, we were glad of the shade as the sun was becoming quite strong. Having set up the tripod we began scanning across the lagoon and its small islands. Sandwich Terns were busy feeding their chicks, as were Common Terns. We had good views of Mediterranean Gull, Little Ringed Plover, Greater Flamingo, Red Crested Pochard and a Marbled Teal. Then we turned our attention to the Collared Pratincoles that were on a small island, two of them giving fabulous views as they came to drink. You can see a video of this here…
Time was marching on towards lunchtime so we decided to do likewise and head back to the car which was where the food was! Our stroll back along the beach gave fantastic views of several Audouin´s Gulls in flight as well as Crested Lark in the coastal scrub. We drove to the back of the reserve area where we set up a couple of foldable chairs and enjoyed a leisurely picnic lunch in the shade of the trees. As we ate and chatted, we listened to the song of Serin and the calls of Long Tailed Tit. We could also hear Bee Eaters calling in the far distance. A Booted Eagle provided a very special moment as it glided right over us, and a Hoopoe put in a very welcome appearance.
Booted Eagle
After lunch we decided to return home as it was getting rather hot and we both had a few jobs to attend to, but John suggested that we stop off at another small lagoon on the way. His was a good decision as it gave us good views of Pallid Swift feeding over the water, the clouds that had started to build provided just the right amount of light to appreciate the paler tones of the birds and to easily distinguish them from the Common Swifts that were also present.
John in action!
It had been fabulous to meet up with John once more, and to enjoy a morning´s birding with him. I look forward to our next outing which hopefully will be quite soon. Our species list for the day included :
Collared Dove, House Sparrow, Grey Heron, Spotless Starling, Turtle Dove, Cormorant, Zitting Cisticola, Barn Swallow, Wood Pigeon, Great Reed Warbler, Common Reed Warbler, Squacco Heron, Common Swift, Blackbird, Sandwich Tern, Glossy Ibis, White Headed Duck, Mallard, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Kestrel, Marsh Harrier, Purple Swamphen, Yellow Legged Gull, Black Headed Gull, Whiskered Tern, Coot, Night Heron, Purple Heron, Goldfinch, Black Winged Stilt, Little Bittern, Common Tern, Common Pochard, Mediterranean Gull, Little Ringed Plover, Moorhen, Greater Flamingo, Tree Sparrow, Little Egret, Collared Pratincole, Red Crested Pochard, Marbled Teal, House Martin, Crested Lark, Audouin´s Gull, Magpie, White Wagtail, Hoopoe, Booted Eagle, Serin, Great Tit, Sardinian Warbler, Pallid Swift.
Written by Dave Warrington.