The Birdman of Alcossebre (Spain)

Exporing another part of the Country.

My friend Pete and I had a look at three of the Resevoirs (Emabases in Spanish) inland from Castellón recently to see if there was anything of interesting bird wise.

All three Embalses were well under fifty percent down on there water levels for this time of the year.

The first reservoir called Embalse de Maria Cristina was surrounded by lots of Tile factory units with a road though the middle.
So constant disturbance.
Hence very little in the way of birds – two Grey herons and a Little Ringed Plover.

The second reservoir called Embalse de Sichar looked more promising being much bigger with some small islands, but not a lot in the way of aquatic vegetation for nesting birds.
The surrounding countryside was well wooded and held a small variety of singing birds including Chaffinches and Nightingale. There were plenty of House Martins swooping over the water. Again apart from one Grey Heron there was no waterbirds.

Surely the third reservoir would be better?

It was called Embalse de Arenós. It was much larger in size than the others – in fact way back in 1977 the buried three villages when they flooded the valley!

The road followed along one side of the reservoir and try as we might we couldn’t see a place that we could easily get down to the shoreline.
In the end we had to come back and park at the dam end of the reservoir.
It turned out to be the right thing to do, because there right above us was a nesting colony of Griffon Vultures.

Ravens showed off their flying skills to, but they were not in the same class as the vultures.
Like the previous two reservoirs there were no birds on the water.
We had a picnic lunch here and took some photos of the reservoir and vultures and then moved on.

On the way back we chanced on some nice birds in a small valley area past an evocative named Collado Royo y Poviles.
I had said to Pete “stop the car, I think there was a Shrike on a fence post”
There was indeed a Woodchat Shrike on the fence post but that wasn´t what I was watching when Pete caught up with me after parking the car.
I was watching a Tawny Pipit! Pete looked through his binoculars and saw a Bee eater and said “is that a Bee eater there?” Without taking my eye of the Pipit I said “Yes” “I can’t believe you are looking at a pale bird like that when there is this wonderfully coloured bird over there!”
I replied “Pete I see Bee eaters every day on my bird walk around Alcossebre.”

Other birds in the area were Carrion Crows and Corn Buntings.
Futher on we had brief views of a Honey Buzzard and Booted Eagle, the latter was perched on a electric/telephone cable, by the time I tried to sneak out the car for a photo it was gone. Win some lose some, that’s bird photography for you.

At the end of the day it was worth while trip, if you don’t explore you don’t know what’s in the area. Plenty more to see, it’s a big country Spain.

April. Migrants in a hurry -here today and gone tomorrow.

I saw 85 species this April, a good total for here.
Three new species were added to the Alcossebre area list – Little Grebe, Bonelli’s Eagle and Grasshopper Warbler.
Most days in April brought in migrants, but being Spring they didn’t hang around. A good variety of birds were seen on passage.

The 1st of April started with some overnight arrivals – 5 Willow Warblers; 4 Blackcaps; 3 Subalpine Warblers ; 1 Common Redstart and one Woodchat Shrike.

On the 2nd of April passage birds included 1 Marsh Harrier and 20 Night Herons both first Spring records. 25 Cormorants and 7 Little Egrets flew East.

The 3rd of April brought in the first Turtle Dove of Spring and 4 Great Spotted Cuckoos. 110 Audoiun’s Gulls flew East.

On the 5th April 2 Green Sandpipers were at the local sewage pond, the first of Spring.3 Grey Herons flew East and 2 Meadow Pipits were the last of winter.

Although I was confined to the house for 4 days with food poisoning I did manage to see the first Bee eaters of Spring fly over the house on the 9th April!

The 10th of April brought in a first for Alcossebre - a Little Grebe at the sewage pond. It stayed for the next 3 days. Also at the sewage pond were 2 Purple Herons the first of Spring.
Three birds of prey flew past a Marsh Harrier, a Booted Eagle and a Common Kestrel. Also flying past were 7 Common Swifts, the first of Spring. Barn Swallows were passing at 65 birds per hour and House Martins at 16 birds per hour.
Overnight arrivals included the first Spring Blue Headed Wagtails (9). 1 White Wagtail and 1 Subalpine Warbler.

If I thought the 10th was a good day for birds the 11th of April was even better. Birds flying past heading North East included – 2 Balearic Shearwaters; 3 Grey Herons; 2 Purple Herons; The first Spring White Stork; 2 Black Kites; 1 Marsh Harrier; My first Bonelli’s Eagle (2) record for Alcossebre; 1 Oystercatcher, again first for Spring. 71 Black Headed Gulls in company with 95 Common Terns (first of Spring); Pallid and Common Swifts going through at 15 birds per hour; 3 Sand Martins; Barn Swallows going through at 220 birds per hour. The first Spring Nightingale; 1 Common Wheatear; 1 Black Eared Wheatear and the last Chiffchaff of winter.

Overnight arrivals on the 12th April were 2 Nightingales; a Whinchat the first of Spring and 6 Woodchat Shrikes.

Birds flying past on the 13th April included 54 Balearic Shearwaters and a Mallard – a rarity here! A Common Whitethroat was the first of Spring.

A small passage on the 14th of April included 3 Night Herons; 1 Squacco Heron,the first of Spring; 2 Grey Herons; 1 Sparrowhawk; 1 Common Kestrel; 2 Black Winged Stilts and 50 Black Headed Gulls.

The first Pied Flycatcher of Spring arrived overnight on the 15th April in company with 4 Willow Warblers and 3 Woodchat Shrikes.

A Marsh Harrier and a Common Buzzard flew past on the 16th April and a Squacco Heron visited the sewage pond.

The first Spring Kentish Plovers (2) flew past on the 17th April, and 2 Red Rumped Swallows were keeping the local Barn Swallows company.

Overnight arrivals on the 19th April included – 2 Squacco Herons at the sewage pond; 4 Whinchats; 1 Common Wheatear; 1 Blue Headed Wagtail; 1 Common Whitethroat and 10 Turtle Doves.

Passage birds on the 20th April included – 15 Gannets ( the most I’ve seen here); 6 Grey Herons in company with 3 Great White Egrets; 14 Little Egrets. Overnight arrivals were the first Spring Melodious Warbler and a female Pied Flycatcher in my garden.

30 Turtle Doves arrived overnight on the 21st April, the first time I’ve seen the local Collared Doves outnumbered! 11 Willow Warblers were the most so far, and 2 juvenile Squacco Herons were at the sewage pond.

A small overnight arrival of 3 Woodchat Shrikes, 4 Nightingales, 3 Common Wheatears and 1 Melodious Warbler greeted me on the 22nd of April.

Some overnight rain on the 23rd of April brought in some migrants. A ‘reeling’ Grasshopper Warbler was my first record here. A belated Common Sandpiper was the first for Spring – they usually arrive before the Green and Wood Sandpipers, but not this year.
8 Common Wheatears and 2 Woodchat Shrikes were new.
Birds flying past were Audoiun’s Gulls at 110 birds per hour.

The 25th of April was fairly quiet with only 1 Common Kestrel and 7 Bee eaters being fresh arrivals.

A bit more activity on the 27th April with the fluting whistle of the first Spring Golden Oriole, then only my second ‘reeling’ Grasshopper Warbler. One adult Squacco Heron and a female Pied Flycatcher at the sewage pond 7 Willow Warblers and 6 Turtle Doves were new arrivals.
9 Great White Egrets were the most I’ve seen flying past with 14 Grey Herons a Black Kite leisurely overtook them.

The Weather in the Alcossebre area for April, 2006.

A mixed month for weather with cloudy days (14) more common than the usual fine and sunny days (12). We had 8 totally overcast days, 4 with light rain showers.

The total rainfall for the month was the lowest this year so far with only 0.9 inches or 20 millimetres.

The average day temperature was 21C (72F) with the warmest day on the 1st April at 26C or 80F. The average day temperature was the same as April, 2005.
The average night temperature was 11C (52F) with the coldest night being the 7th April at 8C or 48F.

Winds were a dominant feature of April with 26 days having gentle or moderate strength winds. On four of these days the wind increased to strong.
The wind direction was predominately from the East (19 days) or the South (11 days) although on eleven of these days the wind was from a North direction in the morning changing in the afternoon to East or South.