Julian Sykes Wildlife Holidays

Daily Telegraph Article

2012-02-20T23:08:00.003+01:00

Back in October we had the pleasure of Michael Kerr, Deputy Editor of Travel for the Daily Telegraph on our Southern Catalonia short break - shown here

'The tractor splashed across the stubble of the paddy, its rear end a blur of flapping wings and pecking beaks. Behind it were grey herons, little egrets, lapwings and hundreds of gulls – yellow-legged, lesser black-backed and Audouin's, one of the most endangered gulls in the world. Here, in one image, was the Ebro Delta: a water land of rice and birds......... '

To see the rest of this excellent article click HERE

Valencia Short Break

2012-02-18T20:00:00.000+01:00

We have just completed our first Valencia Short Break of 2012 and again it delivered lots of great memories for the lucky few who joined me for this week. Highlights included - 2 Greater Spotted Eagles, 2 Bonelli's Eagles, Golden Eagle, several Booted Eagles, 58 Great Bustards, 71 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, 16 Black-bellied Sandgrouse, 2 Spotted Crakes, Glossy Ibis, Spoonbills, Slender-billed & Audouin's Gulls, Caspian Terns, Black Wheatear, lots of Bluethroats, Water Pipits, waders and wildfowl. SUPERB.

Iberian Lynx in Andalucia

2012-02-18T19:46:00.001+01:00

Julian Sykes Wildlife Holidays has completed three trips to the Sierra de Andujar from late January through to mid-February. It was very successful despite suffering colder than average temperatures (as low as -8oC!) in the day. Of the nine full days we spent on the natural park we had Lynx sightings on six of these, which was fabulous.

Not only did we get views of this iconic and rare cat we also saw lots of Mouflon, Red and Fallow Deer, an occassional River Otter, Greater mouse-eared and Schreiber's Bats, and two incredibly lucky couples saw a Wild Cat near the accommodation! We got incredible views of Spanish Imperial and Golden Eagles, Goshawk, Black Vultures, Wryneck, Firecrest, Iberian Magpies etc and even a Lesser Flamingo (all three trips) and on one day a Ruppell's Vulture at a carcass.

Thank you to Mrs M. Braddock (Firecrest, Greater Mouse-eared Bat) and Mrs C. Maughan (Iberian Lynx, Moufflon) for allowing Julian Sykes Wildlife to use their excellent images.

First Iberian Lynx trip of 2012

2012-01-30T22:24:00.001+01:00

I have just completed the first Iberian Lynx in Andalucia short break of the year and it was incredibly successful seeing this rare cat on all our days on the reserve. This was also backed up with fabulous views of several Spanish Imperial & Golden Eagles, Booted Eagle, Goshawk, Peregrine, Wild Boar and Mouflon. However finding a Lesser Flamingo (a European rarity) amongst 1000's of Greater Flamingos was very special.

Search for the Royal Owl

2012-01-24T22:24:00.003+01:00

Buho Real (Royal Owl) is the Spanish name for Eurasian Eagle Owl and a text from my good friend Fran, saw us heading out to the hills surrounding our home town Oliva at dusk. Fran had been out previously listening for Eagle Owls as they are quite vocal now getting ready to nest with their mate, and had some success. So we arrived at the base of the hill and waited in anticipacion until the light started to fade, seeing a pair of Kestrels, several Song Thrushes, Sardinian Warbler and a Wren. We heard a low deep hoot in the distance and our attention was definitely grabbed. Then from down the valley a huge bird flew towards us - a male Eagle Owl but it frustratingly landed out of site above where we were standing! The female then flew across the valley and landed in full view in the entrance to a small cave, where she stayed. This was superb and to add to this excellent event a Eurasian Woodcock flew right over our heads, only my second ever in Spain. It was now too dark to see but the night sky was bright so we spent our last couple of minutes watching Jupiter and its moons through the telescope. A fabulous couple of hours.

Great Start to 2012

2012-01-17T21:44:00.000+01:00

It's been a really good start to the year in terms of wildlife. I have been working in Scotland for the past ten days. The weather has been kind and I have been lucky enough to see lots of fabulous species. I was in Argyle for a week researching an area, which produced a lovely 1st winter Iceland Gull, several Great Northern and Black-throated Divers, Black Guillemots, Common Scoter, Slavonian Grebes, European White-fronted Geese, Whooper Swans and in the hills a pair of Golden Eagles, male Hen Harrier and lots of Raven. One bizarre experience was seeing a small flock of 6 male Bullfinches around a very wind swept trig point at over 400m on a desolate hill. Further south in South Lanarkshire I got excellent views of several flocks of Pink-footed Geese, another cracking male Hen Harrier, female Merlin and yet another Iceland Gull.

Looking forward now to getting back to Spain and readying myself for the first three short breaks of 2012 in the Sierra de Andujar looking for the very rare abd incredibly gorgeous Iberian Lynx. Here's a photo from a trip I lead back in October.

There's still a couple of places left for the 1st - 5th Feb trip if you're quick! See the full itinerary - HERE

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2012-01-03T12:23:00.000+01:00

We wish everyone a wonderful, prosperous and wildlife-filled 2012, we here at JSW are certainly very much looking forward to it.

We are in The Lake District at the moment with Jane's folks having a fabulous time in Newby Bridge. A week spent basically over-indulging, playing party games, getting beaten at squash! and enjoying the hotel's excellent facilities. Despite the poor weather, we have managed a couple of local walks and its always nice for me to see species like Goldeneye, Goosander and Dipper, all of which are very rare in my part of Spain.

Hope to see or hear from you again this year

Julian

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2011-12-25T13:27:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas to everyone, enjoying some fabulous weather here in Spain and a few good birds.

A walk along Oliva Beach yesterday produced plenty of Balearic Shearwaters, Audouin's & Yellow-legged Gulls, Sandwich Terns, Sanderling and Kentish Plovers. Then a stroll up to the 'old castle' we saw several Dartford & Sardinian Warbler, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, a couple of Crossbills, Sparrowhawk, Short-toed Treecreeper, Serins, Chaffinches, Stonechat and Black Redstarts.

The warm weather brought out a few butterflies with Wall Brown, Red Admiral, Clouded Yellow and Small White all on the wing.

Not bad just minutes from the house!!!

Male Black Redstart

Southern Poland - 2011

2011-12-20T13:29:00.001+01:00

Below is a short report on this years Souther Poland short break in late August by our excellent Polish guide - Felix Felger.

See next year's April - Woodpecker & Owl Festival short break HERE

"I have finished another succesful trip and the lovely British couple were very happy.

We had very good views of Pygmy Owl, but sadly Ural Owl we only heard a few times. There were many fantastic sightings of Lesser Spotted Eagle, a superb Goshawk eating a Woodpigeon right next to the vehicle. We also saw Honey Buzzards, Montagu's Harrier, White backed & Black Woodpeckers, a few Nutcrackers, Woodcock, Crested, Marsh, Willow & Northern Long-tailed Tits. These 'white-headed' gems are fantastic. There were Alpine Accentors close to us, down toa couple of meters (look at the photo). At the Zagor Fishponds we found Temincks Stint, Penduline Tit, Whiskered Terns feeding chicks, Great Bittern and many others.

We did quite well with the mammals, where we found very fresh Brown Bear tracks on a Beaver dam!, Chamoix from the cable car and very close while resting on the rocks, Red Deer and Red Squirrel.

However the major highlight of the tour was by no doubt the Gray Wolf seen very close to the bus during the day!!! This was same meadow where we saw the Brown Bear on last year's wildlife short break!

There were many butterflies such as Camberwell Beauty and Map Butterfly plus dragonflies such as Small Pincertail and Sombre Goldenring.

Alpine Accentor

Sombre Goldenring

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

2011-12-19T14:05:00.001+01:00

Hi All

Here at JSW we thought we needed a portal for letting our valued friends and guests know what has been happening recently with the business. This will include overviews and images from recent holidays and short breaks, offers and discounts, competitions, new ventures, feedback, etc.

Please feel free to contribute to this page by sending your images and comments from any of the tours you may have taken with us. It would be great to relive some of those memories.

Take care and hope you have a fabulous festive season, with lots of opportunities to spend time observing nature.

Best wishes Julian and Jane

India - Tigers & Taj Mahal
Feb 23rd - March 5th 2012

December - Iberian Lynx Trip

2011-12-19T13:53:00.000+01:00

Here's a few images from my latest 'Iberian Lynx in Andalucia' at the beginning of December. It was a very successful trip with sightings on two separate days including one for more than 30 minutes.

See the trip report - HERE

Iberian Lynx

Andujar Sunset

Andujar Dawn

Spanish Ibex

Ending another year

2010-03-22T09:36:00.005+01:00

Well Jane and I are sat in the Airport Ibis Hotel in Malaga readying ourselves for our last trip of 2011. We are heading to the hills of Andalucia and the last significant area of Mediterranean forest looking for the world's rarest cat - Iberian Lynx. More about that later......

I am very aware I haven't updated this blog for some time and for that I apologise but I have been incredibly busy with another very successful short break to Southern Catalonia.

Last March I completed another fantastic tour of Southern Morocco, which was arguably the best one yet despite the weather and the lack of certain migrant species. I have added a few well-chosen images from these excursions plus a short piece of video of the (sometimes) elusive Black crowned Tchagra - a very localised breeder in Morocco. You can find the trip reports for both of these holidays - HERE

Hope you enjoy it, if you have sound please have it on.

A couple of local days

2010-02-13T04:38:00.004+01:00

Monday 8th February :- After a week in Scotland failing miserably to do any survey work due to the continued harsh winter weather, although a recce with Andy Carroll of Ace Surveyors of a 700m mountain climb was interesting!!!. I returned to some welcome guiding around my local area with my good friends Waine & Sue, who were stopping at the guesthouse for a few days. It was an easy start as they had had a long day travelling and wanted to get a good rest and followed by a good breakfast. So at 10am we headed out and first visited Oliva beach where we were met with the sight of 100's of Balearic Shearwaters passing just off-shore and also sat on the sea in small groups. This was great as Waine & Sue particularly wanted to see this species. Also here we found Gannets, Sandwich Terns, Audouin's, Mediterranean, Yellow legged & Black headed Gulls, Cormorants, Sanderling and a Kentish Plover. So delighted we struck north to the Albufera d'Valencia and spent some time looking around the extensive rice fields that surround this huge coastal lake. Although it was fairly quiet we did find lots of Cattle & Little Egrets, Grey Herons, Lesser Black backed Gulls, Mallard, Cormorants, Water & Meadow Pipits, Chaffinches, Serins, Chiffchaffs, Black Redstarts, Spotless Starlings, Marsh Harrier, Lapwings, Common Snipe, Moorhen and Reed Buntings. Just outside El Palomar we got fantastic views of a pale phase Booted Eagle as it flew around quite low over our heads before continuing to the Raco L'Olla nature reserve. Here we spent an hour walking the tracks and visiting the hide finding lots of wildfowl including Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Red Crested & Common Pochard plus Coot, Little Grebe, another (dark phase) Booted Eagle, Common Buzzard and Common Snipe. Lunch was taken overlooking the lake but only managed to see much the same species as before, but the sheer volume of birds was good to see. After our picnic we started back first stooping off at another good area for wildfowl but only added Shelduck and Gadwall to the list. Then back through the rice fields Waine found a Great White Egret and this was then followed by a Kingfisher, which somewhat salvaged the afternoon.

Tuesday 9th February :- A much earlier start today saw Waine, Sue & I heading inland to Castilla La Mancha and en-route we saw our first Magpies and Crested Larks of their trip. We were going to the agricultural steppe area which surrounds Petrola and our first location out towards Higueruela was excellent as we found our first 26 Great Bustards, 2 flying Black bellied Sandgrouse and a huge flock of Calandra Larks, Skylarks, Linnets and Corn Buntings plus a single Rock Sparrow, 2 Stock Doves, Red legged Partridges, Kestrel, Carrion Crows, Goldfinches, Mistle Thrush and more Crested Larks. Next we headed towards Corral Rubio and en-route was lucky to find a male Merlin sat in a field and got some excellent telescope views along with Common Buzzard and another solitary Great Bustard. At the Higuela Lagoon we found a couple of Marsh Harriers, a few Red Crested Pochards, Shoveler and Mallard but it was generally quiet. It was now nearing lunchtime so we took the road through to Petrola and stopped of at the superb Bodega San Juan for one of their mega 'bocadillos'. After lunch we made the short journey to Petrola Lagoon where we found 30+ Greater Flamingos, 2 Greenshank, Gadwall, Shelduck, Water Pipits, Reed Buntings and a Marsh Harrier. This was then followed by a look at another seasonal pool which contained much the same species plus a few Black winged Stilts and lots of Coot. It was time now to slowly start back towards the motorway home but not before driving the tracks between Petrola & Corral Rubio, which was excellent as we logged another 62 Great Bustards, with the males looking resplendant in their breeding plumage. Also we another huge flock of Calandra Larks, which must have made 1000+ seen on the day. So eventually we headed home very satisfied with what we had seen. Many thanks to Waine & Sue and very much looking forward to seeing them in Southern Morocco in March.

Another (successful) search for Iberian Lynx

2010-01-21T18:10:00.011+01:00

Tuesday January 19th :- After having to change the hire car I set off south to meet my very good friend Ken Shaw who was staying with Colin & Jane of Finca Bonelli’s Eagle. I arrived about 10:30 and he was ready to leave but a scan of the crags revealed an adult Bonelli’s Eagle sat on a ledge. Then while we were watching the adult male (hopefully!) Bonelli’s Eagle flew in and copulated with his spouse. It was an amazing sight and one I had not witnessed before. The day had started with a major high and hopefully it would get better. Other birds seen in this area (Ken Had been here a couple of days) were 8 Black Wheatears, a couple of Blue Rock Thrushes, Thekla Larks, Dartford & Sardinian Warblers, Crag Martins, Red legged Partridges, and a ‘heard only’ Eagle Owl. So we left and drove the short distance to El Hondo where we were hoping to find the wintering Greater Spotted Eagle from Estonia. So we parked up and immediately found several Booted Eagles floating about plus a few Marsh Harriers and Kestrels. A Moustached Warbler was in full song and we also saw Cetti’s Warbler, Crested Larks, Grey & White Wagtails, Chiffchaffs, Shoveler, Mallard, Coot and Little Grebes. I then picked up a large raptor sat in a tree and after a little deliberation we confirmed it was indeed the Greater Spotted Eagle as it was being mobbed by a Marsh Harrier. This was the first of our two target species seen for the day. So with a long drive ahead we set off south and with some excellent directions eventually found our next site near Albejon. For a couple of weeks there has been a Belted Kingfisher seen here and we both wanted to add it to our Spanish lists (shocking twitchers!!!!). Our initial recce proved fruitless apart from a couple of Southern Grey Shrikes, Greenshank, Green & Common Sandpipers, Little Egret and Grey Heron. However a chance meeting with a group of Spanish birders (from Barcelona) kept us there slightly longer than we anticipated. It was as we were literally starting the vehicle that the Spanish saw the bird flying in from one of the other irrigation pools. So we exited the car quickly and got fantastic views through the telescope as well as a couple of record shots – what a magnificent bird. We would have loved to have stayed longer but we were now facing a four hour drive south to the Sierra de Andujar and hopefully an appointment with Iberian Lynx?. The journey was very smooth and made even better as I spotted a Golden Eagle whilst driving and after pulling in to get a better view Ken found an accipiter, which we agreed was a Goshawk. Eventually we arrived at our destination in the dark and settled into our room before having a welcome beer and an odd glass of wine with the evening meal. During this time we were discussing our chances of seeing a Lynx the following day.

Wednesday January 20th :- Breakfast was a simple affair but the coffee was most welcome and Ken definitely enjoyed his toast. We made an easy start and drove the road and track up to El Escorial then down towards the Embalse de Jandula. We parked at the corner I have previously found to be the most productive and already there were a few Spanish watchers assembled. Well within 10 minutes of getting there we got a signal from a Spaniard to come quickly – which we did. He had an Iberian Lynx on the track and within seconds Ken & I were watching one of the world’s rarest cats. We got magnificent views of it as it slowly made it’s way along the dirt road eventually going out of sight. What a stroke of luck and ‘high fives’ all round!!!. We returned to the car and continued our vigil from there for the rest of the morning but sadly didn’t get another view of it. However we did have a magnificent few hours finding a few more mammals including lots of Red Deer, Fallow Deer, Wild Boar and Rabbits. The birds were pretty good also with superb views of 2 adult Spanish Imperial Eagles (now our fifth species of eagle), which could be prospecting the area, 8 Black Vultures, 100+ Azure winged Magpies, Dartford & Sardinian Warbler, Woodlark, Blue Rock Thrush, Mistle & Song Thrush, Crested, Long tailed, Blue & Great Tits, 2 Red billed Chough, Jay, Red legged Partridges, Iberian Green Woodpeckers and a Hoopoe. Around 2pm we decided to leave as we were getting a little cold and tired (after the previous day’s drive) returning to Villa Matilde where we were staying for a couple of nights. After a serious siesta we returned to the same area and stayed there until dusk adding several Griffon Vultures plus a couple more Black Vultures, 2 Little Owls, Kestrel, Black Redstart and Serin.

Thursday January 21st :- Woke this morning to thick fog throughout the valley so after breakfast Ken & I drove into Andujar town to collect some provisions, which wasted some time while the fog lifted. We returned to the sierra checked into our new hotel (Los Pinos) and then set off for the Rio Jandula and a walk along the river. As we were passing some very good Lynx habitat incredibly a young Iberian Lynx walked across the road in front of the car, 5 seconds later and it could have been under my wheels!. I stopped immediately and we watched it dumbfounded as it passed alongside of us within 6m and dropped down the banking. We exited the vehicle and positioned ourselves to watch it wander slowly down the hill and stop to rest out in full view. It was such a fantastic experience and something I will never forget to see this rare animal so close and so well. It was totally unconcerned by our presence and after 15 minutes wandered out of sight. After getting over the shock and excitement, then texts to various friends and relations we continued to the river. The walk was excellent stopping in several places to look for Lynx and birds, finding lots of woodland species including Hawfinch, Nuthatches, Short toed Treecreeper, Great Spotted & Iberian Green Woodpeckers, Woodlark, Crested, Long tailed, Great & Blue Tits, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and the ubiquitous Iberian Magpie. Along the river we saw a Kingfisher, Mallard and Cormorants, plus a immature Golden Eagle showed well near the reservoir. As we returned to the car for lunch the weather was starting to improve and a pair of Common Buzzards called whilst flying over the pine woodland and several Griffon & Black Vultures appeared. However the highlight was having a migrating Great Spotted Cuckoo fly right above our heads. During lunch we enjoyed fabulous views of an immature Spanish Imperial Eagle as it played with a (heavily moulted) Griffon Vulture right above our heads. After lunch we drove slowly up to the ermita, wiith fabulous views of the natural park, and en-route we found a soaring adult Golden Eagle. The area around this stunning hill-top church was fairly quiet for birds but certainly worthy of further investigation especially during the migration period.

Friday January 22nd :- Ken & I were leaving the Sierra de Andujar today and decided to have a quiet start and go for an easy breakfast in the hotel bar. We eventually left the area by late morning and headed towards one of Andalucia's premier reserves 'Laguna de Fuente de Piedra' in the hope of finding a Lesser Flamingo for Ken. It was a gorgeous day and as we made our way along the motorway Ken saw a Black shouldered Kite near Pedro Abad (good bird for this area) and as we passed Cordoba we saw several groups of White Storks another unexpected species. Nearer to the wetlands we started to find good numbers of Cattle Egrets, Lapwings, Lesser Black backed & Black headed Gulls at the side of the road. Soon enough we arrived at the lagoon and found our way to the impressive visitor centre were a charming young Spanish lady with excellent english gave us some invaluable information on what could be found where. So we decided to take the walk locally from the centre and visited a few small reed-fringed pools finding lots of Mallard, Shoveler, Lapwing, Black winged Stilts, Coot, Moorhen, Little Grebes plus a Marsh Harrier, Zitting Cisticola, Reed Bunting and 2 Water Pipits. However we were keen to find the 1000 strong Greater Flamingo flock so we drove round the other side of the huge lake and en-route found 100+ Common Cranes feeding in the ploughed fields as well as a Little Owl sat on a barn roof and small flocks of Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Crested Larks and a few Corn Buntings. We continued round and found where we thought was the best vantage point but it was a long way from the Greater Flamingos, however even through binoculars I saw what could be a likely suspect. I quickly set up the telescope and sure enough confirmed that it was indeed an adult Lesser Flamingo, much to Ken's delight. We stayed there having our lunch, watching the bird activity and adding a Red Fox to our already very good mammal list. Mid-afternoon we started to make our way back towards the visitor centre and actually found another (better positioned) mirador so stopped and got closer views of the Lesser Flamingo amongst the Greater Flamingos. This was a great way to finish our excursion so we then headed down to Malaga, found ourselves a hotel for the night, and enjoyed a celebratory meal and drink. This had been a fantastic few days, many thanks to Ken for being a good friend and superb company - long may it continue.

Hogmanay on Mull.

2010-01-07T09:03:00.005+01:00

I have just returned from an excellent trip to the UK where I spent a few days over the Christmas period in Southern England and then the New Year in Scotland, with the weather causing all kinds of problems for the locals. Hogmanay was of partciular interest as I was with my partner Jane on the glorious island of Mull off the west coast of Scotland. We were staying at her sister and husband's hotel, which is situated in the hamlet of Dervaig with a population of 300 people. The establishment is the Bellachroy Hotel and it is simply gorgeous providing fantastic accommodation and superb food - I was treated to my first ever portions of fresh Oysters, Scallops and Venison!. Despite the continued revellry of Scotland's New Year celebrations, which are of course legendary, we did manage a day out visit some of the classic locations within easy reach of the hotel. We visited the island's main town - Tobermory, now made famous by the children's TV programme Ballamory and as they rightly ask "what's the story". The houses are all colours as are the pubs, but it fits in with this quaint 'old world' fishing town where a local friendly Otter shows itself along the sea front. We drove down the coast to just beyond Salen Bay where we found a good flock of Wigeon, Goldeneye, Red breasted Merganser, several Mute Swans, Oystercaters, Curlew and a Redshank amongst the seaweed. Nick and Deb then kindly took us to the other side of the island where we walked out to the lovely headland of Langamol, over the ice and snow which was (and still is) covering the whole area. It was cold but we braved the conditions the short walk produced a few Common Buzzards (actually they are everywhere), Ravens, Hooded Crows, Great Black backed, Common & Herring Gulls, a single Red throated Diver and a few Shags off-shore, Goldfinches and a Water Pipit. Back at the Landrover (essential today) we tucked into our homemade sandwiches and hot coffee, which was most welcome after the walk we had just been on. We continued south to Calgary Bay en-route seeing small flocks of Redwing and Fieldfare. Calgary must be absolutely glorious in the warmer months being a cove with a classic white sandy beach surrounded by short grass and deciduous trees. However today it was sheet ice making it more akin to a skating rink than a tourist hotspot but was comical as we literally had to get on all fours to negotiate certain areas. One memory was of Nick having to be rescued by Debbie with her scarf as he couldn't get off a particular section of the beach, which was completely frozen over. Back at the Landrover we tracked further south hugging the rocky coastline and encountering countless views of breathtaking scenery, until Jane said "what's those big birds there?". Nick stopped and I climbed out and checked the soaring pair, confirming their identity as adult Golden Eagles. So we got closer to them at Treshnish Point and watched as they flew around being mobbed by Ravens and a Kestrel. This was a fitting end to the short winter day as it was now getting very cold (-9 at night!) and the roads were again starting to freeze, so we made our way back to the hotel for a celebratory pint of the black stuff. Thank you very much to Nick & Deb for their generous hospitality and friendship, if anyone is planning a trip to this superb island I can heartily recommend the Ballachroy Hotel. You will not be disappointed.

2009-12-23T13:25:00.003+01:00

Wednesday 23rd December :- Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone who´s kindly been involved with Oliva Rama Tours over this last year. I actually cannot believe it´s been another year of successful operation and I can only enjoy the fact that the company goes from strength to strength with 2010 being a very exciting prospect for me.
New ventures next year include Iberian Lynx in Andalucia (January, February & September) Cuba (March), Lesvos (April/May), Poland - Bears & Birds (September/October) and Panama (December). Things just get better and better. Early in the New Year I will be posting a newsletter highlighting further details on these and my other available holidays throughout 2010.
Finally I would like to personally thank a few people for their incredible help and support during 2009, none more so than my good friend and colleague Andy Carroll. His help and advice on potential merchandising has been invaluable - the proof of which will be seen next year. Also and as important is Ken Shaw who has been by my side since I launched Oliva Rama Tours providing incredibly useful contacts and ideas for future tours. He is a true friend. Next I would like to really thank Sally Dowden of Speyside Wildlife, Richard & Jane Palmer of Calandra Holidays, Ian & Dylan of Planet Whale for using my services during this year, I thouroughly enjoyed every trip I was involved with. Long may it continue. Finally a few other people such as Chris Byrne, Rob & Kathy Dowsett, Michael & Wendy Ball, John Moon, Graham & Agi Turner, Mike & Sue Pryor, Jan Beever and many more who have supported the business in so many ways. "Thank you very very much and I am lookin forward to seeing you all again next year".

An incredible afternoon

2009-12-09T23:17:00.004+01:00

Wednesday 9th December :- The morning was a disappointment as thick fog spoilt any chance of finding a Lynx but a walk along the River Jandula produced several Hawfinches, Great Spotted & Iberian Green Woodpeckers, Kingfisher, Cetti's Warbler, Nuthatches, Iberian Magpies (actually these are everywhere), Short toed Treecreeper and plenty of other woodland species. I returned to the hotel for lunch and a relax while hoping for the mist to dispurse, which it did by 1:30pm. So I headed back up to Los Escoriales and met a few people at the watchpoint but they hadn't seen much. Quite soon after getting there a Black Vulture started the ball rolling and this was followed by a close Griffon Vulture and then a brilliant 1st winter Golden Eagle. Sergi then spotted an adult Spanish Imperial Eagle that pretty much soared right over our heads - absolutely incredible. Our spirits were high and we were determined to find a Lynx. We continued to search and I left the group to stand and watch another area, turned round and there about 100m away on the metalled track was an Iberian Lynx staring right at me. I couldn't believe my eyes. It then dropped off the road and down into the undergrowth so the others joined me and we tried to find it again. Sure enough I picked it up a bit further away and managed a quick photo before it again disappeared, however it again re-appeared and showed well to all but now about 400m away but still fantastically through the telescope. Eventually it disappeared although we suspect it just laid low until dusk as the attendant Magpies were still creating around that area. During this sequence another couple of Black Vultures flew close by being mobbed by a Sparrowhawk and Kestrel. The day closed with a spectacular sunset over the mountains as I returned to the hotel. It had been quite an incredible afternoon.

Day of the Iberian Lynx

2009-12-08T21:42:00.002+01:00

Tuesday 8th December :- Second full day in the Sierra de Andujar and after another interesting night with revellers I was up early making sure things were in place before I left at 8am. I drove straight to the watchpoint at Los Escoriales and found a few observers already there, en-route I had done very weel finding a Red Fox and a party of Fallow Deer. At the watchpoint things turned disappointing as the bad weather and fog made looking for Lynx almost impossible. So I left and continued down the hill to the Embalse de Jandula where I spent some time finding a gorgeous Firecrest, Rock Bunting, Black Redstart, Robin and lots of Cormorants in the reservoir. I left and returned to the Lynx watchpoint but the conditions were still poor so I made the decision to leave go back to the hotel and have some lunch and a siesta as I was feeling incredibly tired - what a mistake. So did this and by 2pm I was back out and the weather seemed to be improving, so returned towards Los Escoriales but instead of going straight to the watchpoint I took a detour to the Los Alancones Mirador. This was good as I passed through some of the most pristine dehesa I have seen being roamed by the magnificent fighting bulls. Here also I found plenty of birds including Little Owl, several Hoopoes, Corn Buntings, Meadow Pipits, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Common Buzzard, White Wagtails, Stonechats, Mistle & Song Thrushes, Blackbirds, Sardinian Warbler and Chiffchaffs. After this I headed for the Lynx area and en-route met a group of observers coming away who I had met that morning and I asked how they had done. I could have been slapped in the face with a wet Kipper as the news of their four sightings rang around in my head. However they did finish with "you shouldn't have a problem seeing one" - I wasn't that confident after the last couple of days. So I got there and spoke to the few people there they had seen nothing as yet, my heart sank. However after half an hour one guy said "I have a Lynx but it's a bit distant", I got on to the Iberian Lynx and it was far off and difficult to discern as it lay on top of a rock. However after five minutes it stood up and through the telescope looked magnifent standinging there in all it's glory. It jumped down from the rock and padded away slowly unfortunately in the wrong direction and was soon lost to sight. Still it was a fantastic experience and a privilage to see. We all waited until dusk but there were no more sightings, I will be back there tomorrow - probably all day!!!.

Sierra de Andujar

2009-12-07T21:32:00.003+01:00

Monday December 7th :- Drove down from Alicante yesterday afternoon seeing a couple of Booted Eagles en-route, not much else mind you!!!. Got to the Sierra de Andujar with about an hour's light left so headed on down to the local (to the hotel) Iberian Lynx watchpoint where I enjoyed views of Red Deer, Iberian Magpies, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Kingfisher and loads of Cormorants. Today returned there this morning after a poor night's sleep, forgot this weekend was a 'puente' and the place is mobbed with revellers. C'est la vie. So after a lazy start I headed out there again and saw 100's of Iberian Magpies, a few Hawfinches, Sparrowhawk, several Iberian Green & Great Spotted Woodpeckers, several Nuthatches, Crested, Long tailed, Coal, Blue & Great Tits, Rock Bunting, another Kingfisher, Common Sandpiper, Grey & White Wagtails, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Spotless Starlings, Blackbird, Crag Martins, Mallard, Moorhen, Grey Heron, Woodlark, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Black Redstarts. However the highlight of the morning was getting fabulous views of an Otter as it hunted for fish in the river just below where I was. Returned to the hotel for a sandwich and a quick power nap before heading out again this time to another area, which is good for Iberian Lynx and the unthinkable happened. En-route I saw many Red Deer, a Black Vulture (my only large raptor today?), Short toed Treecreeper, Red legged Partridge, Red billed Chough, another Sparrowhawk, Blue Rock Thrush, Mistle Thrushes and lots more Iberian Magpies. However the major disappointment was learning that a group of Spanish observers were watching a Lynx while I was a little further down the hill and out of siight of it. They never even mentioned it until I went to talk to them - how gutted was I!!!.

Eagle Day in Alicante

2009-12-06T21:39:00.002+01:00

Friday December 4th :- I met Geoff and his sister Carol at Gran Alicant and the initial welcomes I asked "so what would you like to see today?", the response from Geoff was rapid "Carol wants to see some eagles". So there it was, I had my challenge and knew we had chances of three species today including a Spanish rarity Greater Spotted Eagle. So we headed straight for this site - the excellent El Hondo nature reserve, although access to the interior is difficult requiring pre-booking with arrival times etc you could still do well around it's perimeter. A drive through the Santa Pola salinas produced the ever-present Greater Flamingos, Avocets, Shelduck, Slander billed, Black headed & Yellow legged Gulls, Black winged Stilts and a few Dunlin. Not bad to say we didn't even stop!. Soon after we arrived at the Vistabella Road, parked by the back gate and took up residence on a mud pile overlooking the reserve and the surrounding area. I checked the small group of Plain Trees and quickly found our first eagle - a roosting Booted Eagle, which was quickly followed by a second, in fact we saw at least six in this area alone. Marsh Harriers were quartering the reeds and then I found an Osprey managing to get some decent flight views through the telescope. It had been a good start but unfortunately not the hoped for GSE. We continued to check the area finding a couple of Black necked Grebes with their commoner Little cousins, a group of 17 Common Cranes flew over and other species included Shoveler, Coot, Grey Herons, Little & Cattle Egrets, 3 Green Sandpipers, Kingfisher, Penduline Tit, Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaffs, Crag Martins, Black Redstart and a brief glimpse of a Bluethroat. Next we called for a quick coffee stop, which was most welcome as I had been on the road since 7am, we sat outside the cafe basked in glorious sunshine. Next we drove round to the other side of the reserve and as we neared the main gate Geoff & I saw a large bird being mobbed, which flew out of sight over the reeds. At the first opportunity I pulled in where we had a good vantage point for looking over the whole area, and time was spent scanning. Geoff quickly found a few raptors near where we had seen the original bird but they turned out to be 2 Booted Eagles and a Marsh Harrier. Then off in the other direction there was the 2nd winter Greater Spotted Eagle in flight and I mangaed to get Geoff and Carol on to it. We again got good telescope views as it soared up into the sky before disappearing out of sight. We were delighted as this was a new Spanish bird for Geoff. We stayed in the area for a while longer but didn't manage to see it again, just how lucky had we been. I was planning lunch in the mountains so before we headed there we visited another part of this huge reserve San Filipe Neri. Generally it was quiet here with views of Red Crested Pochard, Zitting Cisticolas, Meadow Pipits, Crested Larks and of course four more Booted Eagles. So at lunchtime we drove up to Crevillente and had a torturous time negotiating the one-way system as my usual route was blocked by market stalls!. Eventually we got through and wound our way up to the Sierra de Crevillente and my usual Bonelli's Eagle canyon. I unpacked the picnic of soup, sandwiches, pastries and fruit and we sat in the sunshine scanning the skies for our target. Then Carol says "what's this large bird?", and sure enough she had found an adult Bonelli's Eagle, which was soon joined by the second adult bird - superb. We watched as they flew across the valley and out of sight, again getting some fantastic views against the beautiful blue sky. Before we left we added Thekla Lark, Stonechat and Sardinian Warbler to our daily list. Incredibly I had achieved my target and we still had the afternoon left, which was a fairly quiet affair taking in the sites of El Pinet (birdless), Santa Pola Salinas (Great Crested Grebes, another Osprey, Booted Eagle, Common Sandpiper) and finally the Clot de Galvany. Here I found there final request of a White headed Duck with just a female on the Charco de Contacto with lots of Teal, Shoveler and a Common Snipe. A walk around some other parts of the reserve produced a couple of Hoopoes, Iberian Green Woodpecker (to me), Red legged Partridges, Southern Grey Shrikes, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Robins and Spotless Starlings. A very good day indeed.

The Last Two Months!!!!

2009-11-27T15:50:00.004+01:00

It has been an eventful last couple of months, which involved visits to Andalucia and N/W Spain for Iberian Lynx and Iberian Wolf respectively. At the end of September I was commissioned by Speyside Wildlife to travel down to N/E Andalucia - an area called the Sierra de Andujar. This is the heartland of the globe's rarest cat species - the Iberian Lynx amongst other mammals such as Otter, Moufflon, Red & Fallow Deer, Wildcat and Genet to name a few. Great birsd also feature here with a resident pair of Spanish Imperial Eagles plus Golden Eagles, Goshawk, Griffon & Black Vultures, Iberian Magpies (by the bucket load), and the commoner woodland, mountain and riverine species. It is superb ancient Mediterranean forest. During my stay I was lucky enough to meet up with my now good friend Fernando who works as a ranger in the nearby Sierra de Cazorla NP. His invaluable knowledge of the area greatly enhanced my visit and made my attempts to see the Lynx all the more possible, especially after a meeting with the parks Director, Jose Maria Molina. So three nights were spent in this wonderful area culminating in a good but all too brief view of an Iberian Lynx, and also the knowledge of missing two more by half an hour (that hurt!). So I have now plans to return with a group to look for them again and if you want to join me, please find the itinerary here.

Then in the second week of October and the first two weeks of November I spent at one of my favourite places in Spain, the Sierra de Culebra in Castilla y Leon. I had three Iberian Wolf in N/W Spain trips all of which were very enjoyable as it's a fabulous area. Apart from the chance of seeing an Iberian Wolf, there are opportunities to see Wild Boar, Red & Roe Deer, 100's of Great Bustards, Black bellied Sandgrouse, Common Cranes (in Winter), Black shouldered Kites, Black & Griffon Vultures, Golden Eagles, Rock Buntings, Calandra Larks etc etc etc. To see some of the previous trip reports on these and my other holidays have a look here.

Bird ringing with the family

2009-10-12T14:06:00.003+02:00

Sunday 20th September :- I met up with Clare & Rebecca my sister in laws and together we took our children (Harry, Thomas & Ellen) out to Pego Marsh where we joined Pepe who was busy processing a Eurasian Reed Warbler. Over the next couple of hours we were treated to several birds in the net including a couple of Bluethroats, Moustached & Cetti's Warblers. It was a fantastic morning and very interesting to everyone who was there, bring on the next time.

Raptors please, followed by raptors with a side order of raptors!

2009-09-14T22:11:00.003+02:00

7th - 14th September :- Just returned from another fantastic birdwatching holiday in the Southern Spain for the raptor migration (and other things) across the Straits of Gibraltar. It was in conjunction with Calandra Holidays and the group consisted of myself, Richard & Jane Palmer, Michael & Wendy Ball, Aileen Bishop, John Thorogood and John Tookey. A strong Levante (east wind) played havoc early in the week causing many 100's of migrant eagles, vultures and kites stacking up waiting to cross, making a true spectacle. In addition to the copious amounts of Short toed & Booted Eagles, Black Kites, Griffon & Egyptian Vultures, Montagu's & Marsh Harriers, Sparrowhawks, Lesser Kestrels and Honey Buzzards, we found 2 Ruppell's Vultures (both images by J. Tookey), Long legged Buzzard, Black shouldered Kite, 2 Bonelli's Eagles, 2 Ospreys, Hen Harrier, Peregrine and 2 Hobbys. In addition to seeing these fantastic 'birds of prey' we also saw 23 Bald Ibis's (my first), 100's of Bee-eaters, Alpine Swifts (one flock of 600+!), White Storks, Glossy Ibis, Audouin's & Mediterranean Gulls. Other special species seen included several Black Storks, Black necked Grebes, Black Terns, Calandra & Short toed Larks, Tawny Pipits, Black eared Wheatear, Iberian Chiffchaff, Melodious & Spectacled Warblers. One other highlight was watching several Monarch Butterflies from the room balcony around the trees and shrubs below.

Back at last

2009-09-03T21:09:00.017+02:00

Back in Spain now after a month of travelling, guiding, the British Birdfair, visiting friends and family, culminating in a fabulous trip to Bulgaria's Black Sea coast.

Aug 24th - Sep 3rd :- If you like visible migration then Bulgaria at this time of year is the place to be as it's fabulous. Six of us plus a brilliant Bulgarian guide Petar Iankov spent 10 days travelling along the Black Sea coast from the Romanian border to the migration bottleneck of Burgos. It was brilliant with some terrific experiences none more so than the sight of 1000's of White Storks moving overhead, 30 species of wader including 3 Terek, 6 Marsh & 40+ Broad billed Sandpipers, Pallid Harrier, Lesser Spotted, Short toed & Booted Eagles, Eleanora's & Red footed Falcons, Honey Buzzards, 1000+ Little Gulls, Syrian, Lesser Spotted, Middle Spotted & Grey headed Woodpeckers, Pied & Isabelline Wheatears, Red breasted Flycatcher and Sombre Tit just to name a few.

August so far

2009-08-25T04:27:00.005+02:00

Intro – I had just completed a very successful trip with Speyside Wildlife to the Bay of Biscay & Picos de Europa, where the highlights included breaching Cuvier’s Beaked Whale, a few Fin Whales, a gorgeous pale Risso’s Dolphin, big pods of Common, Bottle nose & Striped Dolphins, telescope views of Cory’s Shearwaters & Sooty Shearwater, a Wallcreeper down to 3m, Snowfinches and Alpine Accentors at one of the most scenic places in Spain, wing-clapping Honey Buzzard, a Golden Eagle chasing Red billed Chough and a mega close Short toed Eagle. Not to mention the accommodation and food...........

Anyway I was staying with my very good friends Richard & Jane Palmer who live in Hauxton a village just outside Cambridge. They both are very keen birdwatchers, Richard being an excellent bird guide and lecturer in ornithology running his own business around Cambridgeshire. I had coincided my visit with one of their field days out to the north Norfolk coastline, which turned out to be an excellent day.

August 16th :- So a group of brave souls met that morning, car-shared and travelled east from Hauxton through the countryside with Jane finding a Common Buzzard en-route. On the way Ali (a keen local nest surveyor) told us of a pair of Hobby’s near to the village, and Alan kept us entertained in his own inimitable fashion. The time passed fairly quickly and soon enough we arrived at Cley NNT and stopped at the north beach car park where we met more of the group bringing the total to 15. We walked slowly round this tremendous reserve checking the scrapes and coastline for the rest of that morning having our lunch in the luxurious visitor centre as we passed by. As always at this time of year it did not disappoint as we racked up a list of 20 wader species, which included Little Stint, Curlew & Green Sandpipers, Spotted Redshanks, Greenshanks, Bar & Black tailed Godwits, Whimbrel, Little Ringed, Ringed & Golden Plovers, Knot, Ruff and Avocets. In addition to this we also saw Gannets, a Spoonbill, Little Egrets, Egyptian Goose, Wigeon, eclipse female Garganey (interesting bird), Marsh Harriers, Sparrowhawk, 2 Arctic, Common & Sandwich Terns, Yellow Wagtails, Bearded Tit and Reed Warblers. After this Richard took us to Kelling Quags, which is just west along the coast and somewhere I had never visited before. This also held a few waders including a lovely close Greenshank plus singing Chiffchaff and a family party of Egyptian Geese. Late afternoon we retired to the pub for a lovely fish & chip supper washed down with a couple of pints of bitter, rounding off an excellent day spent with some great people.

August 17th :- It was a gorgeous day with some sunny weather so Richard & I managed a walk around his very local patch of fishing ponds, stream and mixed woodland. During this time we recorded various species including Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Kestrel, Stock Dove, Woodpigeons, Collared Doves, Green Woodpecker, Treecreeper, Robin, Kingfisher, Reed Warbler, Great, Blue & long tailed Tits, Chiffchaff, Bullfinch, Greenfinch and Goldfinches. Then back in their garden I was treated to a tour of their acre of garden and got a brief view of a Hobby as it zipped through.

August 18th :- Today Richard took me to his nearest RSPB reserve - Fen Drayton and a long walk around some of the lagoons produced Great Crested & Little Grebes, Grey Herons, Little Egrets, Canada Geese, Mallard, Shoveler, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Common Pochard, Kestrel, Greenshank, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Common Snipe, Lapwing, Common, Herring, Lesser Black backed & Black headed Gulls, a juvenile Black Tern, Common Terns, Woodpigeon, Green Woodpecker, Sand & House Martins, Swallows, Stonechat, Robin, Pied Wagtails, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Great & Blue Tits, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and lots of Goldfinches.

August 19th :- This was my last full day before heading off to the British Birdfair at Rutland Water. Richard had one final treat for me as we called in at a known Hobby nesting site very close to his home. We were there a while before one (adult) appeared which was quickly joined by a second (adult). Deep from beneath the foliage of a tree we heard the calling of what we presumed to be the young bird but never saw (it was seen two days later). We had marvellous views of the aerial masters coming and going from the nest site managing even to get some distant record shots.

August 21st – 23rd :- I love the British Birdfair and was lucky enough to be invited back for a second year as a representative for Speyside Wildlife. I was working with Sally (owner and lovely lady), Roy (& his wife Jane), Mark, Steve (my co-leaders), Donna & Tanya (the backbone of the operation, being incredibly efficient and hard-working). To all the special friends and acquaintances I managed to talk to during the 3 days – “thank you very much”. It is your continued help and support, which makes all the hard work so worthwhile and rewarding.

Now it's off to Bulgaria for a 10 day trip watching migration along the Black Sea coast - I am incredibly lucky.............

New to Oliva Rama Tours

2009-07-23T14:57:00.002+02:00

Having just spent most of July with the family visiting places the boys wanted to go such as Benidorm's famous theme park - Terra Mitica with it's Red necked Nightjars and Blue Rock Thrushes. To Oliva Beach with off-shore gulls & terns and breeding Kentish Plovers running around our feet, to at a local outdoor pool, where Golden Eagles, Golden Orioles & Bee-eaters breed!!!. Who says you can't combine wildlife with family life?.

In between all of these I have been sorting out the first half of 2010's trip itinerary which can be found here and I am very excited about it. As well as my usual mix of Spanish, European & North African holidays I am also adding two new desinations to Cuba & Lesvos. Not only are they fantastic destinations both steeped in history and culture but I have been very lucky to secure the services of these island's best UK guides in (respectively) Andy Mitchell & Steve Dudley. Why not read their impressive pen pictures featured here.

Eagles galore

2009-06-25T16:37:00.003+02:00

Yesterday I was with David Culverhouse and Sue on a local half day, and as they were coming from Bocairent I agreed to meet them at Muro de Alcoy - the head of the Vall de Gallinera. On the road we first found a Little Owl sat on an overhead wire followed by a pair of Bee-eaters just before we reached Planes. However it was at my favourite bridge that we spent the next 1.5 hours thoroughly enjoying sights and sounds of this area. Here we saw 5+ Golden Orioles, 2 Wrynecks, Rock Sparrows, Nightingale, Red rumped & Barn Swallows, Crag Martins, Common Swift, Sardinian Warblers, another Little Owl, more Bee-eaters, Cirl Bunting, Stonechat, Jackdaw, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Serins and Great Tits. We continued towards the coast first stopping for a welcome coffee then just after Benissiva we saw our main target an adult Golden Eagle, so I quickly found a parking space (not always easy!). We got brilliant views as it flew across the valley being mobbed by a Kestrel towards where the eyrie was. Since it was just a half day tour time was against us so we quickly moved down to Pego Marsh where a short(ish) visit produced Squacco, Purple, Night & Grey Herons, Little & Cattle Egrets, Mallard, Black winged Stilts, Little Ringed Plovers, Audouin's & Yellow legged Gulls, Whiskered Terns, House Martin, Crested Larks, White & Yellow Wagtails, Great Reed Warbler and Zitting Cisticolas. We were nearing lunchtime and the end of the tour so we had to head back to Muro again through the Vall de Gallinera. As we entered the valley David pointed to a large raptor and I couldn't believe we were watching an adult Bonelli's Eagle, which was quickly followed by a second adult Bonelli's Eagle. Again I luckily found a parking space and spent the next few minutes watching this pair of eagles as they soared around the nearby cliffs. I have never seen Bonelli's Eagle here before, but a pair of adults - very interesting. Very pleased wth our find we headed up to Muro, en-route seeing a Woodchat Shrike and there I said my fond farewells to David & Sue. I decided to try a new way home and hit the jackpot as I found a Short toed Eagle sat on a pylon, which carefully watched a 1st year Golden Eagle pass overhead before moving on. Great behavoural activity and a pleasure to watch. It had been a great morning and all within half an hours drive of the Northern Costa Blanca.

A Tale of Two Trips

2009-06-03T14:11:00.005+02:00

I have just returned from (almost) back to back short breaks to arguably the best mountains ranges Spain has to offer, along with their associated Plains area to the south.

The first was with Robert & Kathy Dowsett, Jim & Viv Harvey to the Belchite Plains and the Aragon Pyrenees where we were searching for Dupont's Lark, Citril Finch, Wallcreeper, Lammergeier, Red necked Nightjar, Ortolan Bunting, Rufous tailed Rock Thrush, Western Orphean & Western Bonelli's Warblers. Luckily we managed to find all of these species and many more, making for a wonderful 5 night break.

This was quickly followed by a trip to the Sierra de Culebra & Picos de Europa with it's unbelievably stunning scenery and wildlife to match. This was a combined trip with tourist company Planet Whale and 2 ladies from Singapore - Kim & Betty. Again the targets achieved included a pair of Wallcreepers, Snowfinches, Alpine Accentors, Alpine Choughs, Black Stork, Great Bustards, Honey Buzzard, Lesser Kestrels, Red backed Shrike, Iberian Chiffchaff, Western Orphean Warbler and Ortolan Bunting. Plus lots of reptiles and amphibeans such as Bocage's Wall & Iberian Rock Lizards, Marbled & Alpine Newts, Fire Salamander, Schreiber's Green & Ocellated Lizards. Mammals included Rebeco (Chamois), Red Fox, Marmots, Soprano's Pipestrelle, Red & Roe Deer. Brilliant.

School Trip Discovery

2009-05-17T07:16:00.003+02:00

I was out at 5am this morning waving off my oldest (12 year old) son who was going on his first school trip where they are staying away for a few nights. The lucky guy's going to the fabulous Sierra de Cazorla in northern Andalucia (near Jaen) - they will have a fab time. Anyway while I was standing there I heard a familiar call and a couple of toots later a Scop's Owl flew over. So once they had gone I walked along the paseo again whistling and saw at least 3 birds, which is fantastic.

West Latvia Short Break

2009-05-16T00:02:00.004+02:00

Just returned from an excellent short break to West Latvia, where we had many fantastic experiences including 8 species of woodpecker, Pygmy Owl, Nutcracker, Hazel Grouse, Red breasted Flycatcher, Icterine, Savi's, Great Reed, Grasshopper, Marsh Warblers, Lesser Spotted & White tailed Eagles, Rough legged Buzzard, White winged, Black & Caspian Terns, 100+ Wood Sandpipers, summer plumage Ruff and Spotted Redshanks, a Wolf kill, Wild Boar, Smooth Snake, Slow Worm, Camberwell Beauty, Map Butterfly, 100's of Four spotted Chaser Dragonflies, plus lots more. A trip report will be published soon.

Trip Report

2009-05-06T21:50:00.003+02:00

Today I finally completed my trip report for an excellent week with keen birdwatchers Andy Bates and Dave Stanbridge, who came out to Spain for a Valencia Short Break with an addition of two extra days in the Madrid Province. A great week that sprung up plenty of pleasant surprises.

To read the report please follow this link - here

The Summer is coming

2009-05-05T22:08:00.002+02:00

The weather has definitely changed for the better here with day time temperatures of 20+oC and wall to wall sunshine. This consequently makes the nights very pleasant with star-filled nights and a moon you can almost touch. I have been lucky enough to be able to sit out on the roof terrace enjoying this spectacle listen to Nightinglaes and the odd Little Owl, with the Moorish Ghekkos catching flies & moths off the white painted walls. Brilliant.

2009-05-01T17:08:00.002+02:00

Thursday 30th April :- Walking into town today I had my first Honey Buzzard of the year migrating north. Always a fantastic bird to see.

Valencia Short Break with Calandra Holidays

2009-05-01T16:20:00.004+02:00

24th - 28th April :- Another Valencian short break this time for Richard Palmer of Calandra Holidays who brought a minibus full of guests with then, all of whom had been previously and really enjoyed it. During the 4 night break we saw some fantastic species and behaviors including Eagle & Scop's Owl singing and showing at the same time, in fact we saw three owl species in the space of 30 minutes.
We again had good close views of Red necked Nightjar, Trumpeter Finch, Collared Pratincoles, White headed & Marbled Ducks, Red knobbed Coots, Night, Purple & Squacco Herons, Little Bittern, Great White Egret, Glossy Ibis, 4 Bonelli's & 3 Golden Eagles (both at nests), Montagu's Harriers, Osprey, 100+ Curlew Sandpipers (some in full Summer plumage), Cory's & Balearic Shearwaters, Audouin's Gulls, 30+ Slender billed Gulls all pink and displaying to each other, Gull billed, Little, Black & Whiskered Terns, Bee-eaters, Wryneck, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Hoopoes, Black & Black eared Wheatears, Moustached, Great Reed, Savi's, Sub-alpine, Dartford & Willow Wablers, Firecrest, Pied & Spotted Flycatchers plus much more. We saw in total over 130 species, which is interesting as we didn't go to the Albacete Plains replacing this with a visit to the wetlands surrounding the city of Valencia, which was very successful. I would like to thank very much Richard & jane for their continued support of Oliva Rama Tours, long may it continue......

N/W Spain with Speyside Wildlife

2009-04-19T18:26:00.005+02:00

9th - 14th April 2009 :- This was an Easter short break to the Sierra de Culebra and it's environs looking for it's very special wildlife. We had a full compliment of 13 guests and I would very much like to thank 'the excellent Roy Atkin' for co-leading this with me. We had a great time and wed were very fortunate to have a group that got on so well, making for a fantastic trip. During our time we visited several areas such as Villafafila, Arribes de Duero and local area of San Pedro de la Herrerias finding Garganey, a brief roadside Black winged Kite, Egyptian & Griffon Vultures, loads of Montagu's, Marsh & Hen Harriers, Short toed & Booted Eagles, a displaying Golden Eagle, which then chased away a Goshawk!!!, Lesser Kestrels, Hobby, 200+ Great Bustards, Gull billed Terns, Common Cuckoo, Wryneck & Iberian Green Woodpecker, Bee-eaters, Short toed & Woodlarks, Iberian Chiffchaff, Sub-alpine & Dartford Warblers, Firecrest, Crested Tits, Nuthatch, Serin, Rock & Cirl Buntings. Mammals included a Wild Boar and Red Deer, the reptiles and amphibians were well represented by Bocage's Lizard, Fire Salamander, European Tree Frog, Bosca's & Marbled Newts. Finally despite the cold weather we did see a few butterflies including Pearl bordered Fritillary, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Small Copper and Scarce Swallowtail. All in all a fantastic break.

Three Man Road Trip

2009-04-19T18:02:00.003+02:00

1st - 7th April 2009 :- During this week I was joined by Andy Bates & Dave Stanbridge from Kent, they have been to Spain several times before and were here for some specific targets. The first four days were spent like a Valencian Short Break (featured here) with the last two days being spent around Madrid. Although we couldn't find all their target species we did do very well by seeing Lesser Flamingo, Great White Egrets, Purple Heron, Glossy Ibis, Spoonbill, Garganey, White headed & Marbled Ducks, Black Vulture, Spanish Imperial, Golden & Short toed Eagles, Lesser Kestrel, Quail, Purple Gallinule, Red knobbed Coot, Great & Little Bustard, Stone Curlew, Collared Pratincole, Grey Phalarope, Audouin's & Slender billed Gulls, Gull billed Terns, Pin tailed & Black bellied Sandgrouse, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Scop's Owl, Lesser Spotted & Iberian Green Woodpeckers, Calandra, Short toed & Thekla Larks, Water Pipit, Black eared Wheatear, Redwing, Moustached, Savi's, Great Reed, Western Bonelli's, Sub-alpine Warblers, Iberian Chiffchaff, Penduline Tit, Azure winged Magpie, Brambling, Citril Finch and Rock Bunting. A full trip report will follow shortly.

Iberian Wolf in N/W Spain

2009-03-31T23:46:00.002+02:00

March 24th - 28th :- During these dates I was in the Zamora Province of Castilla y Leon searching for the rare & elusive Iberian Wolf. The short break was with the excellent company of Chris Drew, Sandra Strachan & Lorraine Barker staying at the wonderful CTR Veniata in the heart of the Sierra de Culebra. The trip was a personal bitter/sweet experience with us not managing to see an Iberian Wolf (but found plenty of signs), yet had some magical bird & mammal experiences, which nearly compensated for the missed 'Lobos'. Some of the highlights were a sub-adult Golden Eagle keeping 50+ Ravens at bay while it fed on a donkey carcass, Black Vultures amongst the Griffons, finding Iberian Chiffchaffs (for the first time there), 250+ Great Bustards, Hen Harriers displaying, Great Spotted Cuckoos getting it on, Montagu's Harrier down to 15m, fighting Red Deer, a Green Lizard and an Adder - superbly found by Sandra & Lorraine. The Sierra de Culebra is a great place to visit, be it for wolf or just to 'chill out', with great walks, great scenery, great wildlife and great accommodation.

A Local Half Day

2009-03-29T21:34:00.003+02:00

Sunday 22nd March :- Having just got back from Southern Morocco I was commissioned by Katy Phipps to take her and her husband Ralph for a half day's birdwatching as a birthday present for Ralph. We met at Pego Marsh where the 'now drained' paddy fields held lots of Audouin's Gulls, Little & Cattle Egrets. The only substantial water was along the eastern tracks so we drove around to the viewing platform and boardwalk, where we found a pair of Little Ringed Plovers along the track. Leaving the vehicle we immediately got good views of a Zitting Cisticola sat on a reed as well as a lovely male 'Spanish' Yellow Wagtail. We walked along the boardwalk flushing a Grey Heron then at the platform we enjoyed a purple patch of finding a couple of Purple Herons, Red Crested Pochard, Marsh Harriers, Moustached & Savi's Warblers. Hirundines and swifts were moving north on this lovely sunny day with a full compliment of Alpine & Pallid Swifts, Barn Swallows, Crag, Sand & House Martins. Next we continued along the track but it was fairly quite flushing a Green Sandpiper from the side of the road, plus Water & Meadow Pipits, Hoopoe, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Serin and Spotless Starlings. We then left this area and visited the river on the north of the reserve where we had a walk looking specifically for Kingfisher. Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs snag from the shrubs and trees then the peep of a Kingfisher signalled our first blue gem as it flashed through. We stood by a reedy pool and waited listening to the acrocephalus warblers deep within the reeds. Another Kingfisher appeared followed by a second and we managed to get some good flight views but only briefly sat on reeds unfortunately. A surprise happened next as a male Little Bittern flew across the pool but sadly landed out of sight and couldn't be found. We wandered back to the car seeing a Common Buzzard plus Hoopoe, Stonechats, Blackbirds, White Wagtails and another Little Bittern - excellent. The final place we visited was to walk up the hill to the pumping station, which gives fantastic views out over the whole area. It was pleasant but didn't add too much bird-wise with only Sardinian Warbler, Black Redstart and Robin being added, although on the way down we did find a cracking male Sub-alpine Warbler, which was probably new in. It was now getting quite hot so we left the coast for the cooler mountains of the Val de Gallinera. Our target was the pair of Golden Eagles that frequent this terrain but without success, which was a little surprising due to the time of year. We stopped at several places en-route to the head of the valley seeing Red billed Chough, Kestrels, Chaffinches and Crested Larks. Ralph & Katy had very kindly invited me to a 'menu del dia' so we stopped at the Venta de Margarida and sat outside in the warm sunshine. During lunch we saw a few birds including a Sparrowhawk, a few Ravens and heard a Wryneck, but couldn't find it. After lunch we made our final visit of the day at the Barranco de Encantado where we stood at the bridge enjoying several Rock Sparrows, Grey & White Wagtails, Wren, Crag Martins, Sardinian Warblers, Cirl & Corn Buntings. So mid-afternoon we returned to Pego where I said my farewlls to the couple and continued home to Oliva.

Southern Morocco

2009-03-29T20:52:00.006+02:00

In early March I was lucky enough to lead a group to Southern Morocco starting and finishing in Marrakesh. The holiday lasted 12 days from the mountains of the High Atlas to the plains of Boulmaine du Dades and then the dunes of Erfoud and Merzouga for 3 nights. Finally we travelled back west to the Atlantic town of Agadir (with nights en-route) for our last 2 nights. It was a fantastic trip and many thanks must go to Mohamed our excellent Berber who kept us entertained of his wonderful stories of the mountains where he lives. During our trip we managed to find 190 species of bird including some mouth-watering specialities such as Northern Bald Ibis, Black Stork, Marbled & Ferruginous Duck, Black Shouldered Kite, Golden, Bonelli's Eagles, Long legged Buzzard, Lanner Falcon, Barbary Partridge, Cream Coloured Courser, Audouin's Gull, Caspian Tern, Spotted, Crowned & Black bellied Sandgrouse, Laughing Dove, Pharoah Eagle Owl, Egyptian Nightjar, Little Swift, Levaillant's Woodpecker, Bar tailed, Desert, Hoopoe, Thick billed, Temminck's and Shore Larks, Plain Martin, Moroccan Wagtail, Common Bulbul, Western Olivaceous, African Desert, Spectacled Warblers, Iberian Chiffchaff, Moussier's Redstart, Black eared, White Crowned, Black, Desert, Red rumped & Mourning Wheatears, Fulvous Babbler, Black crowned Tchagra, Desert Sparrow, Yellow billed Chough, Trumpeter Finch and House Bunting. All of these plus some amazing scenery and other wildlife, please feel free to read the full trip report in due course.

Egypt - Red Sea Specialities

2009-03-04T11:32:00.002+01:00

This last week I have been guiding a few friends (Eric Alblas, Keith & Lynn Youngs) around the Egytian Red Sea coastline, a trip I have done several times now and always produced a surprise or two. The first half of the week is spent in the up-market coastal resort of El Gouna, with the last 3 nights at the excellent and tranquil Red Sea Diving Centre at Wadi Lahami about 120 Kms north of the Disputed Area, which borders Egypt and Sudan. This is very much a quality more than quantity holiday concentrating on the key species of Lappet faced Vulture, Goliath & Striated Herons, Greater Sandplover, Sooty & White eyed Gulls, Crested Tern, Crowned Sandgrouse, Nile Valley Sunbird and Pharoah Eagle Owl, all of which we managed to see. However we also found 2 potential Egyptian rarities with a cracking male Red tailed (Kurdish) Wheatear and a 1st winter Grey Hypocolius (pictured here) plus Egyptian Nightjar, Lesser Crested Tern, adult summer Pallas's Gull and a Dorcas Gazelle (great spot Lynn). We all had a great time and a full trip report will posted on the website in the near future. If anyone is interested in joining me on one of these weeks (possibly in September) please feel free to contact me.

Big Bird Race Day

2009-03-04T11:08:00.002+01:00

On Sunday 22nd February, myself, Robert & Kathy Dowsett embarked on an all day birdwatch as part of a competition by the Costa Blanca Bird Club. Below is an account of our day by Kathy and thank her for this and also many thanks to Bob for some mammoth driving. Hopefully next year we will do slightly better.

CBBC Bird Race Day

We were delighted to find that day we had agreed for our bird race was forecast to be fine and dry. Although we had visited several sites in the area with the Costa Blanca Bird Club we live some distance away and were therefore relying on Jules’ local knowledge to help us out.

We started out at first light, glad that this early in the year it did not mean getting up at a ridiculous hour. Leaving the B&B in Oliva we could already hear a variety of bird calls, including Great Tit, but nothing to keep us from heading off towards the beach recording our first sighting, a Blackbird, on the way. The beach proved to be disappointingly quiet but we did add Yellow-legged & Black-headed Gull to the list. We then wandered round an area being developed, hearing birds all around but seeing little. Perseverance resulted in House Sparrow (but not the elusive Tree Sparrow) and Feral Pigeon WOW! Things were moving slowly at this point but a decision to return to the beach gave us Spotless Starling calling from the top of a crane followed by Balearic Shearwater, Northern Gannet and a solitary Sanderling. Trying for the Tree Sparrow again we saw a flock of Chaffinches and two Mallards fly over and then a Chiffchaff, Robin, Black Redstart, Serin, Sardinian Warbler, Collared Dove and a Stonechat. European Starlings were now much in evidence. Our third visit to the beach at 8.20am proved very productive with Kentish Plover, Sandwich Tern and a White Wagtail feeding at an inlet. These held our attention long enough that Jules spotted a spectacular Great Skua winging its way across the water before we moved off, and driving back through Oliva we added Cormorant to the list.

Pego Marsh was our next destination and as we entered we were lucky to see a perched Common Buzzard close by. Plenty to see here including flocks of Crag Martins with a few Swallows and House Martins mixed among them. Moustached Warblers called from several spots, Robert and Jules saw managed to see one whilst I was always looking the wrong way! We saw a Grey Wagtail and heard Cetti’s Warbler. There were flying views of a Green Sandpiper with Robert and Jules both seeing a Moorhen (would I?). As we headed for another area of Pego Marsh we saw a Hoopoe fly across and then found Little Egret, Little Ringed Plover, Snipe and Grey Heron. Then we spotted Marsh Harrier closely followed by Booted Eagle. As we were returning to the road I noticed a Squacco Heron obligingly searching for food in a ditch at the side of the track. There were numerous Reed Buntings and Jules made us aware of the call of the Penduline Tit which we were then fortunate to have good views of – this was a lifer for us! Continuing on we saw a Meadow Pipit, Jackdaw and a Great Tit and a small number of feeding Goldfinches followed by Bluethroat and Water Pipit. Alerted by its call we found a Zitting Cisticola and then scanned a field full of Audouin’s Gulls which also contained a Lesser Black-Backed Gull and further along we identified Lapwing and a flock of Cattle Egrets.

We were a bit peckish by now and headed for Vall de Gallinera where we ate a picnic lunch as we watched a pair of Golden Eagles circling over the peaks. What more could you want? On the road through Vall de Gallinera we stopped at a roadside café in the hope of seeing Chough. We were out of luck for these but a pair of Blackcaps flitted around and we added Kestrel and Southern Grey Shrike to the list before driving to Alcoy. Jules spotted a Sparrowhawk as we drove along and even Robert managed to see it, as well as a Magpie, even whilst concentrating on the road. On reaching Alcoy we parked in a garage where we had good views of a number of Griffon Vultures.

Time was getting short and having made a wrong turn it was decided to abandon a trip to the forest and try for the Trumpeter Finch at Monnegre instead. The target species in this area must have been having a siesta but we did see Dartford Warbler, Linnet, Thekla Lark, Mistle Thrush and Little Owl. We had planned to go to the Clot de Galvany but as the gates to the hides were closed and the area was heaving with people we continued on to Santa Pola picking up a Carrion Crow on the way. The beach was our first stop and Jules immediately saw a Whimbrel, followed by a Turnstone before heading to the Santa Pola Salinas. Close to the Saltworks Nature Reserve we found plenty of waders and identified Redshank, Little Stint, Dunlin with Mediterranean & Slender-billed Gulls. We parked near the old tower and watched Greater Flamingo, Shelduck, a feeding Osprey and Avocet, being lucky to see a single Spoonbill fly over. We moved further on and found Black-winged Stilts, Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshank and two Stone Curlews in flight. It was 4.15pm and we decided we were running too late to visit Crevillente in the hope of Bonelli’s Eagle so it was El Honda next.

The Spotted Eagle was not to be found but we watched Booted Eagle and Buzzard before seeing Little Grebe. Driving on we saw a Pheasant and a had a great view of a Hen Harrier as it flew along side the car. We drove up to the gate opposite the visitor’s centre and walked far enough along to see the water. The sun was somewhat low but we observed Teal, Shoveler, Pochard and Red-Crested Pochard, Common Sandpiper and huge numbers of Coot. Robert finally saw a Greenfinch, having missed several earlier, and I added Moorhen to the list of birds we had all seen. What a relief! Walking back to the car we watched a flock of Lesser Short-Toed & Crested Lark on the adjacent fields. It was time to set off for the hills around Elche for a final effort to reach one hundred. We parked at the best spot for seeing the Eagle Owl and watched and waited as the light and our hopes began to fade. We managed to see Red-legged Partridge which we had heard previously and a Black Wheatear perched on the wires above the hill. We scoured the hill in vain and with a sense of anti- climax walked back to the car. Jules, determined not to give up until the last, turned for a final check, discovering the Eagle Owl perched high up on the fence at the top of the hill. It was the end of a very enjoyable if tiring day. The final tally of 98 was only two short of our target – Robert will just have to drive faster next time!

Sussex at it's best

2009-02-10T12:52:00.006+01:00

Sunday 1st February :- What a cracking day!. I had kindly been invited by my very good friends Michael & Wendy Ball to their home in Sussex for a couple of days. We were going to spend a couple of days birding before heading out to Bulgaria for my Winter – Geese & Raptors short break on February 3rd. Our other mutual good friend, Chris Byrne had driven through from Kent and arrived in good time for breakfast After this we headed out in the cold of the early morning with a forecast that promised some snow. Michael skilfully negotiated the narrow streets through his home patch to our first site, the Amberley Wild Brooks. This is an area of wetland bog surrounded by deciduous woodland adjacent to the RSPB reserve of Pulbrough Brooks. We scanned the wildfowl finding a single Barnacle Goose amongst the large flocks of Greylag & Canada Geese, plus plenty of Pintail, Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal, 6 Black tailed Godwits. Lapwings, Grey Herons and a Mute Swan. In the woodland we saw a large flock of Siskins, a single Redwing, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, and close views of a Treecreeper and Goldcrests. Michael then took us round to another part of the same wetland were he knew there could be Bewick’s Swans, and he spot one as we saw at least 23. This wasn’t all, Wendy found a lone Dark bellied Brent Goose and several Gadwall, however the weather was getting a little worse as the icy wind cut through the clothing and we were now heading for the South Downs. We parked at the head of the valley, which looked down over Duke of Norfolk’s abode – Arundel Castle to the sea beyond. We walked a little way up the track and searched the fields for some of our target species and quickly we found a Red legged Partridge, and a few Stock Dove were in with the Woodpigeons and hordes of Rooks. I then see our prize a ‘Ringtail' Hen Harrier followed by a second and we watched them enthralled as they interacted as they quartered the down-lands. Chris then found another target with a small covy of Grey Partridges, a bird I have not seen for a couple of years. We then walked further up the hill seeing Common Buzzard, Skylarks, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Linnets, Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers. A very welcome cup of tea, and some of Wendy’s homemade Ginger Cake brought some feeling back into our cold bodies. As we left a sprinkling of snow started to fall – welcome to Britain!. We dropped down to the coast and the wonderful Pagham Harbour but the wind had strengthened and boy was it cold as we walked towards the hide. We had already seen plenty of waders (Curlew, Common Redshank, Dunlin, Grey & Ringed Plover) plus 3 Avocets found by Wendy and lots of Mediterranean, Greater Black backed, Lesser Black backed, Herring, Common & Black headed Gulls. Then at the hide we settled down being grateful to out of the wind for a while and a good spell of watching birds. The highlight was getting scoped views of both male & female Merlins (awesome) as they perched near the hide. Along with Red breasted Mergansers, Knot, Bar tailed Godwits, Oystercatchers, Turnstone, Shelducks, Little Grebes and 100’s more Brent Geese. The slow walk back to the car park produced a well appreciated Spotted Redshank and on the pool at the entrance we added a few Goldeneye and Tufted Duck. Lunch was taken back at the car, which was again very well received with hot soup and sandwiches as the snow started to fall in earnest. After lunch we drove around to the ‘North Wall’ of Pagham Harbour and was again excellent with additional species of Common Snipe, 10+ Golden Plover and a (heard only) Water Rail. However this area produced a group of 50+ Black tailed Godwits, more flocks of Wigeon, Shelduck and Pintail - yet another fantastic site. The afternoon was wearing on and the weather wasn’t improving on the coast so we headed inland to our final site - Burton Mill Pond. As we moved inland the weather incredibly started to improve with sun streaming through the clouds as we arrived at the small reed-fringed lake. Michael had been seeing a Great Bittern here for a couple of weeks on odd occasions and hopefully our luck would be in. We all set up and checked the area finding Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Cormorant and Little Grebe. Michael had said we might see Mandarin flying over and sure enough while we were there we saw 8 birds going to roost?, plus a Grey Wagtail heading for the nearby stream. Although we were not finding out main target until suddenly I saw a movement at the edge of the reeds. There (still in very good light) was a Great Bittern motionless but incredibly out in the open. We were getting phenomenal scoped views of this very elusive species as it sat in the reeds. Then the most amazing thing happened, it started acting like it was either alarming or displaying by stretching it’s neck right out and fluffing it’s neck feathers like a long toilet brush, plus flapping it’s wings a little. Something I had never seen a Bittern do before and a real privilege to see. It was sadly time to leave as the sun was setting behind the hills but it wasn’t the end because as we drove back a Woodcock flew up from the side of the road and into the nearby trees. We have had a fantastic day with a final tally of 85 bird species (plus one heard) and Roe Deer, Hare, Rabbit and Stoat.

Monday February 2nd :- Heavy overnight snow had thwarted our plans for today with most of the morning being spent clearing the drive. The forecast wasn’t good and most of our thoughts were of the next day when we were meant to be flying to Bulgaria for a Winter short break. Just before lunchtime we said our “goodbyes” to Chris as he was heading home to Kent in could have been very difficult driving conditions. He did however get home in very good time and more importantly in one piece. After a spot of lunch we risked going out and drove the very short distance to Shoreham Harbour looking for Purple Sandpipers, but to no avail. However the bays were full of Turnstone, with a few Sanderling and Dunlin, but off shore was better with 2 Red throated Divers, 20+ Great Crested Grebes, 3 Teal, plus a few Guillemots & Razorbills flying west. The snow had started to fall again so we headed home to Upper Beeding and made ready for the following day.

2009-01-26T23:19:00.002+01:00

Monday 26th January :- This was my second day with Waine & Sue – we had decided to go to the Albufera d’Valencia followed by a visit to Alcoy and then back down the Val de Gallinera. We had an easy journey north and soon we were leaving the highway and traveling through miles of currently unused paddy fields north of Cullera. We saw our first of 100’s of Grey Heron, Little & Cattle Egrets either side of the road then up ahead I saw two very large birds flying low over the road, “storks?” I muttered. As we got closer I quickly realised they were in fact 2 Black Storks and although we couldn’t stop we got good views as they passed right in front of us and landed on the adjacent field – what a start to the day. We turned off this main carraigeway and traversed the minor roads from Sollana to Palmar stopping to check some of the better looking wet fields and during this time found 8 Great White Egrets, one of the resident hybrid Little Egret x Western Reef Heron things, 500+ Lapwing, 12 Golden Plover, 9 Black tailed Godwits, Common Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Mallard, Common Buzzard, Marsh Harriers, Lesser Black backed, Yellow legged & Black headed Gulls, 2 male Bluethroats, a few Tree Sparrows, Zitting Cisticola and Greenfinch. At the Mata del Fang we stopped and admired a Booted Eagle as it soared around right above our heads and then made our way to edge of the water to check the wildfowl. Here there were 1000’s of Mallard with 100’s of Shoveler and Red Crested Pochard, closer checking produced several Common Pochard, Gadwall and Tufted Duck. Rafts of Cormorants dived in unison, Yellow legged Gulls harried the duck and one great image was 8 Marsh Harriers in the air together. Waine & Sue were loving it despite being buffeted by the strong cold winds. We returned to the car for a warm and drove the short distance to Raco d’Olla but most of the reserve was shut due to wind damage however we could use the tower hide to scan the wildfowl in the lake. Although there were smaller numbers generally there were quite a few Common Pochard, which is a good omen. To a lot of birdwatchers who like ‘finding their own birds’ know that pochard is a carrier species and an influx of these can mean something rarer amongst them. I was sure if there was a rare or scarce duck to be found it would be in with them. Viewing was difficult in the high winds but we managed to hide in the doorway and stop the tripod from shaking too much, initially finding more Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, Black winged Stilts, and a Purple Gallinule. Our resolve was starting to weaken and I thought we should leave for warm refreshments when one last scan and there was the ‘Big One’. A drake Ring necked Duck appeared with a new group of (yes you guessed it) Common Pochard and proceeded to show very well in the loose flock. This was the first time I had seen this species in Spain. Eventually we left and very pleased with our morning visited the nearest café for a coffee and a warm. Once ready we took in the interior highway to Alcoy and then up to the Proyecto Canyet searching the skies for Griffon Vulture. It wasn’t long before we saw several of these mighty birds drifting over the parking area followed by a couple of Ravens. Lunch was taken here and afterwards checked the Aleppo Pines in the area, which produced good views of a few Crested Tits and a pair of Crossbills – much to Waine & Sue’s delight as they had only had brief glimpses before of these species. Also in the area we found an Iberian Green Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Coal & Great Tit, Black Redstart and Stonechat. It was now time to head back to Oliva via the Val de Gallinera and our first stop produced a pair of Peregrine Falcons, with the next stop producing the hoped-for adult Golden Eagle. We watched it for 10 minutes as it flew around doing some display-like dives over the terraced hillsides, always a spectacular sight. This again made a nice finale to the day as I returned my guests to the B & B, before taking my oldest son Stan to hockey practice.

A good day out.

2009-01-25T18:05:00.004+01:00

Waine & Sue were staying we me at the guesthouse and wanted to see "bustards & sandgrouse" so we got up early and headed inland to Castilla La Mancha and the plains east of Albacete. The road to Corral Rubio as usual produced the goods and 2 hours later we found 49 Great Bustards, 40+ Black bellied & a single Pin tailed Sandgrouse feeding in the agricultural fields right next to the road. Although 1000+ Calandra Larks was incredibly impressive as was Crested & Thekla Larks, Corn Buntings, Rock Sparrows, Meadow Pipits, Linnets, Southern Grey Shrikes, Red legged Partridges and Common Buzzards. The wet areas around the town we saw lots of Eurasian Teal, Shoveler, Mallard, Lapwings, Black winged Stilts, Common Snipe, Little Stint, several Water Pîpits and around Higuela Lagoon we added Shelduck, Coot, an adult female Marsh Harrier and a Merlin (found by Sue). It was now time lunch my usual stop at the San Juan in Petrola produced the usual excellent Bacon & Cheese Bocadillos. After lunch we visited Petrola Lagoon were we saw lots of wildfowl including Red Crested Pochard, Wigeon, Pintail, Gadwall, Common Teal, Shelduck, Shoveler, Mallard and a single Avocet. We slowly made our way back along the tracks finding another 18 Great Bustards, 5 Black bellied Sandgrouse plus a Stock Dove, and as we left for Bonete we found a flock of 100+ Rock Sparrows with a few Corn Buntings. So mid-afternoon we headed back to Oliva and they had mentioned wanting to try and see Balearic Shearwater so with a couple of hours of daylight left I took them to the beach. It was grand in the warm sunshine and the strong winds having lessened making viewing very comfortable indeed. Over an hour we got superb views of at least 100 Balearic Shearwaters plus Great & Arctic Skuas harrying the Audouin's & Black headed Gulls, Gannets, Cormorants and Crag Martins over the chalets behind. Really capped off a great day.

A bit of (failed) Spanish Twitching

2009-01-22T15:25:00.005+01:00

Monday January 19th :- Today we were going on a twitch cum recce of a few areas around Lleida, which is about 120 Kms north-west of the Ebro Delta. It was a twitch because a Great White Pelican has been frequenting the area for a couple of months now – would our luck be in?. I had contacted Ricard Gutierrez of the excellent ‘Rare Birds in Spain’ website and he had kindly given me a couple of places to try. So after breakfast we set off and made our way out of the delta towards L’Ampolla where we stopped to check the bay but only found Great Crested Grebes, Cormorants and gulls. So continued north to Reus and then inland through some very scenic countryside to join the AP2 to Lleida. A couple of exits and we were travelling through acres of agricultural land (mainly fruits) to the town of Mollerussa. Apparently the pelican has been frequenting the church roof there but unfortunately not today, however a pair of White Storks nesting on the spire was nice to see. After a welcome coffee in the town we negotiated the roads to Ricard’s second suggestion the wetland of Estany d’Urgell. This superb and little known place is on the edge of Ivars d’Urgell and very much worth a visit if you are in this part of Spain. We honestly could have spent the whole day there, with its lovely walk around the lake punctuated with fantastic hides, picnic areas and boardwalks. This is very much a credit to the people or organisation that designed and developed the reserve. As we got out of the vehicle an adult female Hen Harrier flew right past and out over the fields disturbing the finches & pipits. The car park is elevated and from there it gives a good view of most of the lake, with its islands, reed-beds, trees & bushes. I scanned the whole area with the telescope but could not find the pelican, but there were lots of White Storks, Grey Heron, Mallard, Shoveler, Coot, Black headed & Yellow legged Gulls, Cattle Egrets Cormorants and especially Lapwing with easily 800+ birds around the reserve. Looking so good we decided to walk the path along the edge of the lake finding a few Marsh Harriers, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Penduline Tit, Reed Buntings, Stonechat, Chiffchaffs, Cetti’s Warbler, Tree Sparrows, Chaffinches and Goldfinches. At the first hide we sat in the top tier and looked out over the water as flocks of Lapwings plus one Curlew flew back and forth. Then a gull caught my eye with its small size and dark bar across the upperwing – a 1st winter Little Gull. We watched as it flew around with the Black headed Gulls before disappearing over the other side. Julia had decided to walk on so Geoff and I slowly walked after her and I again found the Little Gull as it landed on the water not far from where we were and then another one joined it, brilliant. Geoff carried on for a while with Julia while I stood on a viewing platform and searched the area, eventually the two returned and we all headed back. Then I looked up and another bird caught my eye – this time a Short eared Owl a bird I rarely see in this country. We watched it about 15 minutes as it behaved quite atypically chasing first Lapwings and then Jackdaws quite high up in the sky – most unusual. A couple of times it flew down low and right over our heads and we could easily make out the facial disc, and plumage pattern of this wonderful predator. Unfortunately it was lunch time and we had to leave but despite missing the pelican it had been a brilliant time on the reserve and well returning too in the future. After lunch we headed to the drylands south of the city trying out one or two new tracks without much success before going to the agricultural lands surrounding Alfas. Here we initially found Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and lots of Kestrels but then I saw a movement in the short grass, in fact several movements – sandgrouse?. Geoff crept slowly towards them in the car and they were Pin tailed Sandgrouse and right next to the track. We got within excellent viewing distance without disturbing them and counted 96 of these gorgeous game-birds, what a sight. We remained there for a while transfixed by them but eventually we crawled past and left them feeding. A little further we stopped and viewed the terrain and I found a male Hen Harrier sat on the ground, with Calandra Larks flying round in flocks. The harrier flew off so we continued for another few hundred metres stopping again for a Southern Grey Shrike and a few Red legged Partridges. Behind me I heard Julia say to herself “that’s no Woodpigeon?” so spun round and saw a very large raptor alight into a small tree. A young Golden Eagle, I quickly got the scope on to it and we all managed a brief view before it took off again and drifted away low over the ground. This pretty much capped an excellent day, even if we did miss the Great White Pelican – may be next time?.

A glorious afternoon on the Ebro Delta

2009-01-18T18:57:00.009+01:00

Sunday January 18th :- This morning I packed a few things and headed north with my good friends Geoff & Julia Regan to Southern Catalonia. The day was gorgeous with warm January sun streaming into the car, and causing the first few Almond Trees to spring into bloom. The route was notable for a few species including our first Marsh Harrier and Common Buzzard over the Cullera ricefields, a couple of Booted Eagles nearer Valencia, and loads of Crag Martins along the whole route. After a coffee stop we continued north of Vinaros stopping at the coast just south of San Carles de la Rapita. The sea held the usual Cormorants, Great Crested Grebes, Yellow legged, Black headed & Lesser Black backed Gulls, a lone Audouin's Gull sat on the rocks was a nice find plus a couple of Black necked Grebes with their larger cousins. At the excellent Hotel Rull we checked in, refreshed ourselves before having a spot of lunch in the hotel restaurant. Although we were all fairly keen to get back out and make full use of the lovely weather so before long we were heading to the viewing platform of Riet Vell. The track produced a couple of Common Sandpipers, with plenty of Chiffchaffs, Reed Buntings and Meadow Pipits flitting from the reeds and bushes. As we arrived at the platform I looked up and a flock of 200+ Glossy Ibis passed overhead followed quickly by another 50 or so. Luckily they landed in sight so we got the telescope on them and took full advantage of their 'glossy' plumage. We stayed at the platform for some time watching lots of species such as Greater Flamingos, Great White, Little & Cattle Egrets, Grey Herons, Coot, Mallard, 100+ Red Crested Pochards, a single Wigeon, Marsh Harriers, Kestrel, Common Snipe, Lapwings, 2 Whiskered Terns, White Wagtails, Cetti's Warbler, Penduline Tit and Chaffinches. So we returned to the vehicle and checked a few local paddy fields were we got better views of the Glossy Ibis along with lots of waders such as lots more Common Snipe and Lapwings plus Ruff, Greenshanks, Common & Spotted Redshanks, Wood & Green Sandpipers. Next we drove out to Ruimar and the hide overlooking El Garxel another very large shallow lagoon next to the coast. We stayed here for the rest of the afternoon in the peace and quiet of the very tranquil area in Winter. By far the best bird we found was a single Caspian Tern sat amongst the Black headed Gulls, it's huge 'blood-red' bill being illuminated by the late afternoon sunshine. Here we also managed to see a 'fly through' Merlin, several prehistoric Purple Gallinules, more Greenshanks and Spotted Redshanks, Kingfisher, Great White Egrets, Stonechats, Greenfinches and Goldfinches.

Costa Blanca Bird Club Field Trip

2009-01-17T15:57:00.004+01:00

Wednesday 14th January :- Today I was heading inland to meet my friends and colleagues of the CBBC for our first field trip of 2009 to the plains of Albacete. I was a nice day but bitterly cold with an icy wind moving through from the west. Incredibly 23 of us turned up and I lead the procession of cars off the highway towards Higueruela but our initial stops only produced a few Crested & Skylarks, Linnets, Southern Grey Shrike, Common Buzzard, Carrions Crows and Magpies. So a change of route saw us now heading towards Corral Rubio and in a known area by me, I found our first 9 Great Bustards - much to everyone's pleasure. However over the next hour and several more stops took our GB tally to 50+ birds an excellent total and some fantastic views from the roadside. We checked a few natural ponds were we saw plenty of Mallard, Shoveler and Eurasian Teal plus a few Pintail, Gadwall and a couple of Wigeon. Lapwings graced the edges and a female Marsh Harrier quartered the area. I took them out on to the farm tracks that dissect the huge fields of brilliant red and buff soil were we found a few flocks of Calandra Larks, and a Little Owl glared at us from a lone rock pile. Lunch was taken in Petrola at the excellent value bodega - El San Juan. After lunch we had a quick look at Petrola lagoon but it was fairly quiet with us ust adding Shelduck to the list so we returned to the tracks for a final flourish. Sandgrouse was our quarry and sure enough we managed to pick out 2 Pin tailed Sandgrouse amongst a small flock of Black bellied Sandgrouse, followed by a female Hen Harrier moving through - fantastic. It was now time to go our separate ways and on my way back I made a quick stop at another small pool finding a surprising Little Stint plus 2 Black winged Stilts, 10+ Common Snipe, Corn Buntings, Water & Meadow Pipits. A great day and an excellent evening as I celebrated my youngest son's 10th birthday with the family.

Annual Seabird Census

2009-01-12T13:04:00.005+01:00

So I braved a very cold Saturday (10/01) morning along with a few Spanish friends to count sea-birds moving along the Mediterranean coastline. A few strategically placed individuals and small groups along the Valencian coast spend four hours every year logging what they see, with a particular focus on Balearic Shearwaters. Previous years Oliva Marina has produced the goods with last year being the best yet with in excess of 2000 shearwaters (circa 20% of the world's population) moving north out of the bay. However this year was a damp squib in comparison with 100+ beeing seen and quite far out to sea, there were a couple of highlights with a couple of Wigeon and several Gannets plus the usual Audouin's, Yellow legged & Black headed Gulls, Sandwich Terns, Cormorants and Mallard.

Many thanks to Fran, Pepe et al for their contribution and hopefully next year will be better.

Fancy seeing 15000+ Red breasted Geese?

2009-01-08T22:39:00.005+01:00

In a little under one month I with a few hardy souls are going to Bulgaria's Black Sea coast on a wild goose chase (literally). We are going after two of the rarest geese in Europe - Red breasted & Lesser White fronted Goose, along with White & Dalmation Pelicans, Pygmy Cormorants, Ferruginous & White headed Ducks, Long legged Buzzard, Greater Spotted Eagle, Great Black headed Gull, Eagle Owl, Black Woodpecker and Sombre Tit to name just a few. However it will be cold, which I for one am not looking forward too, living Spain has made me soft!!!. You don't think that aclimatising but you do, anything under 10oC and I cannot cope, but the thought of seeing a large flock of these gorgeous Brantas, makes it all worthwhile.

So if you fancy joining a band of hardy souls in Bulgaria then please contact me or view a full itinerary here. We have a few places left leaving on February 3rd for 5 nights and at the fantastic price of £590. If you are interested please call soon. (image by C. Nikolov)

A Tale of Two Raptrors

2009-01-06T11:37:00.002+01:00

One thing I love about living in Spain is being able to see good birds of prey without too much difficulty, even here in Valencia & Alicante. During the Winter months it is fairly easy to catch up with Bonelli's, Booted & Golden Eagles, Griffon Vulture, Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine and Eurasian Kestrel, plus chances of Hen Harrier, Red Kite and Merlin. Not bad for one of the most populated areas of Spain.

In addition to this there is at the moment a (1st year) Greater Spotted Eagle from Estonia over-wintering on El Hondo nature reserve. How do I know it's from Estonia you ask?, well it is one that has been radio tagged in the nest and tracked all the way here. If you want to read more follow this link go to http://rarebirdspain.blogspot.com/2009/01/el-guila-moteada-tnn-inverna-en-el.html. This is the third year running we have had one of these fabulous aquila eagles staying in the area.

So getting to my two raptor stories the first happened the day before yesterday and while playing with my two boys on the paseo a Merlin shot through after the sparrows. It was so noticable my youngest son said "wow that was just like a small missile". The second was yesterday as I took some friends to Alicante Airport I was just north of Benidorm and a large raptor flew across the motorway and out over the Med. I suspected a Bonelli's Eagle. I returned an hour later it was still there and this time giving better views as it flew parallel to the vehicle and sure enough it was a young Bonelli's Eagle. Two great raptors seen in fairly atypical situations, as I said it shows just how rich Spain is in Birds of Prey. Long may it continue.

Happy New Year to one & all

2009-01-01T17:23:00.003+01:00

I am determined that 2009 is going to be a good year for me and the business. Last year was very good with many new ventures being successfully launched and a mighty "thank you" to everyone who supported Oliva Rama Tours in 2008. I am very much looking forward to seeing you again in the following months.

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Eventually I surfaced after the traditional New Year's Eve party and decided to walk off dull thud in my head at the beach. It's been a lovely day in Oliva with nice warm sunshine and a light southerly breeze, the only downside being the beach was fairly busy. At my watchpoint I scanned the off-shore rocks and found a good flock of 30+ Sandwich Terns, along with a few each of Audouin's, Yellow legged & Black headed Gulls, Cormorants and Sanderlings. Further out to sea a steady stream of Balearic Shearwaters were heading north plus a few more gulls and terns. The Kentish Plovers and more Sanderlings were avoiding the people and dogs by running up and down the beach (boy these birds are fit!). So I left and headed north myself walking through the caravan park at Kiko to the dunes beyond. This area has been sanitised but there are still some patches of natural dune left, which can be quite productive and here I found a mixed flock of Tree Sparrows, Goldfinches, Chaffinches and Serins. A smart male Black Redstart quivered it's tail at me and was joined by a pair of Stonechats. A Small White butterfly was indicative of the day's weather and Crag Martins feasted on the amount of flying insects that were around. One of my resolutions this year is to greatly improve my flower identificaction and found this common yellow flower and with the aide of a book I got for Christmas discovered it is Bermuda Buttercup. A troublesome weed according to the literature - well I think looks quite nice. One plant I do find here which is great is the Sea Daffodil and is common amongst the spectacular Aloe Vera plants also found along the coastal dunes. It's a great place to relax, unwind and recover from a slight hang-over, however it was then back home to the demands of two young sons and their games - brilliant.

2008-12-31T16:01:00.001+01:00

Tuesday 30th December :- It was a lovely day here in Oliva so I took the boys down to the beach. While they played a bit of footy I took 15 minutes to snap a few shots of Kentish Plovers on the beach and really enjoyed this male bird. They are gorgeous wee waders.

A short seawatch from Oliva Beach

2008-12-29T17:47:00.001+01:00

Sunday 28th December :- As we head for the end of 2008 I decided to go down to Oliva Beach for a spot of sea-watching, but the inclement weather cut things a little short. However the hour I did manage was good with the star species being my 2nd & 3rd Great Skuas seen off this watchpoint. I also enjoyed views of a couple of Gannets, a few Balearic Shearwaters, a flock of 19 Teal, Cormorants, Great Crested Grebe, Sandwich Terns and Yellow legged Gulls. A small flock of gulls on the beach consisted of Audouins, Lesser Black backed & Black headed Gulls with a few Sanderlings chasing the tide and Kentish Plovers picking insects off the sand. Definitely a worthwhile 60 minutes.