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

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

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

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

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!!!!

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.