strait nature news

December 2006

Black-crowned Night Herons, Short-toed Eagles, Booted Eagles and Bluethroats - Stephen Daly writes

It's good to relax with lovely clients from Britain, spending December on the Strait of Gibraltar. It's so nice to have such good weather which continues into the second week of December.

We went to look for Common Cranes that overwinter near the coast in huge numbers. We managed to see about one thousand birds and delighted in the sound of their haunting calls.

Two Bluethroats were seen as were a huge gathering of forty or so Black-crowned Night Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax), tucking themselves into willow trees along small tributary of the Barbate river. Both sexes are similar but females are slightly smaller. These Herons are active from just before dusk and their beautiful bright red eyes show they are true nocturnal birds that can live over twenty years in the wild. If you unwittingly come across a Black-crowned Night Heron, they often disgorge the contents of their stomachs before taking flight, enabling them to get into the air quicker - and also enabling the curious amongst us to have a look at their diet! The presence of these birds is also a good indicator of water purity and general cleanliness.

Masses of Calandra Larks were seen near the Military land close to Barbate and a quick count took us over the two thousand !

Calandra Larks massing in the south

Travelling inland we came across fifty-five  Stone Curlews (Burhinus oedicnemus) in a ploughed field. These large "waders" congregate and form sometimes large flocks on the dry, bare fields in the south of Spain and Morocco. They seem to be particularly vulnerable to pesticides, loss of suitable habitat as well as the intense agricultural policies that have taken place in northern Europe in the last 60 years. In Britain the birds numbers have declined as much as 90% in some country areas. Lack of Rabbits is also a knock-on effect of their demise. The Rabbits keep the short semi-natural grassland closely cropped thus inviting the perfect breeding habitat where birds can forage and breed. Stone Curlews feed on a variety of insects including beetles, earthworms and lizards if they can find any at this time of the year. During the breeding season they'll also take other birds eggs or even chicks.

Birds of Prey During The Winter Months - Stephen Daly writes

Raptors recently have included our resident Black-shouldered Kites - there were seven of these magnificent birds seen in one day last week by Stephen Knapp.

Short-toed and Booted Eagles were seen in one's and two's which is quite common even although the reptile population is less obvious. Reptiles, particularly snakes are the main diet of the Short-toed Eagle.

We recently had a good view of a young first winter Merlin sitting quietly atop a cork-oak. Merlin are resident birds here too and although the population seems to be stable, they are always tricky birds to actually go out and find.

A Black-shouldered Kite takes a look around when "in the hover"

Resident Spanish Imperial Eagles were passing quite close to my house the other day. There were two adult birds seen quite close - a nice "garden tick"!  Juvenile Bonelli's Eagles easily outnumber the adult birds along the Strait and this is THE place to see them at this time of year. Our resident Ospreys too are active with birds being seen regularly inland and on the coast at Barbate.

Marsh Harriers are around in good numbers and a few Hen Harriers were seen recently as well.

A few Cirl Buntings were seen as well as lots of their cousins, the Corn Bunting and Reed Bunting. Corn Buntings were particularly numerous in La Janda with thousands seen feeding with large flocks of Spanish Sparrows and House Sparrows. Other waders included forty or so Little Ringed Plovers, dozens of Green Plovers, Snipe, Black-tailed Godwits, two Wood Sandpipers, some Black-winged Stilts and Northern Lapwings.

Squacco Herons, like this juvenile bird (above) can also be seen along canal banks and rivers and ponds.

I'm off to Scotland to bring in the New Year with family and friends and wish all our readers all the best for the forthcoming year. Both Stephen Knapp and myself will be back in 2007 to lead a variety new tours throughout Spain and Portugal as well as leading tours for Limosa Holiday and the Travelling Naturalist. If you'd like to book us for one of our day tours, along the famous Strait of Gibraltar, then drop us a line or call.        Stephen Daly