ARRIVAL AT MALAGA - TRANSFER TO TARIFA WITH STOPS AT GUADALMAR - ESTAPONA GOLF COMPLEX - CAZALLA RAPTOR WATCH-POINT
WEATHER: some cloud but mainly sunshine, moderate breeze. Top temp 30C
Despite everyone arriving from different parts of the UK and on different flights our meeting up went relatively smooth. I met Kate first followed by Luise, then Dave and Keith arrived from Birmingham and finally Dave and Anne arrived from Edinburgh. We loaded onto the bus and drove to Guadalmar to pick up our last group member Tony.
After collecting some lunch supplies we parked the bus near some scrubland on the outskirts of Guadalmar, whilst eating our sandwiches and rolls we saw quite a few species. Pallid Swifts flew quite close to us, as did Barn & Red-rumped Swallows with House Martins thrown into the mix. Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Common Kestrel, Common Swift, a Starling species flew over, as did Monk Parakeets and Sardinian Warblers went onto the list.
the most common migrant passerine seen today - Spotted Flycatcher
Driving along the coast towards Tarifa we stopped at the Golf Complex near Estapona, it was very hot there and not much bird life was on show. However, we did find a very showy Booted Eagle, a distant Black Kite and a Short-toed Eagle. In the scrub we found several Spotted Flycatchers, Willow Warblers, House Sparrows and a fly-past Hoopoe.
Further into the golf complex we stopped at the main pool and saw very little (the Black Swan is still there with some dodgey looking Mallards). On the greens we found two more Hoopoes, White Wagtails, a Common Redstart and a fly-over Greenfinch. At the head of the valley we had panoramic views of the Sierra Bermeja. where a few raptors appeared. We saw more Booted Eagles and Black Kites and a single Eurasian Sparrowhawk.
Hoopoe, taken at Estapona Golf Complex (but not today)
Our last stop was at the Raptor watch-point, called Cazalla, just above Tarifa Town. It was quite windy and blustery up there but we saw over a hundred birds of prey. The majority were Black Kites, they were drifting around along with Honey Buzzards, Marsh Harriers, Booted Eagles and to our great delight we saw at least four Montagu's Harriers.
Not much else appeared and as it was approaching 6pm we decided to call it a day. We arrived at the hotel before 7pm and after checking into our rooms we met up at 8pm for dinner and a run-through the checklist. It had been a very long day for some of us, an early night was called for. Buenas noches!