A Break in the Levante

Although only 14kms from Tarifa to Morocco, The Strait of Gibraltar can be a dangerous place to cross for Spring migrants during strong Levante (Easterlies) winds

Short-toed Eagle - photographed on Friday afternoon

I had two great days out on Friday and Saturday, with experienced birders Nick and Ian Whitehouse from Doncaster Lance Degnan and his mate Steve from Spurn Head the UK.
Friday's strong Levante winds made it hard work to find migrating birds although we did really well with raptor migration, managing to spot Egyptian Vulture, Osprey, Short-toed Eagle, Booted Eagle, Common Buzzard, Common and Lesser Kestrels, Montagu's Harrier, Marsh Harrier and this lovely male Hen Harrier below.

Hen Harrier (male)

Montagu's Harrier (male)

Lesser Kestrel (male) - up to forty birds seen!

Blue Rock Thrush (male) - Looking at their best in Spring

Little Swift over Barbate

Booted Eagle (dark form)

Black-necked Grebe (Summer plumage)

Red-crested Pochard (male)

We also caught up with good numbers of Red-crested Pochards, White-headed and Marbled Ducks. Teal were abundant on one private lake and Garganey, Gadwall, Common Pochard and hundreds of Mallard Ducks all added to the richness. Black-necked Greebes, Great crested Grebes and Little Grebes were all watched as we tried in vain for Crested Coot amongst small numbers of the Common Coots on both lakes.

Three shots of migrating Black Kites - some are quite variable in size and colouration



We travelled around a fair distance into the countryside of Cadiz province visitited the rolling cerial fields, meadowlands, riverside and coastal areas where many other bird species were watched. Black shouldered Kites were tricky to find but we were rewarded to watch a displaying pair on Saturday. Egyptian Vultures were also seen mating on one of the limestone ridges overlooking the shore. One Little Swift was seen and loads of Pallid with a few Common Swifts were coming in. Red-rumped Swallows, masses of Barn Swallows some Hose Martins and a few Sand Martins too were watched at various locations.

Black shouldered Kite

Spanish Sparrows - often quite tricky to approach close up

Stone Curlew - on of a dozen or so birds seen!

Black Kites were the commonest of raptor species coming in across the westerly entrance of The Strait of Gibraltar and I still get such pleasure each time I see this wonderful sight. We must have had well over one thousand birds coming across, flapping and gliding, then forming up into medium-sized 'kettles' above the sierras. White Storks too were coming across in huge flocks, while other raptors came in singly or in pairs. One or two Black Storks were also spotted in the distance.

Red-rumped Swallow

Audouin's Gull

We took time to watch twenty-five juvenile Northern Bald Ibis flying along the coast and watched them react nervously to the waves of Black Kites coming in off the sea.
On the coast we saw around sixty Cory's Shearwaters head into the Mediterranean Sea and Caspian and Sandwich Terns put on stunning diving displays while further out to sea hundreds of Gannets plunged in spectacular style into the water, hunting larger fish in the green-blue waters. A few Bonxies were seen further out and amongst the local Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, while Audouin's Gulls gulls came and went close to the shore with the terns.

Stone Curlews, Little Owls, Blue Rock Thrushes, Serins, Sardinian Warblers, Spanish Sparrows, Calandra Larks, Tellow wagtails, Hoopoes, Northern Wheatears and a single migrating Sparrowhawk coming in off the sea all added to a long list of great birds.

A large male Ocellated Lizard was also seen sunning himself on rocks and despite the wind, scores of Painted Lady butterflies were seen coming in from Morocco.

The Levante is set to stay all week which will make any crossings for migrants quite tricky if not fatal for some smaller birds. Large numbers of passerines travel at night when the wind often drops but during the day, finding birds that have just arrived in the strong winds becomes a fair task for any local guide. Let's see what I can find when I'm next out in the field!