The Warm Weather Continues

Booted Eagle - pale form
Lovely sunny, warm weather has brought more birds across The Strait the last few days. I expect that this will continue for the next five days with light easterlies and the potential of easy crossings for migrants large and small. Have a look at the weather for Tarifa here.
Black Kites continue to dominate as the most numerous raptor with small movements of Booted and Short-toed Eagles. Red Kites and more Ospreys have been coming across with Sparrowhawks and Goshawks in one's and two's as have been both adult and juvenile Egyptian Vultures.
Sparrowhawk
Along the coast, Caspian Terns have been pretty conspicuous along the Barbate Estuary as well as down at Playa de Los Lances, although during easterlies you'd probably be more likely to catch them hunting rather than on the sandbanks at both locations.

BL Kittiwakes are still around and look like taking a long time to recover from the Big Storm we had at the end of January. Reports on Fuerteventura tell of hundreds of birds resting and recovering there too.
Black-legged Kittiwake

The Ring-billed Gull at Tarifa is still in the area and there was a report of two Laughing Gulls at Barbate harbour on Saturday. Still loads of adult and juvenile Gannets on the Strait as are Bonxies chasing the Yellow-legs all over the place.
Northern Gannets

Long-eared Owl
My garden Tawny Owls have been calling during the day for the last two weeks as have Little Owls. One Long-eared Owl was seen down near La Janda and our local Barn Owls are building their nests at a nearby hotel, pretty close to some Lesser Kestrels. One Nightingale turned up yesterday and was singing and this really is quite early. Bald Ibis can be seen and no more birds have been lost to either the young Bonelli's Eagles or Eagle Owls around the Sierra de Retin military zone. An artillery company have been making rather large bangs on the ranges this week and have pushed all the Blue Rock Thrushes down to the beach! Good numbers of Kentish Plovers have turned up at their normal breeding grounds as more Black-winged Stilts come in with a few small groups of Pied Avocets.

Sardinian Warbler
Our resident male Sardinian Warbler had been attcking the Land Rover wing mirror this week. There seems to be serious competition lurking for him in there - poor wee soul!

Dartford Warbler
Dartford Warbler are also quite vocal as well and have been displaying on the Maquis and scrub along the coast and in the cork-oak and Eucalyptus treelines, the Iberian form of the Green Woodpeckers have also been very vocal with their rapid, slightly descending loud song that carries for miles.
Female (Iberian) Green Woodpecker

Back soon with more news - Stephen