If I'd experienced birding like this on the UK East coast it would be a day that went down in the avian history as one of those "once in a lifetime" days. It didn't and it won't, although I have experienced a fantastic morning's birding. If it were about numbers, I would struggle, but the sheer diversity and unexpected encounters made up for the mass spectacle.
I'd left Saoulas before 08.30 hrs, headed along my regular circuit; it seemed very quiet first off. It wasn't until I'd reached the first accessible Olive grove that things started to pick up. None of the Tree Pipits of yesterday, just a lone Yellow Wagtail and my first Golden Oriole of the trip. Plenty of Wood Warblers were flitting about in the dappled light within the canopy foliage - my photographic attempts being pitiful! A Cirl Bunting was singing, near by, and I watched a couple of Turtle Doves fly over (Sadly there is still a bit of shooting going on locally and I would imagine that these birds are the targets?)
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| A loose flock of seven birds in an open area of scrub on the southern coastal strip |
I'd thought that it would be a "butterfly" day but the birds dictated otherwise. My totals revealing 6 Golden Oriole, 7 Tawny Pipit, 2 Eastern Orphean, 2 Icterine, numerous Wood, Sub - alps, Sards and Cetti's Warblers. Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Spotted Flycatchers and Common Buzzards ensuring that there was always something to look at. I don't have a scooby where I ended up, but I'd managed to add Wryneck, Bee-eater, Woodchat and Red-backed Shrike to my list plus a single Northern Wheatear and several Whinchat. I got back to the complex just over four hours after I'd left - it was a fantastic morning - torrential rain in the afternoon, for a brief period; how I love this place!
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