Red Kite (Milvus migrans) It has been a distressing start to the year for our Spanish Imperial Eagles and something similar is also happening in Ireland. A ninth Red Kite has been poisoned since a re-introduction programme started in Ireland in 2007. If you are caught poisoning birds of prey […]
Monthly Archives: January 2012
8 posts
Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) I had a great day out in my hide near the water in Peralvillo the other day. The sun was shining, the hide was warm (until the sun dipped), my coffee was sweet and black and the activity active. It wasn´t a great day for variety […]
Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis) Recently in Hampshire, England a Spanish Sparrow has appeared and causing quite a stir. A twitch it´s called. Twitching is a term used to describe the “pursuit of a previously located bird” according to Wikipedia. Basically when someone sees a bird not normally seen in an […]
Little Owl (Athene noctua) The Little Owl is the most abundant of the owls we have here, and indeed is probably one of the most numerous in the world. They are small, unassuming, and adapt easily to human settlements. Did I mention that they are also Mrs. HibernoManchegos favourite bird? […]
Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta) We get many winter visitors from far away here in la Mancha, such as the Common Crane from far off Siberia or the Red Kite from Northern Europe. But we also get visitors from what´s called “Altitudinal Migration”. This is a seasonal movement where the change […]
Reed Bunting – male (Emberiza schoeniclus) Continuing on from yesterdays entry about the Navaseca it was a pleasure to see there a pair of Reed Buntings. The male is a handsome bird, although my photo does not do him justice, whilst the female looks rather Sparrow like. Reed Bunting – […]
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleuchos) The Laguna de Navaseca was superb yesterday. It really is a tiny gem. Only 15km from the Tablas National Park which is beautiful, orderly and expansive, the Navaseca is small, dumpy and smelly. But that doesn´t affect anything. It always performs. It has ducks, waders, egrets, […]
Spanish Imperial Eagle – juvenile (Aquila adalberti), a photo by HibernoManchego (formerly Mike at Sea) on Flickr. Today SEO/Birdlife Spain announced what would appear to be a very bad start to the year for the extremely vulnerable Spanish Imperial Eagle. Six birds were found dead due to poisoning in la […]