Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) with wing-tags OL I was out at the Laguna de Navaseca near Daimiel last Wednesday when a Marsh Harrier caught my eye. It was flying about the reeds as they do but this one was different. It had tags. The tags were orange and yellow […]
BIRDS
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Rabbit infected with Myxomatosis It has been over twenty years since I last saw a case of myxomatosis, sometimes known as the mixie or myxo, and I had hope it would be longer before I did again. Alas, the other day in Peralvillo I noticed a rabbit who just didn’t […]
Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus) The last time I visited Beartra Strand or Beach near Westport was a long time ago. And I remember it being a sandy beach where we had a barbecue looking out over the drumlins of Clew Bay. I was shocked this time however that due to […]
Montagu’s Harrier – male (Circus pygargus) The Montagu’s Harrier is named after George Montagu (1753-1815), who was born in England. It was through his study of harriers that he discovered that the Montagu’s Harrier was breeding in Southern England. He also proved many previously accepted species of birds were invalid […]
Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) Recently on a trip to a road that shall remain unnamed in an unnamed area of Ciudad Real, I had the great fortune to come across a juvenile Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) in an oak tree. It’s a special experience finding one of these […]
Sardinian Warbler – male (Sylvia melanocephala) Sardinian Warblers are great. I was walking about in the Atalaya Forest Park (see the male below) on the edge of town looking for butterflies amongst the mediterranean bush up there when I heard the loud, and not totally un-melodic, sound of one. Sure […]
Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus) There’s a glint of gold in many of the woods these days, but the woods in Picón are absolutely gleaming with it. No you can’t make jewellery with it, but it sure does decorate the area. I’m talking about Golden Orioles (Oriolus oriolus). Despite their bright […]
Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) Once again the hunting lobby is in the news. And here’s why. In the United Kingdom of Great Britain people like hunting, as do others worldwide. They like hunting pheasants, just like they like hunting partridge here in Spain. For this purpose many pheasants are reared […]
Cetti’s Warbler (Cettia cetti) The reed beds are alive with sounds these days. Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), Great Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) and Cettis Warblers (Cettia cetti) are all making themselves heard at the moment. Some are more obvious than others. The Reed Warblers are all making their rausous krakking […]
A bit of a long entry today, but I thought that I would write about the various species of wagtails we have in Western Europe. Within this group of birds made up of Pipits and Wagtails they provide a huge diversity of regional subspecies each with their own characteristics. We […]