Finca Arboleda.com

We thank Maria and Eugene for this Bird Watching report they sent us.

We hope the Twitchers out there enjoy it.

Birding-report from finca arboleda

17december till 31 december 2009

We visited the following area’s:

Rio Antas, Rio Almanzora, Faro de Roldan, Cabo de Gata and some inland area’s.

Rio antas: The mouth of this river is on the coastal road between Garrucha and Villaricos.  Take direction Puerta del Rey just north of the bridge and keep right until you reach the beach.

We found here: little brebe, great cormorant, mallard, shoveler, common pochard, coot, moorhen, yellow-legged gull, audouins gull, turnstone, sand martin,  cetti’s warbler. Seaside: mediterranean gull.

If you are lucky ( we weren’t), there is a chance to find the penduline tit in the reed.

Following the coastal road to the north, you see very quick a wetland on the left.

( turn left at the roundabout for the best view). In and above the water: common shelduck, mallard, shoveler, common teal, lapwing, Sardinian warbler and dartfort warbler.

Rio almanzora

The channelled bed of the this river is just south of Villaricos.

The seaside was good for black-necked grebe, razorbill, black-backed and black-headed gull, sandwich tern.

We followed the southern embankment for some km’s direction Cuevas. There is hardly traffic here and you can stop everywhere. It was one of the best birdplaces this vacation: cattle egret, little egret, grey heron, black-winged stilt, greenshank, green sandpiper, common sandpiper, dunlin, kentish plover, little ringed plover, common snipe, jack snipe, pied wagtail, grey wagtail, rock pipit, meadow pipit’ bluethroat, crested lark, grey shrike, hoopoe, stone curlew, jackdaw, goldfich and greenfinch.

Faro de Roldan

On the coastal road south of Carbonera. You can drive to the faro, but there is also an interesting walktrack. We visited the faro with stormy weather: northern gannets and mediterranen shearwaters above the sea. Near hte rocks a colony of shags and peregrine falcon, black wheatear, red-legged partridge, serin and rockbunting in the mountains.

Cabo de gata

A cardrive of one hour from Finca Arboleda. Follow direction Retamar.

At 6 km’s after the Retamar roundabout, there is a visitors centre with parking.

Here starts a walkingtrack direction radio-beacon.

We were lucky to see here: sardinian warbler, lesser short-toed lark, thekla and crested lark, common krestel, hobby, golden eagle, black-bellied sandgrouse and a great spotted cuckoo.

In the salina’s were flamingo’s, spotted redshank, common redshank, grey and golden plover, audouins and slender-billed gull, curlew and black-tailed godwit.

Reaching the Cape, Maria was very lucky to discover some trumpeter finches !!

We saw only a few birds in the inland steppe-area’s like Cuevas de Los Ubedos, surroundings of Tabernas and Sierra de Maria.

( probably not so productive for birds in winter).

And at last: Michael showed us a photo of a hoopoe-nest in a plastis little barrel.

The photo was taken near his Finca in the month of december.

Nestplace and nesttime are very remarkable.

Maria van Balkom

Eugène van der Linden