Posts in Slender-billed gull

Sunsets in l’Albufera

Two days birding l’Albufera finished with terrific sunsets. Highlights included a mega greater yellowlegs, wintering jack snipes, a common scoter, the local sacred ibis, and numerous waders and waterfowl.

DANA brought an eider home

Two common eiders showed up in south Alicante after the deadliest storm of the century casted over Valencia. Looking at the sea seems promising this incoming winter, with jaeger, gannets, and shearwaters seen too.

Veles e vents

A light-hearted chronicle and gallery of a stormy day in the rocky shore of Cabo Cervera. Audouin’s and Mediterranean gulls, ruddy turnstones, sanderling, and black-bellied plover seen at close range.

Enjoying the hobby on Global Big Day

An intense full day watching birds in Alicante delivers a great final count for our party of three. Different migrant birds seen include four different Eurasian hobbies, definitely the top species of the day.

Closing loops during fall migration

September brought the opportunity to look for long-awaited species: dotterel and northern bald ibis. Bee-eaters, wheatears, flycatchers, honey-buzzards, and whinchats showed up everywhere.

Releasing threatened waterfowl

Amidst an avian botulism outbreak, several birds are released after recovering in the local wildlife rescue center. These include the common pochard and ferruginous duck, both locally and globally threatened.