Ogden Water To Mixenden

A decent haul this morning at Ogden. Mixenden Res was quiet apart from a good count of gulls.

Ogden: 3 Teal, 1 each Tufted Duck, Goosander & Little Grebe. 3 Cormorant and numerous Gulls both large and small. A Nuthatch called briefly.

A Stonechat was at Carrs Beck and a Green Woodpecker called from Hunter Hill bottom.

Ogden Water

Just time for a circuit then back home. I was really shocked at seeing the water levels still low after being away for two weeks.

1 each f Tufted Duck and f Goosander. Pr of Pied Wagtail. 

Two Buzzard were flying around for about 20 minutes one calling continuously. I wondered if it was a juvenile hunger calling and the parent trying to offload it.

3 Cormorant including the leg ringed critter and a truckloads of the usual gulls.

Last Push-up In Can Picafort

A final look at Les Salinas delivered two new birds rather unexpectedly. A pr Shoveler were feeding busily but the second sighting was also an annual tick. Hard to believe I’ve not had Snipe in my home range but that’s the way it is. A pr of them were also gobbling away at pace.

Also Pr Green Sandpiper. Several Kentish Plover, 5 BW stilt and a solitary Glossy Ibis.

I hear the Calderdale weather is kind and encouraging for my next adventure there 🤣 😖.

A Stroll Along Can Picafort Sea Front

Cooler and cloudy today. 2 Sardinian Warblers in a bush below hotel balcony.

Got a YLG in among 5 Audouins Gulls.

1 Cormorant in flight.

Followed by another YLG 😁👍 .

Short Sunday Les Salinas Trip

Not much water left in Les Salinas now but overall bird numbers not too grim. 

A welcome newbie was a Spoonbill flying low overhead. Flamingo 🦩 now down to one and Glossy Ibis back at three.

1 LRP picked out from a crowd of Kentish Plover.

1 Buzzard ditto Spotted Flycatcher. I’m seriously worried about a certain Cretins Warbler. It showed itself not once but twice 😳.

2 Purple Swamphen and the mandatory 4 BW Stilt.

Albufera Short Route Again

I will never understand how a known route can have an extra Km added to it the next time out. Nor can I grasp how a temperature of 29/30C doth feel like one hath descended into the fires 🔥 of hades 🤔. So it came to pass that I didn’t pass out and got some reasonable birds.

A couple of Purple Swamphen. Greater Flamingo now at 4 birds. BW Stilt also 4. One Glossy Ibis showed reasonably well. A Green Sandpiper was  dodging around. A Marsh Harrier did a short flyover. A Kestrel was on pylon wires but not for long.

Got a flock of chirping Serin, 4 Stonechat, c9 Swallow and the previously seen Hoopoe in flight. Cretins Warblers down in numbers today and Sardines less active.

The Mauve Algae bloom is blazing away as it expands across the Waterworks Area. Thirsty Anyone?

Birds here down to Coots and a pr of Marbled Teal 😁.

Full Albufera Slog in The Sun

Did more mileage than desirable but that’s what goes down in this mega marshscape.

1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Kestrel, pr Buzzard.

Got another Hoopoe but this one couldn’t fly off as it was a recent roadkill 😢.

The photo below shows 2 Shelduck with a YLG below them. I’ve looked at that top Gull and Caspian won’t leave my mind in peace. It has long legs and that head shape is doing mine in 😳.

The lagoons, salinas and scrapes here have really been screwed by the heatwaves. I estimate a 50% loss of operating juice for the poor waterfowl victims 😒. Oddly enough the canals appear to be full of H2O.

1 Redshank, a Kentish Plover or three. 1 Black-crowned Night Heron 👍. 1 Grey Heron ditto Greater Flamingo. A crew of YLGs. The sun in my eyes stopped me from confirming a potential Marbled Teal 😏.

3 Stonechat. 2 Zitbags, 4/5 Sardines.

Good to see 2 Spotted Flycatcher busy.