almerimartoday

It has been a while since we have received a bird watching article from John Witham. Thanks for the latest article John.

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Lago Vitoria and surrounds

Today we will look at the area around Lago Vitoria between the beach and greenhouses. Only a short walk for most Almerimar residents will reveal a wide variety of birdlife including many of those covered in previous articles.

Sanderlings	Little Ringed Plover

On the beach we can see flocks of waders such as Sanderling and Little Ringed Plovers hunting for food along the edge of the tide. Sanderlings are easy to spot. They run back and forth at the waters edge like little children at the beach for the first time and seem nervous about getting their feet wet.

Crested or Thelka Lark	Linnets

In the coarse grass at the back of the beach almost identical Crested and Thelka larks with their erect crests and red tinged Linnets are abundant whilst Greenfinches may frequently be seen in the scrub. Greenfinches in Almeria always seem to be a much brighter green than back home in the UK, almost like small parrots. Is this due to the brighter sunlight I wonder?

Greenfinch	Serin

Serins abound in the mimosa trees around the lake; predominantly yellow, they would be difficult to spot were it not for their constant movement and high pitched twittering.

From the windows of the new developments around Lago Victoria residents are offered stunning views of dozens of different wild birds. Many of them are waterfowl that live here all year round such as the Grey Herons, Moorhens and Egrets that are generally on view stalking along the water edge.

Mallards and Tufted Duck	Red Crested Pochards

Many of the numerous ducks and divers that paddle happily near enough to the shore afford clear views without the necessity of binoculars. They include Mallard, Pochard and Red Crested Pochard, Tufted ducks and Pintails, Cormorants, Great Crested, Black-Necked and Little Grebes. These are also year round residents but at least another dozen species visit during the winter making this an easy to visit yet interesting bird watching site.

Fan-tailed Warbler	Penduline Tit

Blue-headed Wagtail	Willow Warbler

Smaller, and much more difficult to see and identify are the warblers, flycatchers and songbirds who dart around the dense undergrowth and reeds. However, with a little patience and practice you will soon catch glimpses of these elusive creatures and, with the aid of a good field book, learn to distinguish each breed through a process of elimination.

Marsh Harrier	Sparrowhawk

Among the most exciting sightings at Lago Victoria are the larger raptors (birds of prey).  The Marsh Harrier is normally seen several kilometres to the east at the entinas so are these possibly the same birds I see there - or maybe their young offspring looking to establish a new territory of their own. They feed mainly on the ground swooping to catch frogs and small mammals whilst the much smaller Sparrowhawk catches small birds in flight and is a highly manoeuvrable flying machine.

I hope that I have given you an idea of just how much bird life there is right here in Almerimar. It would be possible to list at least another twenty or thirty birds regularly seen in the above sites and I will try to cover these in later editions of my newsletter.