I felt that it was going to be really hot today and ventured to the coast at Salgados, for a cooling breeze off the sea if nothing else. Instead of 'just another day at the office', it turned out to be an excellent day at my new office!! What was until last year my bogey bird - I found my second Ortolon Bunting here this morning. At the end of the track running North from the viewing screen, I arrived at the field where last year's Sociable Lapwing resided and where I found Short-toed Lark and Tawny Pipit the other day. I didn't see any Tawny Pipits but several Wheatears were running about and 3 Whinchats were dropping from long grass to feed on the ground. There were also 3 Chiffchaff feeding in the same manner which were quite early arrivals. I carried on scanning the field for larks and noticed a small bird not moving as a lark would. When its head lifted, I realised I had connected with an Ortolon Bunting! The 1st winter Ortolon remained on the ground as I rattled off images, struggling with heat haze until finally, a Wheatear chased it off, and it landed two trees away from where I was standing in the shade. Delighted!! I returned to the car for a rest and watched an Osprey pass through without stopping. There is less and less water here now so perhaps the Osprey is fishing elsewhere. I then noticed a large flock of White Storks gliding in from a Westerly direction and as they first circled the lagoon, every other bird took flight. I've never seen large numbers of White Storks at Salgados and felt these were migratory birds. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw a juvenile Egyptian Vulture attached to the flock of storks and, I wondered just how far they had traveled. In all, there were 62 White Storks. They circled the lagoon three times before drifting off in a North-easterly direction. Presumably, this wasn't Gibraltar and they were going to try again!! I have no doubt this is an excellent sighting record for Salgados.
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